COMMUNITY

As Saturday Club members, we are committed to contributing our time and energy to helping those in need and to enhancing the quality of life in our community. Community Outreach is a cornerstone of The Saturday Club’s philanthropic mission. Members find community service activities to be a very rewarding part of their Club experience. Group and individual service projects provide opportunities to lend valuable assistance, build friendships, and expand individual interests and talents. Here’s a snapshot of what we have planned for the 2007-2008 Club year:

1. Volunteer at Thorncroft, Dressage at Devon www.thorncroft.org
2. Walk as team in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s “Walk for the Cure” www.jdrf.org
3. Assemble brown bag lunches to benefit St. Mary’s Soup Kitchen in Philadelphia
4. Collect new, unwrapped toys for holiday gifts for families involved with Philadelphia Society for Services to Children www.pssckids.org
5. Make and serve dinner at the West Chester Salvation Army www.thesalvationarmy.org
6. Collect basic supplies for The Laurel House www.laurel-house.org
7. Volunteer at Wayne Senior Center Valentine’s Day Luncheon www.wayneseniorcenter.com
8. Plan and host an American Red Cross Blood Drive at our Clubhouse www.redcross.org
9. Organize the first prom for the residents at The Melmark School in Berwyn www.melmark.org
10. “ConKerr Cancer” by making pillowcases for children undergoing treatment at local hospitals www.conkerrcancer.org
11. Make soup for St. John’s Episcopal Church Soup Kitchen in Norristown (collected at St. David’s Church)
12. Prepare dinners for 20 weeks for a single mothers’ support group at the Women’s Resource Center in Wayne www.womensresourcecenter.net

Philanthropy
If Community Service is the heart of the organization, The Philanthropy Committee makes up the soul. Twice a year, in November and April, the Club grantz awards to other worthy charitable organizations. Selections are subject to Board approval. As a Club, we strive to support other philanthropic organizations that enrich the lives of women and children. These philanthropic contributions are made possible by the hard work and enthusiasm contributed by each Club member. In Fall 2007, the Club selected the following non-profit organizations for philanthropic awards:

SPRING 2007 PHILANTHROPY RECIPIENTS

Fresh Air Fund. The Fresh Air Fund is an agency that provides free summer vacations to children from New York City’s toughest neighborhoods. Approximately 50 New York City children will spend their vacations with host families living on the Main Line between July 13-27, 2007. Our gift will cover the cost of swim lessons for 50 children. Almost all of the children are unable to swim and do not have basic water safety skills. A daily swim program will give the children a life skill many do not get in their city neighborhoods. www.freshair.org

Family Support Services. Family Support Services is a non-profit child welfare agency operating in the City of Philadelphia and Delaware County. The agency served 1720 children last year, and its mission is to support family life, prepare children for success in school and develop life skills. FSS’s goal has always been to help young families, and many of its programs focus specifically on children in the birth to five-year-old age range. The Club’s gift will fund staff training and supplies for play therapy. Play therapy is a proven intervention in working with children and their parents with issues of trauma, separation and disrupted attachment. www.fssinc.org

Children’s Village. Children’s Village serves children from predominantly low-income working families in Philadelphia’s Chinatown area. The center serves over 300 children, ninety percent of whom meet the criteria for subsidized care. Many of the parents have limited education, work in multiple low-skill and low-paying jobs, and do not speak and/or understand English. Children’s Village is a haven for the children, offering full-day programs for toddlers and preschoolers, and out-of-school programming for after school and school holidays. Our gift will fund their “Reading is Fun” project for children in grades K-3 by purchasing books for the children’s personal use. www.childrensvillagechildcare.com

T/E Care. T/E Care provides financial and other material assistance to persons in need in and around the Tredyffrin and Easttown Township area. T/E Care first organized in September 2005 to help relocate three families displaced by hurricane Katrina to our community. The organization is not financially supported by any government or foundation, and relies on community response, primarily to email requests. T/E Care is currently working with seven families in our area. The Club’s gift will directly help one of these families who have fallen on difficult times. www.tredyffrin.org/general/katrina.aspx

Kyle’s Treehouse. Kyle’s Treehouse, based in Newtown Square, offers on-line information resources at www.kylestreehouse.org for families of autistics. The organization wants to develop and implement an online “local resource guide.” This would be done by creating a feature on kylestreehouse.org that links parents and others in need of services with resources in their area that best fits their need. Resource links would include local parent support groups, local schools with specialized autism programs, social development programs, youth support, and camps. Our gift will fund a portion of the development of the local resource guide for southeastern Pennsylvania.

Tredyffrin Library. The club has a three-year philanthropic commitment to assist with the renovated Children’s Library ending in Spring 2008 to the Tredyffrin Library. This spring, we will pay another portion of that commitment. www.ccls.org/libs/tredyffrin.htm

In-Kind Donation

The Vanguard School. Located in Malvern, the mission of The Vanguard School is to provide an individualized educational program for students with learning differences in a nurturing environment. The Vanguard School seeks to develop its students’ fullest academic, social, and personal capabilities. We will give The Vanguard School the use of our Clubhouse for their fundraiser. www.vanguardschool.org

FALL 2006 PHILANTHROPY RECIPIENTS

Kids Smiles Inc.
Kids Smiles Inc. supports two nonprofit dental centers that serve over 25,000 disadvantaged children throughout Philadelphia and the five-county region. Its mission is to improve oral health, and thereby overall health, by providing childhood dental care. Our award will cover the costs of dental sealants for 75 children, as well as providing a book for each child. For more information, visit www.kidssmiles.org

Center for Literacy
The Center is at the heart of breaking the cycle of low literacy, a cycle that perpetuates unemployment, poor health and elevated crime. The vast majority of its learners are females-most of whom are single parents. Our funds will be used to support one of the Center's community classes by providing money for space, instructional materials and teacher hours. For more information, visit www.centerforliteracy.org

breastcancer.org
The mission of breastcancer.org is to help women and their loved ones sort through the complex medical and personal information about breast cancer, guiding them to the best decisions for their lives. The website (www.breastcancer.org) reaches 8 million users annually. In addition to the website, Dr. Marissa Weiss, founder of breastcancer.org, is running seminars with teenage girls and their mothers at local schools so that they can ask her important questions about breast health without embarrassment. Our funds will be used to cover the cost of materials for a seminar for 500 young women, at a school in a low-income area in our region, to disseminate correct information about breast health, breast self-exams, and early breast cancer detection.

White-Williams Scholars
The mission of White-Williams Scholars is to support high academic achievement in Philadelphia public high school students from low-income families. This organization serves more than 1000 students each year in most public high schools in Philadelphia. White-Williams Scholars newest program, College Connection, will launch in January 2007 and will be open to White-Williams Scholars throughout the city. The focus of this program is to provide ninth graders with enhanced academic training, college and career guidance, leadership development and opportunities for cultural and civic engagement throughout their four years of high school. Our funds will provide 10 ninth graders with an "Orientation Package" to help unify and identify them as high achievers, and prepare the students for more intensive math and English instruction. For more information, visit www.wwscholars.org

Tredyffrin/Easttown Library
We are in the second year of a three-year commitment to the library to support the renovation of the children's library. For more information, visit www.ccls.org

Thembanathi
The Club donated a table at our annual Holiday Market to support fundraising for a preschool for AIDS orphans in South Africa. Local resident Dr. Amy Brenner volunteers with the organization and sells beautiful beaded jewelry to raise money for the preschool. The jewelry is made by women in Durban, South Africa. For more information about the preschool, visit www.thembanathi.org