Princeton Area Junior Woman's Club

And the Winner Is . . . . .

noreply@blogger.com (Princeton Area Junior Woman's Club) — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 00:16:00 +0000

Congratulations to Carol Pungello for winning this year's Silver Spoon Award at the annual College/Shore District Spring Conference. The Junior Friday Club of Hightstown was host to this year's fun filled event, themed A Very Merry Un-Conference. Carol's recipe was so delicious, I had to put it on our blog for all to try.

Roasted Eggplant Spread
from the Barefoot Contessa Family Style

1 medium eggplant -peeled
2 red bell peppers, seeded
1 red onion, peeled
2 garlic cloves, minced (I cheated and used the kind from the jar)
3 Tbsp. good olive oil
1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbsp tomato paste (add after roasting)

Preheat over to 400.

Cut eggplant, peppers, and onion into 1" cubes. Toss them in a large bowl with the garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread them on a baking sheet (I lined the baking sheet with non-stick foil) Roast for 45 minutes, until the vegetables are lightly browned and soft, tossing once during cooking.

Cool slightly.

Place the vegetables in a food processor fitted with a blade, add the tomato paste, and pulse 3 or 4 times to blend. Taste for salt and pepper.

It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

noreply@blogger.com (Princeton Area Junior Woman's Club) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 20:31:00 +0000

This is the Princeton Area Junior Woman’s Club favorite time of year. From September until the 3rd week in December, our goal is to fulfill the wishes of over 1,200 children of Mercer County’s Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS). We work tirelessly to make sure everything runs smoothly for these girls and boys who, at the very least, deserve to have their Christmas wishes come true. While others are out shopping for friends and family, you’ll find our members hanging wish tags on trees at MarketFair or shopping with carts overflowing with gifts bought with generous financial donations of members of our own community.

Princeton Area Junior Woman’s Club Timeline:

September

1) Contact all previous companies who participated in the Wish Tree project. We check to see if they still want to participate.

October

1) Receive names and wishes, supplied to us from DYFS caseworkers, of what the children want for Christmas. A Committee goes through the list with a fine tooth comb to make sure that we have sizes, correct toy names, etc.

2) Contact Girl Scout of West Windsor, Plainsboro and East Windsor to make ornaments for our wish trees.

3) Work with our corporations, including PNC Bank in Princeton, Marketfair Mall, and CFMA who without them, this couldn't happen. They each generously supply a tree and collect presents for the wishes given to them. MarketFair, especially, handles the most gifts. Their employees and customers truly come to the aid of the less fortunate in a huge way. MarketFair even provides a room to store all the gifts we receive. Although storing presents sounds like a small endive, image 700+ wrapped gifts. It is a mountain of Christmas gifts.

4) Then we call the MOST important people Bohren's Moving Company. Each year, they generously donate time and a truck to move all 1200 + gifts from each company and take it to the DYFS Facility in Trenton. Without them there is no way that we could do this.

November

1.) Receive ornaments from Girl Scouts.

2.) Each member is assigned a tree. It is their responsibility to write gift tags with the child’s name, wish’s, casework, etc.

3.) Let the monitoring of the trees begin.

4.) Pray that people will donate money to pay for any wishes that are not being fulfilled. Thankfully our wishes get fulfilled too.

December

1) Crunch time. Monitoring trees to make sure the wish tags are moving quickly enough. Move wish tags from company’s trees to Marketfair Tree to make sure that the wishes are fulfilled.

2) Now the fun stuff. Whatever money has been generously donated, we now use for shopping. This is the best kind of shopping. Power shopping. We take the list of the children whose tags were not removed and shop for them. Members break up usually in groups of 2 and shop till we drop. It’s the most fulfilling shopping you will ever do.

3) Deliver any late drop off packages. Things happen and people are not able to drop the gifts off in time. So the members happily drop off any late gifts in time for Christmas. We have been known to drop gifts off on Christmas Eve.

You may wonder why we do this. Yes, we are crazy. But we are also mothers, daughters, sisters, friends and we know that this does make a difference, one child at a time. Do we wish we didn’t have to do this? Yes, our “Wish Tree” wish is that no one was in need. Unfortunately that hasn’t happened, so we are there. We are a small group, or as we have dubbed ourselves “The Small but Mighty”. If you would like to join us and make a difference, let us know at pajwc@aol.com.

PAJWC is Tooting their own Horn

noreply@blogger.com (Princeton Area Junior Woman's Club) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:51:00 +0000

Our annual May "Plant Sale" has raised over $1,600.00 this year. This money is given back to local charities in our community. I'm not sure everyone knows what goes into this event. Gasko's Nurseries generously sell us, at a discount, their wonderful plants. This enables us to sell to our "customers" at a very reasonable price. One of our members takes on the task of organizing all the paperwork. Each PAJWC member sells to friends, family, co-workers. After all the orders are put in, our members then go to Gasko's and picks up the plants. We then deliver them to our "customers". Our customers get beautiful plants delivered to their door at a great price and for a good cause! So, we would like to thank not only Gasko's Nursery but the generous people in our community who buys our plants and to our members who participated in this event.

Another annual event is our Backpack Drive. One of our members, Marie Levine, organizes this event every year. She coordinates with Homefront to get just what each child needs. This year, we not only got 25 backpacks filled with supplies, but an outfit for their first day of school. We also were able to give school supplies to the Plainsboro Food Pantry. Again, we would like to thank all the generous people in this community for making this "Drive" a huge success.

Princeton Area Juniorettes are at it Again!

noreply@blogger.com (Princeton Area Junior Woman's Club) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 20:57:00 +0000

We are so proud of our Princeton Area Juniorettes! So far this year they have done two community service projects.

On Saturday, May 31, 2008, they held a hugely successful food drive for the Plainsboro Food Pantry. Despite the monsoon like weather, the girls stood outside of Superfresh in Plainsboro and collected money and food supplies from very generous and wet residents in the area. On Monday, June 1, 2008 they lugged bag after bag from the parking lot to the 2nd floor food pantry. The girls enthusiastically sorted everything they collected.

Not resting on their laurels, they assisted in the first West Windsor Bike Rodeo in conjunction with the West Windsor Bicycle and Pedestrian Alliance on June 7, 2008. This successful event had the girls explaining proper bike safety to young children. This was such a success that they can't wait to have the Juniorettes back next year.

The girls are also having a backpack drive. The PAJ in conjunction with Homefront are accepting backpacks, backpack supplies and even new sneakers and shoes for Homefront sponsored children. Contact fnklane@aol.com for more information. The drive ends August 1st, so start gathering backpack supplies now!

noreply@blogger.com (Princeton Area Junior Woman's Club) — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 03:20:00 +0000

We are so proud of our new Juniorettes and the contributions they are already making to our group. Here is an article that was just published in our local paper. We look forward to more wonderful contributions these great ladies will be making. Wish Tree

West Windsor and Plainsboro young women created the Princeton Area Juniorettes, a branch of the Princeton Area Junior Woman’s Club. The two groups are sponsoring a WishTree in the MarketFair Mall. The members collaborated to gather more than 1,200 wishes for underprivileged children in the area for the holidays. They will be wrapping gifts at MarketFair Mall during the busy holidays. According to Mardana Naidu, publicity officer for Princeton Area Junior Women’s Club, donations will be presented to area charities. Officers and members from High School South include Kezia Opie, president, a sophomore; Rachel Degnan, vice president, a freshman; Allie Pungello, treasurer, a sophomore; Gabrielle Opie, recording secretary, a freshman; and Rachel Carandang, corresponding secretary, a sophomore.Members from South include freshman Jennifer Cardinale, Rinku Punjabi, and Kelly Scanlon; and sophomore Priya Saksena. High School North students include Jackie Kercheval, a sophomore; and Joanna Tsuo, a freshman.Community School students include eighth graders Kacie Craven and Emily Jones; and seventh graders Emily Carnevale, Bryn Gorberg, Sarah Jones, and Komal Sankla.Their leaders are Elizabeth Carnevale, president of the women’s group; and co-advisors Judy Gorberg and Kathy Lane. The group meets monthly to choose projects to benefit the community.

Children's Specialized Hospital of Hamilton's Toy, Book and Craft Drive

noreply@blogger.com (Princeton Area Junior Woman's Club) — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 16:09:00 +0000

As many of you know, I'm collecting toys, books and crafts for the Childrens Specialized Hospital in Hamilton as part of a coordinated effort by the Princeton Area Junior Women's Club. Each month, I make a drop-off to the hospital with all of your donations. These toys bring a lot of joy to children who have gone through, or are going through a very tough time. Many of them have very little. Did your kids get things for Birthday/Christmas/Hannuka that they didn't want or already had, or just aren't interested in? You could donate them. Anything you can give will be appreciated. As always, you can drop off at my house, or I can pick up. You can email me at www.pajwc@aol.com if you have any questions.

Thanks,

Marie

News From the District

noreply@blogger.com (Princeton Area Junior Woman's Club) — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 15:39:00 +0000

It’s time for the seventh inning stretch – what is your club doing to hit a home run for….

Children’s Specialized Hospital Foundation !!

** Come to State Fall Conference on October 13 and meet Theresa Valentino – book her to speak at your club or District meeting **

Help make the CSH of New Brunswick Family Center a useful resource for parents!

The following items need to be purchased for the center. Please send a check to JM Finance Chairwoman Patti Stetser earmarked with items you wish to fund.

Magazine Shelf Organizers - $10 Sitting Area Chairs - $130
Copier - $250 Scanner - $280
Fax Machine - $70 Reading Lamps - $40
Printers - $100 Sitting Area Tables - $225
Fax Machine - $70 Magazine Racks - $30
Wireless Laptops – $1000

Shop for a Cause!

Buy a ticket for Saturday,October 13th for $5 and save 20% all day at Macys!
For tickets, contact Theresa at tvalentino@childrens-specialized.org Keep track of the number of tickets you order for reports. Buy a stack and sell them to friends and neighbors!

Currently, the home team (Jersey Juniors) is suffering a low hitting average – who will step up to the plate and be the power hitter??

Exciting Community Service and Leadership Opportunities for Girls in the West Windsor Area

noreply@blogger.com (Princeton Area Junior Woman's Club) — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 19:45:00 +0000

The Princeton Area Junior Woman's Club (PAJWC) is announcing the beginning of a Juniorette group forming this Fall for girls ages 12-18. The PAJWC has been around for over 30 years helping the community around us in both fundraising and community service activities. We are affiliated with the General Federation of Woman's Clubs, one of the world's largest and oldest women's volunteer service organizations. Working locally through thousands of clubs in the United States and globally in more than 20 countries, GFWC members support the arts, preserve natural resources, promote education, encourage healthy lifestyles, stress civic involvement, and work toward world peace and understanding.

We are excited to offer this program of community service and leadership opportunities to all girls in the West Windsor area aged 12-18. Parents and interested students are encouraged to attend our kick-off Pizza Party/Informational Meeting to be held 5:30 p.m. on September 28, 2007 at:

Capuano's
217 Clarksville Road
West Windsor, NJ 08550

Members of our club as well as state board members will be on hand to answer questions. If you have any question before the event, please e-mail us. If you know any girls who would be interested, please pass on this information to her.

HOT OFF THE PRESS

noreply@blogger.com (Princeton Area Junior Woman's Club) — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 10:48:00 +0000

NJSFWC DAY OF SERVICE – OCTOBER 27, 2007

On October 27th, National Make a Difference Day, Woman's Clubs, EMD, Junior and Juniorette club members will come together at a single site in each district to assemble kits in support of their local Domestic Violence Shelters. The success of this project depends on the support of every club.

What an incredible impact the NJSFWC will make when we assemble First Night Kits, Birthday Bags, Anger Kits, and Bedtime Snack Sacks for Domestic Violence Shelters all across New Jersey!

Each club received an individualized pledge sheet which was based on the size of the club membership, number of shelters in the district and the needs of those domestic violence shelters. Clubs from across the state have embraced the project with open arms and a true willingness to help. Thank you to all of the clubs that returned their pledge sheets.

However, in spite of clubs’ generosity, donations are still needed. If your club has not returned their pledge sheet, it is not too late. Just check off the items your club will donate to this worthwhile project and return the pledge sheet, on or before September 30th, to the Day of Service Chairman, Shirley Holly at 10 Nelson Drive, Barnegat, NJ 08005 or FAX # 609-607-0612.

Blank pledge sheets are available online at http://www.njsfwc.org/ ; click on the Events tab on the home page, and then the Day of Service link. Also available on the website are Frequently Asked Questions to better inform your members of this important project.

**Trick or Treat for UNICEF**

Although it’s still summer time it is once again time to pre order those UNICEF boxes to make sure you have plenty come October!

Head over to UNICEF and order your boxes now! When you are on the main page click on “Collect” on the left hand side. There you will find information on how other groups successfully raised large amounts of money as well as the order form to get your boxes. They will automatically be shipped to you in the fall – with plenty of time to distribute them to schools and clubs members.

~*~Order your boxes now; they will automatically be shipped to you when they are available. It’s a great way to get it done before the craziness of the school year begins!~*~

Don't forget to check out the Junior Website for lots more ideas and information!!

Now You're in the Know

noreply@blogger.com (Princeton Area Junior Woman's Club) — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 12:47:00 +0000

State Fall Conference – Saturday, October 13th

What would fall be without football, pumpkins, and …the Junior Membership Fall Conference? Come on down (or up!) on Saturday, October 13 to the Children’s Specialized Hospital in Mountainside for a day of Junior energy and information. This will be the only chance your club will have to hear presentations from the three finalists selected by the State Project investigating Committee for the 2008-2010 Junior Membership State Project. Members will also have time to meet with State Department Chairman and to attend workshops featuring, by popular demand – a workshop on writing winning reports. Tours of the facility with a chance to meet the inspirational staff and children who call the hospital “home” will highlight the importance of the State Project.
Make a day of it! Stay for lunch in the town of Westfield and enjoy quaint shopping and restaurants.
Check your mailboxes for the Conference Call, arriving in later this month!

NJSFWC Day of Service – October 29

The NJSFWC Day of Service will be take place on Saturday, October 29. This innovative event will take place at a site in each district. Clubs will gather at their district site to assemble kits for domestic violence shelters in their areas. Most clubs were sent a commitment sheet with items to supply. If you have not already done so, please return this slip as soon as possible. Contact Shirley Holly, NJSFWC Day of Service Chairman, with any questions at shirleyholly@earthlink.net

From Jeri Lyn Cancel, the National Director of Junior Clubs:

The GFWC Director of Junior Clubs, Jeri Lyn Cancel, is putting together a book on the History of Junior and Juniorette Clubs from all the states. She briefly spoke about this at our Annual Convention in May, 2007. This book will be placed in the GFWC Women's History and Resource Center (WHRC). The WHRC is housed at the GFWC Headquarters in Washington, DC. Their mission is to collect, preserve and promote archival materials for federation and its clubs. There are many ways that the New Jersey Juniors can support WHRC: Exploring Our Heritage, but to start we would like each club to start working on their club history. This should include when and where the club was founded, what year did the club federate with the GFWC, why the club began, major projects your club has done throughout the years, does your club have its own clubhouse, how has membership changed over the years, did members become state or federation officers, and anything else important to the history of the club. Be detailed and use as much information as possible to enhance and preserve your club history. More information will be available on this project at the State Fall Conference in October, 2007.

It’s not too early to think about Christmas cards!!

ORDER YOUR HOLIDAY CARDS & SUPPORT THE JUNIOR MEMBERSHIP!!!Shop at Your Convenience on the Website!!
www.holidaycardwebsite.com/jerseyjuniorscards There is a wide selection of holiday cards for everyone! Holiday cards are a great way to stay connected with family, friends, & club members. Browse thru the collection to find the theme of your choice. Personalize your Holiday card with the verse, ink color, and lettering style. You can place your order online or by phone. It is that simple!! Any questions or for more information, please contact Joni Gartner, Federation Chairman: jgartner@jerseyjuniors.com

Please share this information with your club members!!

5 more will be HEAVEN in OCTober ’07!!

Recruit 5 new members for your club in October and receive special recognition! The Junior Membership did an awesome job last year – let’s do it again! Send names of new members and sponsoring members to membership@jerseyjuniors.com by Saturday, November 3rd.

Note: please count women who are becoming members – not prospectives. If you have membership requirements, they must be finishing up those requirements and ready to be installed as new members.

JM Spelling Bee – Sunday, March 9, 2008

Greetings Ladies, please start talking-up the Spelling Bee with your clubs. The date is Sunday, March 9, 2008 and snow date is Sunday, March 16 to be held at the NJSFWC Headquarters in New Brunswick. Please remove any outdated materials from your binders and spelling bee package. Please check the education web site shortly for updated information. Starting in September, please think about setting a date for the club-level bee. All clubs please submit your spelling bee date to your District Advisor by Monday, October 15, 2007. Any questions or concerns, please contact me at education@jerseyjuniors.com Carol Frisby, Education Chairperson

Wish list for Children's Specialized Hospital
New items please

Northern Clubs (for Mountainside facility)
DVDs
CDs
Sweats for children ages 0-21 yrs. old
Black felt & marker coloring sets
Socks
Underwear
Gift cards to stores: Toys R Us, Target, Macy’s, Kohl’s, etc.
Phone Cards
Baby wipes
Infant and toddler spoons
Scoop dishes to promote self feeding, sippy cups
Parent training videos on a variety of topics
Central Clubs (for Fanwood Plaza and Roselle Park facility)
Play doh
Bubbles
Medical kits (child’s)
24-piece puzzles (especially with favorite current cartoons)
Colorforms (especially with favorite current cartoons)
Board games for young teens: Stratego, Don’t Wake Daddy, Battleship, Blokus, Othello,
20 questions – handheld version
60-piece and 100-piece puzzles as well
Other Board games: Sorry, Trouble, Don’t Break the Ice, Mastermind, Connect Four etc.
Playschool Dollhouse furniture
Gift Cards to stores: Toys R Us, Target, Macy’s, Kohl’s, etc.
Southern Clubs (for Hamilton and Toms River facility)
Simple books/board books
Toddler toys: blocks, sorters, puzzles, bead, peg boards, etc.
Arts and crafts: paper, crayons, markers, craft projects
CDs for kids
Developmental baby toys
Board games
Little people play sets: farm house, cars, airports
Plastic dollhouse and families
Toys R Us gift cards
Parent training videos on a variety of parenting topics
Dolls of various racial diversity
Color markers for the white board
Franklin (the turtle) books: Franklin in the Dark, Hurry up Franklin, Franklin is Bossy, Franklin is Messy, Franklin's Bad Day, Franklin's New Friend

October 1, 2007 – Deadline for request to file Charity Registration through NJSFWC

October 13, 2007 – Junior Membership Fall Conference

October 29, 2007 – NJSFWC Day of Service

November 1, 2007 – Deadline for Club Dues Payable to NJSFWC dues and Delegate Travel Fund Payable to NJSFWC-JM

FEBRUARY 1, 2008 – Report Postmark deadline

March 9, 2008 – NJSFWC Spelling Bee (snow date –March 16)

April 1, 2008 – Honor Roll and Order of the Lily Nominations, Pink/Yellow Sheet deadline (reporting membership number for 2008-09)
May 16 -18, 2008 – JUNIOR MEMBERSHIP ANNUAL CONVENTION

Our Backpack Drive is Underway.

noreply@blogger.com (Princeton Area Junior Woman's Club) — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 15:02:00 +0000

The Princeton Area Junior Woman's Club will be collecting back to school items for Homefront, to go to needy children. We're looking for :

Backpacks
Notebooks
Binders
Looseleaf paper
Dividers
Scissors
Rulers
Tape
Crayons
Colored Pencils
Markers
Pens
Pencils
Erasers
Sharpeners
Hole Punches
Pencil Cases
Post-it's
and more

In addition, many of the children that Homefront services will need back-to-school clothing. As we've started a bit late this year, we'll be unable to fill specific needs and ask instead for donations of new:

sweatshirts
jeans t-shirts
sneakers
Target/Walmart gift cards - these are especially welcome as they could be used to buy specifically what each child still needs after all donations are in.

Any and all donations may be dropped off at Marie's home. For information on how to get there or to have one of us pick it up, please e-mail us. If you haven't time to shop but would like to help, you can donate cash or checks and we'll either shop for you or forward your donation to Homefront at your request. Our drop off/pick up deadline is August 15, 2007. Last year, we collected and filled 26 backpacks!!!

Thank you all.

Marie

Here are just some of the community service projects we've contributed to in the past year

noreply@blogger.com (Princeton Area Junior Woman's Club) — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 02:17:00 +0000

Wish Tree-Working with Mercer County Social Services, we provide Christmas gifts for more than 1,200 needy children each year.
Project School Kit - Working with local schools, we collect school supplies for homeless children in the Mercer County Area.
The Medical Center Fete - Money raised each year from selling cotton candy to fishing games, contributes to various Medical Center projects.
Annual Eden Institute Gala - Working behind the scenes, we decorate the ballroom for the annual fund raising gala for autism programs.
Junior Woman's Club Spelling Bee - We host fun-filled events for local 4th and 5th grade children who want to enter the NJSFWC state spelling be.
Thanksgiving Food Drive - We collect and donate Thanksgiving food baskets to local famileis in need vial local food banks and homeless shelter.
Spring Plant Sale - By selling spring flowers, we raise money for local area charities.

And while we're proud of our philathropic activies, we also enjoy spending time together socially. We host a wide range of social events, from movie excursions and mahjong nights to bunko parties and family summer barbeques.