Page 8 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • October 19, 2011 parties? Do you have experience in marketing or event planning? If you are interested, please call us. It’s not too early to think about the holidays. Please consider making a special contribution so we can help our families enjoy the season. You can help in a variety of ways. Consider turning your next event into a fundraiser for ECF, and ask guests to bring checks or gift cards to be used by our families. Your efforts help us to help our families in many ways, including sending a caseworker to visit the families at home or in the hospital. This support for the kids, their siblings, and parents is crucial. Kids are welcome to help, too. Many have held sales or lemonade stands and contributed the proceeds to ECF. If your Boy Scout or Girl Scout Troop needs to earn badges, visit us in Midland Park. Scouts can get creative and have fun helping our families as they learn about philanthropy. ECF representatives are available to discuss our programs at your next fundraiser or event. Just give us a call for more information. If you have a few hours a week to spare, consider becoming a volunteer, or just stop by and meet with us, take a look at our pantry, and see what ECF is all about. Call (201) 612-8118 before you stop by. Please do not leave items at the center without checking with us first. Our storage space is limited. The Northern Regional Center is located at 174 Paterson Avenue, Midland Park, NJ 07432. We are currently looking for a Friday volunteer who can help out from 1 to 4 p.m. We are also looking for a few food drivers who are willing to go to Bergen and Essex counties. A background check with an $18 fee is required. Visit us at www.emmanuelcancer.org. As always, thank you for helping the children and their families! Our hat’s off to: Abundant Life Reformed Church and the Senior Center from Wyckoff for their food donations, and for the ongoing food collection by the women at Evergreen Court. We also thank MSO in Glen Rock for their continuing support. We are sad about the passing of Juliette. Several representatives from ECF attended her memorial service in Paterson. Her family was grateful for our presence. It is because of children like Juliette and their loving families that we are inspired to work to ensure that all who need our services are receiving them. One of those children is nine-year old Leonardo, who has a brain tumor. When ECF’s food driver made a recent delivery to Leonardo’s home, she was greeted by his grandmother who invited her in and, with tears in her eyes, expressed her gratitude over and over. She insisted on the driver a drink and showing her photographs of the family. We are all so touched by these families and we thank you for helping us support them. We rely on our local community to help support our families. Many of them do not have the financial or emotional support to help them get through a major illness like cancer. Please remember: We do not charge anything for our services. We rely on you! ECF uses monetary contributions to cover the costs associated with providing free services to any New Jersey child who has cancer. Approximately 70 cents from every dollar goes towards direct care for our families. If your company has a charitable giving program, please let us know. ECF distributes about 140 bags of food to our families each month. Please help us fill our pantry by picking up some nonperishable food items for the ECF families while you are shopping for your own family. Staples such as sugar, flour, salt, cooking oil, detergent, pancake mix and syrup, and rice are always needed. ECF is seeking bilingual caseworkers all over the state. Do you know someone who might be able to help? This is a paid contractual position. We are excited about joining our new friends at the Ridgewood Art Institute for our next big benefit event: a Nov. 20 Wine & Cheese Reception and the institute’s concurrent Annual Art Show & Sale. Hours will be from 1 to 4 p.m. Our Second Annual Hollywood Bash will be held Feb. 4. Call us if you would like to donate an auction prize, take out an ad, or otherwise get involved. We are looking for volunteers to help us plan. It doesn’t matter if you work full-time or if you are a stay-at-home mom or dad. We just need a few hours of your time. Do you like to plan Drug take-back (continued from page 3) program on Nov. 12. The Ridgewood Police Department will accept the unwanted or outdated drugs at a drop point in the lobby of Ridgewood Village Hall. No needles or syringes of any type will be accepted. Midland Park will accept the unwanted or outdated drugs at the Midland Park police station. The Justice Department will accept the drugs and dispose of them. The April 2011 Operation Take Back New Jersey netted 12,464 pounds of drugs in the state and 376,593 pounds nationwide. Many police officers say they are glad to help reduce the inventory of unwanted and outdated drugs. J. KOSTER