Page 8 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • August 24, 2011 Emmanuel asks... Can You Help? Our hat’s off to: Abundant Life Reformed Church in Wyckoff, whose Vacation Bible School held a great Food Drive for us. Special thanks to First Presbyterian Church in Maywood and MSO in Glen Rock for their continued support in stocking our pantry. Thanks to the Wyckoff Seniors for their food donation. Thanks to Susan, one of our loyal readers from Ho-Ho-Kus, for purchasing Dorney Park tickets for one of our families. Thanks to Miss Patti’s School of Dance in Midland Park for including us on their annual trip to New York City. They kindly treated one of our families to dinner and to a presentation of “Spider-Man.” Sara is a 15-year old who is struggling with rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare form of cancer. She has been in and out of hospitals with complications. Sara, like many of our kids, is getting tutored at the hospital, but is struggling to catch 4-29-09 karen/janine up with her academic work. EmmanuelHelp2x.75(4-29-09) Since childhood, Sara has been looking forward to turning 16. But in addition to dealing with the range of emo3 x .75 tions of a healthy child, she is also striving to be like her peers. Unfortunately, undergoing cancer treatments makes this an even more challenging task. Like any teenager, Sara wants to be like her friends and have the same clothes and keep up with the latest trends, but it is very hard. She is currently wearing a wig that was made from her brother’s hair. Sara’s caseworker, Evelyn, visits Sara at home and in the hospital on a regular basis. They are able to explore Sara’s emotions. Sara also calls Evelyn and e-mails her with concerns. Your contributions will ensure that Evelyn can continue to provide this extra level of support to Sara as long as needed. Please consider sending us a gift to support these efforts. 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 non-perishable food items for the ECF families while you are shopping for your own family. We are excited about joining our new friends at the Ridgewood Art Institute for our next big event: a November wine and cheese reception. We are also planning our Second Annual Bash, which will be held in early February. Call us if you would like to 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 parties? Do you have experience in marketing or event planning? If you are interested, please call us. 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. You can help in a variety of other 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 families like Sara’s 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. Emmanuel Cancer Foundation was named for a boy named Emmanuel who lost his life to cancer almost 28 years ago. ECF relies on the 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 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) 6128118 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. Visit us on the web at www.emmanuelcancer.org. As always, thank you for helping the children and their families! The Clothing Closet Ministry at the Ramapo Reformed Church will hold a Back to School Bag Sale on Saturday, Sept. 3 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Clothing is available for infants and tots, children, and adults. Choose from a variety of sweaters, jeans, dresses, shoes, blouses, sweatshirts, slacks and more, all for $3 per bag. This special sale includes a free jacket or coat with every bag of clothes pur- Clothing Closet holds Back to School sale chased. The Clothing Closet is located at the rear of the Ramapo Reformed Church’s education building, located at the corner of Island Road and West Ramapo Avenue in Mahwah. Donations of seasonal clothing are accepted Wednesday mornings from 9:30 a.m. to noon.