Page 10 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • May 23, 2012 Emmanuel asks... Can You Help? mom, Marta, her sisters, six-year old Mirabella and eightyear old Miriam, and her maternal grandmother and grandfather in a small apartment in a busy urban neighborhood. Cristina’s father and mother have been separated for four years; her father visits the children sporadically and provides minimal child support. Marta is the breadwinner for the entire extended family, yet is only able to work part-time due to Cristina’s medical condition. Her job is a great distance from her home and the commuting expenses are considerable. In her absence, Marta’s mother, who has serious health issues restricting her mobility (and was recently hospitalized), cares for Cristina and her sisters until Marta returns home from work. Marta is a doting and loving mother who is doing the Our hat’s off to the wonderful residents of the Kentshire. They hosted a lovely tea fundraiser for us that was much appreciated. Thanks to Girl Scout Troop 433 for the incredible birthday bags. Thanks to Eastern Christian Elementary School for the Food Drive. Special thanks to all who came out to Blue Moon to support our Community Night. Summer needs: We need window air conditioning units, new or in good working condition, for our families. We also need boys’ summer clothing in size 7/8 and XL, and shoes in size 7. Some of our families could use prepaid phone cards for Cricket Mobile. Meet Cristina: Four-year old Cristina was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia just over a year ago. Cristina is a vivacious, outgoing child who lives with her 4-29-09 karen/janine EmmanuelHelp3x.75(4-29-09) 3 x .75 best she can to keep her family happy and together, but she is exhausted. Cristina’s medical treatment, which will continue for another two years, includes daily oral chemotherapy in addition to spinal taps and inpatient chemotherapy every three months. Cristina has been hospitalized several times with fevers, infections, and low blood counts. Recently, Cristina has shown signs of depression. Marta is very concerned because Cristina asks repeatedly if she is ever going to get better. Miriam has severe asthma and significant learning disabilities and requires weekly therapy sessions at the hospital. With the amount of time she spends at the hospital with her girls, Marta considers it her second home. She is mentally, emotionally, and physically drained. Mirabella worries about her mom’s stress level. Life has been tough for this lovely family, and they are always extremely grateful for any help ECF is able to provide. The children enjoy playing computer games, but the family’s computer crashed and Marta cannot afford to replace it. A replacement CPU would be of great benefit to the family (they have a monitor and keyboard). Marta’s lengthy commute is quite expensive, so she would be grateful for gas cards to defray the cost. In addition, Kmart gift cards would enable Marta to purchase summer clothes for the girls. Finally, the children would be thrilled to have bicycles now that summer is approaching. Your generosity will be appreciated more than you know! 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 toward direct care for our families. If your company has a charitable giving program, please let us know. Each month, we distribute about 140 bags of food to our families. You can help us fill our pantry. When you go grocery shopping and something non-perishable is on sale, please grab some extra items and drop them off at our outreach center. Staples such as sugar, flour, salt, cooking oil, detergent, pancake mix/syrup, and rice are always needed. 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 case worker to visit the families at home or in the hospital. Kids can help, too. Many have held sales or other events 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. 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 at www. emmanuelcancer.org. As always, thank you for helping the children and their families! The Mahwah American Legion Brems, Hetzel, Meester Memorial Post 531 invites area veterans to join the post. Veterans, male and female, whether they served in combat or during peacetime are welcome. American Legions provide assistance with the Veterans Administration, financial aid in times of need, sponsorship of local charities and organizations, and fellowship and camaraderie. Post 531, activated in 2008, was named for Patrick Brems, Class of 1965 of Ramsey High School; Norman Hetzek, Class of 1966 and Everett Meester, Class of 1965, both of Mahwah High School. All three men were killed in action during the Vietnam War. The Mahwah post meets on the third Thursday of the month at 7:30 p.m. in the downstairs meeting room of the Mahwah Museum, 201 Franklin Turnpike. For more information contact Membership Chairman Ralph Coviello at (201) 529-4622 or e-mail ralphkc2bcy@aol.com. American Legion seeks new members