February 2023 Newsletter

LOCATED ON FORT WADSWORTH THIS SITE IS OPEN TWICE A MONTH. AT OUR FEBRUARY 9th OPENING WE HAD 141 INDIVIDUALS COME IN REPRESENTING A TOTAL OF 503 FAMILY MEMBERS. PLEASE CONTACT MICHELE FOR SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES.

Our football pool raised $1000. Congratulations to our winners, 1st MaryJane $125 2nd Kelsey $250 3rd Lynne $125 Final Fran $500 Thank you all who supported us. Save the date June 13th Dine Out at Canlon’s

WE CONTINUE TO LOOK FOR VOLUNTEERS WHO ARE INTERESTED IN PLAYING AN INTEGRAL ROLE WITH OUR IN PERSON, AFTER SCHOOL READING PROGRAM AS WE LOOK TO EXPAND IT FOR THE 2023-2024 SCHOOL YEAR. PLEASE LET US KNOW IF YOU WOULD LIKE MORE INFORMATION ON HOW YOU CAN PARTICIPATE.

Our Junior Giving Circles collected over 8000 cans of soup this month. The soup will be shared among our Weekend Backpack Food Program (WFBP), Nourish the Service (NTS) and various food pantries. We also had collections of cereal, pancake mix and syrup, cookie mix and hot chocolate and celebration bags (cake mix, frosting, candles and paper goods). Another group made cards and valentine goodie bags for the seniors at Canterbury. Troop 88 Boy Scouts collected a huge bounty of new children’s clothing.

The winning tickets were purchased by Dyverse Wooten and Julianna Pellicane. Both were first time meeting attendees and chose Fatherhood Matters to receive their winnings, a total of $420. The winner(s) donates to his/her favorite charity; it is not kept by the ticket holder. To participate, go to our website and donate via PayPal or Venmo using @StatenIslandGIvingCircle. We suggest $60 (for six months or $120 for the year).

Monetary donations we received this month: Frank and Carmela Montella John and Debbie Santora Bob and Mary Alfano In addition we received $500 from Northfield Bank to host a STEAM workshop at one of our partner schools.

Vernon “Dyverse” Wooten Fatherhood Matters program is a supportive resource geared to uplift and educate non-custodial fathers, with a focus on healthy parent-child relationships, self-care, and modeling responsibility. Through a 10-week father-specific workshop series, the Fatherhood Matters program provides fathers with a knowledge and skill-based certificate program on effective parenting skills. The dedicated Fatherhood Matters case managers assist and empower fathers in their endeavors, while providing guidance along their journey by supporting fathers in navigating child support or public benefits, finding and sustaining employment, or arranging child visitation. The Fatherhood Matters program aims to impart a new understanding of the importance of fatherhood and empower fathers to play an active role in the life of their children. For more information: Fatherhood Matters

More to come very soon about our May special event. We hope to have an update on our Community Garden in the next week. Stay tuned for volunteer opportunities. Details coming on our book collaboration with Josue Mendez.

To make a donation please use the following:Venmo: @StatenIslandGivingCirclePayPal:SIGivingCircle@aol.comChecks may be mailed to:Staten Island Giving CirclePO Box 120301Staten Island NY 10312

PLEASE KEEP US ON YOUR SHOPPING LIST, WE ARE COLLECTING: Sidewalk chalk, bubbles, handballs, and Easter candy. Use our Amazon Wishlist to have your donation sent directly to us: Amazon Wishlist In addition, if you received a gift for the holidays that you would like to pass along, please bring it to the March meeting. We are looking for new items we can use for our Fundraising events.

We get inquiries for teens looking to score service hours to satisfy school requirements. We have been recommending the students organize a collection of food (cereal, granola bars, fruit cups) to be used for our Food Insecurity initiatives. Students can create flyers, host the collection and deliver to the recipient for their service credit. Please contact us for a list of items needed.

Michele Yacovello 917.733.7937 MicheleSIGC@gmail.com Evelyn Kormanik H: 718.980.4862 C: 646.240.7486 sigivingcircle@aol.com

Our meetings are held at Oakwood Heights Community Church, 345 Guyon Avenue..  The meeting is at 7pm, in person and Zoom. Please see schedule below for upcoming dates.