2008-2009 Central Macomb Optimist Club Accomplishments
It has been another wonderful and productive year for the Central Macomb Optimist Club!
Many successful fundraisers and donations have enabled our club to take on several new projects and help so many children this year.
A special thanks to Eric Smith for the $5,000 donation to our club. It helped in so many ways.
In addition, the Central Macomb Optimist Club’s Wigs 4 Kids project was chosen the
International Community Project Awards winner! The award was given to our club at the Optimist International convention in Florida this past July.
Kids of the County:
For the third straight year Cindie Szarek has chaired this event as the CMOC partnered with the Meijer store on 26 mile and Van Dyke and the Macomb County Sheriff’s department to take 100 children shopping for essentials items such as school clothes, books, food, etc.
Macomb Township Tree Lighting: This is the fourth year that the CMOC participated as a sponsor at the Macomb Township Tree Lighting. On December 3rd, after the official tree lighting ceremony, several hundred children visited Santa to give him their list. They also munched on cookies that were donated by Andiamos and stopped by our coloring table.
Mitten Tree:
Again this year, Richard Paul put up the Mitten Tree at Ebeling School in Shelby Township. The tree was decorated by the students throughout the month of December with mittens, hats and scarves. These items were then given to the Macomb Charitable Foundation to be distributed to needy families.
Christmas Auction:
Santa and his merry helpers were at it again this year. A Christmas auction was held on December 10th at the Hamlin Pub by members of the CMOC. $1070 was raised at the auction and was used to sponsor the Wigs 4 Kids Christmas Party. An additional $400 in gas cards was purchased and given to the Macomb Charitable Foundation to be distributed during the holidays.
Lottery Raffle:
Donna Onifer chaired our first lottery raffle. The raffle was based on the 3-digit Michigan lottery. $100 was given to a winner each day—except for Christmas Eve and New Years Eve when the winner received $200. The club raised over $1600 that was used throughout the year to help some of the charities we support.
Pantry Shower:
In February, the CMOC held its second pantry shower to benefit the Macomb Charitable Foundation. Members brought armloads of food, paper and cleaning products to the meeting that were picked up by the MCF and distributed to the families that they help. The CMOC also donated $250 towards the pantry’s needs.
Soup/Chili Cook Off:
Pat Rabaut Miller hosted our first Optimist Soup and Chili cook off on February 18th at her home. Contestants brought their homemade soups and chili for all of the judges to taste. In the end, the grand prize ladle winner was Keith Rengert’s famous (and secret recipe) chili. Congratulations Keith!
Juvenile Justice Center Oratorical Contest:
With the help of Keith Rengert, the CMOC partnered for the fourth year with the Juvenile Justice Center to host an oratorical contest at the Center on March 4th. Staff at the JJC narrowed the competition down to 5 finalists who read their essays to judges and members of the CMOC.
This year’s topic was: “For me, Optimism is . . . “ The speeches were all incredible but a winner was chosen. The following week all participants were treated to a pizza party.
Dancing to the Decades:
A St.Patrick's Day theme was adopted this year for our dinner/dance and it was held at Cracklewood Golf Course. With the great food, entertainment and prizes, it was a sell out!! The dance enabled us to donate $3,000 to the Macomb Charitable Foundation to help their needy families.
Fashion Show:
The CMOC welcomed spring with a Fashion Show and Taste Fest. The show was chaired by Rose Pipia and was held at Flirty Fashions in Rochester. Optimist members and their families modeled beautiful spring clothing while guests feasted on appetizers and desserts. Over $3200 was raised to help sponsor several children to the Champions for Life Kid’s Camp as well as support our Kids of the County program.
Boy & Girls Club:
The club took a tour of the Shelby Township Boys & Girls Club. Members got to see the air hockey table that our club donated to the center. We also donated $100 that night to their art department. In August, members helped sponsor a picnic and fun day for 300 kids at the center. Kids were treated to a Mexican buffet and played games on a beautiful afternoon.
Champions for Life Kid’s Camp:
Several members helped out at the Champions for Life Kid’s Camp. This is a camp for foster children and our club had sponsored several children at the camp and we helped fund the camp “birthday party”. Members showed up the morning of the camp’s carnival to see that the 65 kids at the camp had a great time paying games and winning prizes.
Sunshine Store:
There is a store at the Champions for Life Kid’s Camp called the Sunshine Store where the children are given 2 bags and can fill it up with as much new and used clothing as they would like. The CMOC allocated $1000 to help out the store next year. Kelley Scalici is the chairperson of this project and will be shopping all year for great deals on clothing and other accessories for the store.
Magic Hug Squares:
The Beanie Babies have arrived!!! The CMOC started this project and the results have been phenomenal! We have collected donations of Beanie Babies and have found helpers to knit or crochet swaddles for them. The Beanie Babies are then donated to children with cancer or other sick children.