Club members rally support
for families touched by attack
HOWELL — Holidays bring with them a host of emotions. This year many people will feel more than just the cup of cheer exchanged among friends and family.
This year, those who have lost friends and family in the chaos and devastation that touched America’s shores on Sept. 11 will feel loss, sorrow and pain. Those who haven’t suffered a personal loss will, nonetheless, as a nation feel the sadness and emptiness of our brothers and sisters.
In between shopping and readying their own families for the holidays, the mothers who belong to the MOMS Club of Howell had the family members of the victims of Sept. 11 on their minds as well.
According to MOMS Club treasurer Christine Blackford, the members of the group wanted to do something for these families to let them know they had not been forgotten.
The MOMS Club, an organization founded primarily to accommodate stay-at-home moms, give them a place to meet, a medium to establish friends and relationships with other moms and their youngsters, has only been a part of the Howell area for about 18 months, but has already amassed 64 members.
The group members spent the last couple of months organizing fund-raisers with a goal of donating money to the families in their area who have been directly affected by the Sept. 11 disaster. According to Blackford, five families in Howell have been directly impacted by the tragedy.
The group of 64 mothers organized a demonstration party in order to raise funds for the families.
"We called churches and other local organizations to find out who in our area had lost family members," Blackford said. "Many local businesses donated gift certificates that we were able to use as door prizes the night of the demonstration."
The group sponsored a Nov. 2 demonstration of kitchen products by the Pampered Chef and will be able to donate $105 to each family impacted by the tragedy. MOMS Club President Fatima Tobon told Greater Media Newspapers that a check will be mailed to each of the five families affected.
"We wanted to do something for our local families," Tobon said, explaining that the club members searched the Internet to obtain whatever information they could on victims from the Howell area. They also contacted local houses of worship for help in locating family members of those victims.
Tobon said the club has hosted fund-raising efforts for charities such as the March of Dimes, the food pantry in Howell and the Howell Christmas toy drive, but this most recent effort was for those who were in need, very close to home.
"We all wanted to do something to help out our neighbors," Tobon said.
This was something they could do.
In addition to club members giving each other support on a daily basis, these moms felt it was their responsibility to extend that support to the families who were affected by the tragedy of Sept. 11.
— Clare M. Masi