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Kalmia Club gives bikes to Spring Run

   LAMBERTVILLE — The Kalmia Club donated three new bikes to students at the Spring Run School to benefit their physical education program.
   The Community Outreach Committee for the Kalmia Club of Lambertville chose the Center for Educational Advancement, which operates Spring Run School, as a charitable beneficiary for the last two years. Spring Run School, of Raritan Township, works with students, ages 13-21, with special needs.
   Three bikes — two for boys and one for girls — were purchased through money raised by committee members all year long, according to Community Outreach Chairwoman Barb Hencheck.
   Kalmia Club members also had saved old beads over several years for the students, who then created bracelets as part of their work-training curriculum. To support this project and buy additional supplies for the school, the Community Outreach Committee members sold 40 “Life Twist” bracelets over the holidays, according to club President Polly Anderson.
   ”Each year the committee chooses one major worthy project to support, based on community need,” said Ms. Hencheck. “We’re really hoping these bikes bring some pleasure to students who could really use and enjoy them.”
   Through the Community Outreach Committee, the Kalmia Club also provides scholarships to local high school senior women every year. In addition, this year the club is sending two juniors to Girl’s Career Institute on the Douglass College Campus.
   This year, the club also supported the State Federation Day of Service goods drive for veterans in various homes across New Jersey. Additionally the members donated nuts, candy, sweets and other goodies for the Wrapping Presence Project, which provides gifts for adults in assisted care facilities and a veteran’s hospital.
   The Kalmia Club also supports activities and groups in the Lambertville-New Hope area, such as the rescue squad, the fire companies, Holcombe-Jimison Farm Museum, the sixth-grade trip to Washington, D.C., SAFE of Hunterdon County and the Chamber of Commerce poster auction during the annual Shad Festival.
   Twice a year, Kalmia also hosts the Wednesday community luncheon at the Centenary Methodist Church on Union Street.
   Community service activities are funded through the club’s Fundraising Committee and special events such as the Arts Desire arts and crafts show and sale in November and ticket and ad sales from the annual Lambertville Hidden Garden Tour held the second Saturday each June. This year’s tour is June 9.
   The club meets 10 times a year and collects food and goods for area food banks.
   For membership information visit www.kalmiaclub.org. For garden tour information or tickets, visit the website or e-mail [email protected].
   Kalmia Club, located at 39 York St., is one of the oldest continuously running women’s clubs in New Jersey, formed in 1892 and federated in 1892. Its members have a long history of service to the surrounding community. In 2010, the club celebrated its 100-year anniversary of the deeding of its unique and historic pink clubhouse by the Quakers. The building formerly had been a Quaker meeting house and the congregation relocated across the river. Kalmia, which started as a women’s literary society, was then granted its own building.
   The club is a member of The New Jersey State Federation of Women’s Clubs, the largest volunteer women’s service organization in the state and a member of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs.
    — Ruth Luse