Page 4 • Wednesday , October 25 , 2023 • The Hammonton Gazette
HCF ’ s Helping Our Neighbors dinner recognizes cancer survivors
by Jennifer McGraw FOR THE GAZETTE
HAMMONTON — It was an enchanting evening to give back to breast cancer survivors during the Hammonton Cancer Foundation ’ s 14th annual dinner on Oct . 21 at the Winslow Manor .
The Hammonton Cancer Foundation raises funds to distribute to those in need of assistance with the South Jersey Cancer Fund as their primary outlet . The organization is committed to helping the Hammonton community and surrounding areas .
“ It is with great pleasure and the continued works of our members that we have been able to grow each and every year .” HCF President David Mauriello said . “ To this point , we have been able to donate in excess of $ 475,000 to help patients in our community and the surrounding areas .”
Guests dressed to the nines , and some of them donning Philadelphia Phillies gear in support of the team ’ s postseason , and enjoyed an evening of performances , speeches and a tribute ceremony for Breast Cancer Awareness month .
David Mauriello welcomed the guests , thanking businesses and families alike for supporting 14 strong years of the fundraising dinners over their 17 years of serving the community .
“ At this time , I would like to ask all of
Photo courtesy of Jennifer McGraw
Singer Grace Haley performs at the dinner .
Photo courtesy of Jennifer McGraw
Dance Magic presents a check for $ 3,200 to Hammonton Cancer Foundation President David Mauriello ( left ).
our Hammonton Cancer Foundation members to stand up and be recognized ,” Mauriello said . “ This group of hardworking and dedicated individuals work tirelessly all year round and embrace the idea of helping our neighbors . They tried their best to make this and all of our other fundraising events successful .”
Following the welcoming , Father David Rivera blessed the dinner , delivering beautiful remarks about what it means to be at the event .
“ Your contributions , assuming you ’ re doing that very work of art for Jesus , and , as the Gospels remind us , the widow ’ s mite , every little bit counts ,” Rivera said . “ Some can give more of the treasure , some give up their time and talent . It all matters . It all counts , especially in the eyes of the Lord looks to our hearts to see why we do what we do . And he knows very well , all of you tonight and have a nice time , nice dinner .”
The evening kicked off as guests arrived , listening to classic music and buying 50 / 50 and auction tickets .
After the welcome , the Dance Magic dancers took the stage to perform a tap routine to the song , “ Sing , Sing , Sing .” Afterwards , singer Grace Haley performed a medley of songs and engaged the guests .
Kramer Hall introduces Women ’ s Activism course starting Oct . 31
by Kristin Guglietti GAZETTE STAFF WRITER
Stockton University ’ s Kramer Hall will have a course called New Jersey Women ’ s Activism : From Suffrage to the Progressive Era on Tuesdays from Oct . 31 to Nov . 28 from 11 a . m . to noon .
According to the course description on Stockton University ’ s website , “ This course will detail the ways in which women ’ s civic engagement in New Jersey ushered in new legislation and regulations that helped workers , curbed child labor , created safety regulations for factory work , gained compensation for occupational diseases and much more . We will focus on the campaigns of the League of Women Voters and the Consumers League .”
Professor Patricia Chappine will be teaching the course to interested students .
“ Since New Jersey was really so close to a lot of New York activism , it ’ s really a huge story about not only what happened after they got the suffrage win but basically educating women on what the vote means ,” Chappine said . “ A lot of time the progressive dealt with things like occupational safety . They were dealing with child labor issues , so we ’ re going to deal with a lot of different topics very quickly but it really does set the stage for the progression of activism that ’ s going to take us into World War II . Then we ’ re going to see a little bit of a shift , but it ’ s really this foundation of activism that already existed that really changed face during World War II .”
This will be the first time Chappine will be teaching the course .
“ They ’ re going to learn about basically the different avenues of progressive activism , so like I said the occupational diseases . There was really few protections for workers at that point , so not only the possibility that something at the work site could possibly make you sick but there really was no legal protections ,” Chappine said . “ We ’ re going to talk about workplace safety . We ’ re going to talk about things like Florence Kelley was very influential in New York , but there was also the Consumers League of New Jersey was very active in making sure that there were safe working conditions for not only women but the men that were working in the state , so it ’ s really going to touch on a lot of different things that end up being important for the larger story of how worker ’ s protections became better actually as the decades went on .”
Anyone from the public can register for the course .
To register for the course , visit stockton . edu / aging / events / oct2023 _ sillactivism . html .
Photo courtesy of Jennifer McGraw
Inspiring Life Together members ( l-r ) Suzanne O ’ Reilly , Anetra Baby , Christine O ’ Kane , Challice Rhodes , founder Spring Williams and Dawn Stanley at the Helping Our Neighbors Dinner on Oct . 21 .
Guests enjoyed the live singing and dance performances while having their dinner . Dance Magic dancers took the stage again later in the evening to perform a ballet routine to the song “ The Godfather .”
Later in the evening , Mauriello took the stage again to introduce the tribute ceremony of those who lost their lives to cancer . He delivered beautiful remarks after about two people who lost their lives this past year who were apart of Hammonton Cancer Foundation .
Some of the organizations that show endless support to what Hammonton Cancer Foundation does includes South Jersey Cancer Fund , the South Jersey Breast Cancer Coalition , Toast Pink and Inspiring Life Together .”
Inspiring Life Together ’ s founder , Spring Williams , spoke on what this event means to her and what her organization continues to achieve .
“ Inspiring Life Together is an organization that supports mothers with cancer who are going through treatment ,” Williams said . “ Hammonton Cancer Foundation continues to support our mission .”
The Dance Magic dancers presented a check to the Hammonton Cancer Foundation for $ 3,200
To round out the evening , some guests won the chance auction and 50 / 50 raffles , enjoyed each other ’ s company and danced the night away .
Hammonton Cancer Foundation aims to continue providing support for the community and surrounding areas , and their cancer foundation dinner was nothing short of that .
This article and photos were produced in collaboration with New Jersey Civic Information Consortium and Rowan University .