IPCA hosts Valentine's Dinner Dance

The Island Park Civic Association is hosting a Valentine’s Dinner Dance at Bridgeview Yacht Club Feb. 6 to honor U.S. troops fighting overseas.

This is IPCA’s second annual dinner dance, and the second year in a row that the organization is working to gather donations for the non-profit group Soldiers’ Angels. Since 2003, Soldiers’ Angels volunteers have helped organize efforts to send letters, care packages and other aid to soldiers overseas.

Susan Stoger, an Island Park resident, has been volunteering with the group for the past five years, writing letters to soldiers. “It means the world to them to know there are people back home thinking about them,” she said. “It takes so very little time and it means so much to them. That letter can mean the difference between a good day and a bad day.”

Stoger’s niece, Felicia Nicholas, helped plan IPCA’s last two dinner dances to benefit the organization. IPCA president Patti Ambrosia believes it’s a worthy cause to support. “We are at war and a lot of soldiers don’t have families and they’re out there fighting for us and we’d like to give back,” she said.

Last year, IPCA amassed about 300 pounds of goods to send to soldiers. Care package donations can include personal hygiene products, books, magazines, clothing and non-perishable food items. For a complete list of what you can donate, visit http://soldiersangels.org/ donating-items.html. IPCA will be collecting donations at the dinner dance.

Tickets to the “Love your Troops” dinner dance, from 7 — 11 p.m. on Feb. 6 at Bridgeview Yacht Club, 80 Waterfront Boulevard in Island Park, are $65 per person. The night includes a three-course dinner, a DJ, dancing, raffles and prizes. For more information or to buy tickets, call Patti Ambrosia at (516) 431-8275 or Laura Hassett at (516) 432-076.