Charity is the focus for Homemakers

2017 marks the 100th year since the founding of the Homemakers Council of Nassau County, and its Rockville Centre chapter brought in the new year strong by donating roughly 375 socks to military veterans through the local American Legion Post 303.

Post Commander Frank Colon Jr. and former Commander Joe Scarolla thanked members at the council’s first meeting of 2017 on Jan. 3 at the Recreation Center. But the socks were just the latest donation in the council’s tradition of giving back to the community.

During the second half of 2016, the chapter donated hundreds of items to patients at South Nassau Communities Hospital and Mercy Medical Center, as well as the Woodward Children’s Center in Freeport and the Bethany House, a housing charity for homeless women.

The donated items ranged from homemade hats, gloves and scarves for school children, to toiletries and tiny knitted caps for newborn babies.

The Rockville Centre chapter of the Homemakers Council meets every Tuesday and members host classes for attendees to learn activities such as knitting, crocheting and cooking. “The lost arts,” described the chapter’s Co-President Karen Alterson.

The group also hosts book club discussions and classes for games such as mahjong.

But overall, charity is the focus. At the Jan. 3 meeting, member Lucy Suazo announced she was teaching a class for crocheting small hats for newborn babies, with the goal of working with members to produce hundreds of them for hospitals both local and abroad.

She said she got the idea for the hats while visiting a hospital in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, where a local group was making and distributing them. She also collects Desitin, an ointment for baby rashes, to give to hospitals. She particularly enjoys donating items to places overseas where she believes they will be put to better use.

Every week, member Patty Gaffney hosts meetings to sew and stuff surgie dolls. The dolls, which get sent to Mercy and South Nassau hospitals, are intended to ease the stress for children dealing with surgery and injuries.

Going forward, the group would like to increase its membership and get some younger people to join in. “I’d love to break 100 [members],” said Alterson. Currently, the village chapter has 95 members.

But no matter the numbers, the charitable giving continues. Already, the council is getting ready to collect cards to send active military service members overseas for the next Christmas. The council likes to plan ahead.