FEBRUARY 2007

O
O
CALC corner
Sa l l y Na j o r ( l e f t ) ,
Bu s h r a At t i s h a ,
Wa f a a Ka s h a t , Ri t a
Fo u m i a , Re e m Se s i ,
La n a Na j o r a n d
Ri t a Ab b o ( s i t t i n g )
p r e p a r e g i f t s f o r
a d o p t e d f a m i l i e s .
NOTE from the
PRESIDENT
T he Chaldean
American Ladies of
Charity is heading
into 2 0 0 7 geared up
for another great
year. We are starting
out with a new director.
I would like to
introduce K aren Cl a i r Ko n j a
K onj a, who will coordinate
and oversee all of our programs. She
j oined our organization mid-December. She is
familiar with the CALC programs having served
as a volunteer for more than four years. She is
the friendly voice heard behind every phone call
made to the CALC office. I hope you give her a
warm welcome to the organization.
T his year CALC’s focus is on “ Guiding
ur Children,” with many programs geared
toward youth.
We have a report in this issue on a program
from last year. We j ust tallied up the results and
thanks to the wonderful volunteers with this
organization, we helped dozens of people in
need this past Christmas. I want to personally
thank Rita and Lisa Foumia for all their hard
work with the Adopt-a-Family program, which
was a great success.
n a side note, there are several letters being
sent out to community members that imply they
are being sent out by CALC. P lease be assured
that any letter that is not placed on CALC letterhead
and signed by an officer of CALC is
not originated by CALC or supported by us.
We hope you are enj oying the winter and
we look forward to seeing all of you throughout
this year.
Christmas
Adopt-a-Family
Program
Jesus is indeed the reason for the
season, but we all know how
depressing Christmas would be without
any gifts to share. That’s why we
at the CALC are so proud of our
Adopt-A-Family program, which we
hope to expand next Christmas.
Thanks to the generous support of
our donors and sponsors, we were
able to provide gifts of new clothes,
toys, food and other items to 73
needy families in Oak Park, Detroit,
Warren, Hazel Park, Southfield, Troy
and Sterling Heights. That is a total
of 350 individuals who would not
have received anything for Christmas
if it wasn’t for the CALC.
One couple we helped is having a
hard time as they adjust to life in
America. They came to the U.S. from
Iraq about two years ago. Both in
their 50s, they have no immediate
family here in Michigan and their
sons are all scattered throughout the
Middle East. They have no furniture
or car, and live in low-income housing
in Southfield.
When asked what they wanted,
they only asked for sweat suits – two
sets each, so that they would have
something to wear while washing the
other set. We were delighted to be
able to fulfill that request, and also
give them household items such as
pots and pans. The wife called and
left a touching message in which she
thanked everyone and said she
would light candles and pray for the
volunteers for their kindness and
generosity.
We also assisted a Detroit family
of five with a heartbreaking story.
Their house was robbed about four
months ago – and as if that was not
bad enough, it burned down a few
days later. The family lost nearly
everything. We supplied coats,
scarves and household items such as
a vacuum, pots and pans, a coffee
pot and towels for their “needs” list.
For their “wants,” the kids, ages 3 to
8, asked for dinosaur toys, Barbie
dolls and stuffed animals, which we
were happy to accommodate. The
mother called and was very grateful,
and the 5-year-old girl got on the
phone to say she loved her doll.
These comments make it all
worthwhile! Some sponsors of families
were so touched by the experience
that they want to help them out
all year, not just during the holidays.
So many of us have so much, it is
sometimes easy to forget what a
struggle day-to-day life can be for
others.
The CALC especially wants to
thank all those who “sponsored” the
families this year; they took time out
from their busy holiday responsibilities
to shop for families they never
met. Thank you to all of those who
donated money to the program;
$5,060.35 was raised to purchase
items for families that did not have
sponsors. Without these contributions
CALC would not have helped
as many people.
Rita Foumia and Lisa Foumia, Co-
Chairs of the program, shopped for
some of the families with all the donations
we received. The generosity
and kindness of the sponsors and
donors was overwhelming and sincerely
appreciated by the families
they helped. If it wasn’t for their
commitment to the program, it would
not have been as successful.
The CALC would also like to
thank all those who gave the great
gift of charity this year and helped us
make Christmas special for those in
need. Thanks to the following:
• Shenandoah Country Club for
sponsoring Brunch with Santa,
where we collected toys for the
Adopt-a-Family Program
• Ramy and Reem Sesi, who
hosted a Christmas party where
guests donated toys to the program
• Rudy Kainiya, Hana Manna and
Sister Nada for their help
• Fadia Nissan
• Karen Konja, our office program
coordinator
Of course, none of this would
have been possible without our wonderful
volunteers, who helped screen
families, sort, organize and deliver
the gifts:
Mark Abbo, Matthew Abbo, Rita
Abbo, Bushra Attisha, Candice
Attisha, Cheyene Attisha, Heather
Attisha, Heather Boji, Chris Elia,
Michelle Gabriel, Julie Garmo, Auday
Hadad, Ramon Jiddou, Paul Jonna,
Wafaa Kashat, Ann Kassab, Karen
Kassab, Ivan Konja, Ryan Konja,
Flora Kuza, Amanda Mansour, Kristin
Mansour, Hala Meriam, Lindsay
Najor, Lana Najor, Sally Najor,
Joseph Sesi, Reem Sesi, and Linda
Zetouna.
2007 Calendar of Events
ONGOING
Project Venture: Detroit, Every Wednesday &
Thursday, 3:15-5:15 p.m.
Project Venture: Oak Park, Every Monday
4:30-6:30 p.m. & every Thursday 5-7 p.m.
Empowered Voices: West Bloomfield, every
Wednesday, 6-8 p.m.
Senior Bingo: First Monday of each month at 1 p.m.
FEBRUARY
Feb 7: Heart Smart, 7 p.m.
Feb 15: The Nurse Is In, 10 a.m.
Chaldean Manor
MARCH
March 1: Penny Drive Kickoff,
Shenandoah Country Club
March 3: Read to Me, 1 p.m. (Oak Park)
March 16: Learn to Dance, 7 p.m.
March 20: Life Uncluttered, 7 p.m.
Shenandoah Country Club
March 24: Saturday Dreams (Detroit & Oak Park)
MARCH
March 30: Easter Basket Drive
for Needy Families
APRIL
April 1: Book Drive Kick-Off
Peace Poster Contest Kick-Off
April 2: Senior Bingo and Easter Lunch,
1 p.m. Chaldean Manor
April 14: Read to Me, 1 p.m. (Detroit)
April 17: Historic Church Tour for Seniors
April 20: Penny Drive Ends
April 21: Saturday Dreams
(Detroit & Oak Park)
April 21: Family Wellness Walk-a-thon, Drake
Park, West Bloomfield
April 26: Mother/Daughter Fashion Show
April 29: Book Drive Ends
MAY
May 5: Read to Me/Book Drive
(Detroit & Oak Park)
May 14: Senior Bingo Mother/Daughter,
Chaldean Manor
May 18: Peace Poster Contest Ends
May 19: Saturday Dreams (Detroit & Oak Park)
May 21: Clothing Drive Set-Up 9 a.m.-3 p.m.,
Oak Park
May 22-23: Clothing Drive, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.,
Oak Park
May 24: Mass and Annual Meeting, 11 a.m.
(Location TBD)
JUNE
June 3: Read to Me (Oak Park)
June 9: Senior Planting (Chaldean Manor)
June 16: Saturday Dreams
(Detroit & Oak Park)
June 22: Learn How to Dance, 7 p.m.
(Location TBD)
JULY
July 7: Read to Me with (Detroit)
July 21: Saturday Dreams/Comedy
Night/Youth, Shenandoah Country Club
AUGUST
August 4: Read to Me (Oak Park)
Saturday Dreams (Detroit & Oak Park)
August 24: Learn How to Dance, 7 p.m.
(Location TBD)
OCTOBER
October 6: Haven Domestic Violence
Shelter/Children;s Bingo & Pizza Party, 12 p.m.
October 11: Care House Child Abuse &
Neglect Council, 6 p.m.
October 13: Read to Me (Detroit)
October 16: Breast Cancer Awareness, 7 p.m.
(Location TBD)
October 20: Saturday Dreams/Halloween
Bingo (Detroit & Oak Park)
October 24: Clothing Drive Set-Up, Warren, 9 a.m.
October 25-26: Clothing Drive, Warren, 9 a.m.
NOVEMBER
November 2: Read to Me (Oak Park)
November 6-10: Adopt-a-Family
Program begins
November 17: Nursing Home Thanksgiving
Dinner, St. Anthony, 4 p.m.
November 17: Saturday Dreams
(Detroit & Oak Park)
November 19: Senior Bingo Thanksgiving
Lunch, 1 p.m. Chaldean Manor
DECEMBER
December 4: Advent by Candlelight, 6:30 p.m.
Shenandoah Country Club
December 8: Christmas Storytime
(Detroit & Oak Park)
December 15: Adopt-a-Family gift deliveries
December 15: Nursing Home Christmas
Dinner, St. Anthony Nursing Home, 4 p.m.
December 17: Senior Bingo Christmas Lunch,
1 p.m. Chaldean Manor
ADVERTORIAL