2025 Fund Drive Ends; Fire Victims Helped
The Leonia Community Chest is concluding its 2024-2025 fund drive. If you haven’t made a donation or would like to make another -- please visit our Donate Page. You may pay by credit card or send a check to P.O. Box 68, Leonia, 07605. THANK YOU!
On the morning of Friday, February 14th, a devastating three alarm fire destroyed two residential buildings at the corner of Grand and Schor Avenues, in Leonia, displacing 35 adults and children from their homes. In response, the Leonia Community Chest set up a donation page to receive funds from residents, businesses, and local non-profits. An outpouring of neighborly support and generosity resulted in over $45,000 bring collected. The Community Chest gave $1,000 from its Ilene Fleming Emergency Relief Fund.
Working cooperatively with the Leonia Mayor and Council, the Community Chest was pleased to be able to deliver emergency relief checks to the 10 families. We would like to express our gratitude to our friends and neighbors for their generousity and rapid response. We could not have done it without YOU!
Since 1944, the Leonia Community Chest has been proud to support neighbors helping neighbors. Come visit our table at Leonia Day, on May 3. You will see a display of creative expressions about being a good neighbor and the value of community created by Leonians. You can learn about the organizations we support.
Please visit our webpage to see where your dollars go.
A donation to the Leonia Community Chest is also a meaningful way to honor someone, recognize an achievement, celebrate an occasion, or memorialize someone who has passed away. Please indicate this on the donation you mail to us and we will acknowledge your donation to the person in whose honor or memory it is given.
The Board is grateful and pleased to continue to receive legacy donations.
The Community Chest is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization. Contributions are tax deductible, as permitted by law.
Meline Tarpinyan Receives Community Service Award
The Leonia Community Chest was pleased to award its 2024 Community Service Scholarship to Leonia High School senior Meline Tarpinyan. This is the 7th year the Community Chest has presented this award to a Leonia High School graduate for activities that help our community.
Meline greatly impressed the LCC's scholarship subcommittee with her essay on the months-long project she initiated, with the help of LHS Librarian Ms. Sue Grover, to organize the classroom where piles of library books had been relocated and to turn it into a warm and welcoming space. The group of students drawn to the space grew over time, and together they shelved books and discussed a wide range of topics such as novels, history, literature, and philosophy. As Meline described it, the students who gathered there became a community, and the space became more than a room with books; it became a library.
As an active member of DECA, Meline has participated in many projects, including helping to raise money for Oasis, a nonprofit organization in Paterson that supports low-income women and children. She formed a group to set up a fundraising dinner at LHS, obtaining donations of food and supplies. The event was a huge success, yet Meline took it one step further and organized a flower sale to collect even more money to reach the goal she had set for herself, ultimately raising more than $1000 for the cause.
Based on her interest in international relations and strong identification with her Armenian heritage, Meline obtained a spot in the Armenian Committee of America Rising Leaders Program. As part of that program, she received training through the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention and went to Washington, DC with a group of students to meet with U.S. Representative Josh Gottheimer and other lawmakers to raise awareness about the importance of genocide prevention and to lobby for the passage of a bill to fund genocide education.
The subcommittee was perhaps most inspired by Meline's truly sincere description in her interview of the value she sees in engaging with people to serve others, and how wonderful it is to learn from others through her volunteer work, which she described as "cathartic." We hope you all will be equally inspired.