NEWS FROM THE NEEDHAM COMMUNITY COUNCIL

For the Community Council, it's 75 years and counting

Reprinted with permission from the Needham Times
March 17, 2005
By David Ertischek/ Staff Writer

In December 1930, the Needham Community Council delivered 110 Christmas food baskets to local residents. Since then, the council has given out thousands of gift baskets during its 75 years of existence.

"It started during the Depression," said Jeanne Ferellec, who started volunteering for the organization in the early 1980s. "Many towns started [community councils] to support citizens of the towns."

In the beginning, the council barely had a closet for its office; now it owns its office on Lincoln Street.

The list of good deeds reads like a direct ticket to heaven for the one full-time employee, four part-time employees and more than 100 volunteers. Among the more prolific programs are a medical loan closet, a nursing home boutique, holiday helping bags, holiday need-based bags, a food pantry and an in-house clothes closet and flea market.

A medical loan closet that lends out wheelchairs, canes, walkers and other needed items has grown from having 25 items during its inception in the early 1980s to hundreds of items today. Needham resident Marion Lebourveau started the medical loan closet.

"I knew it was an impressive organization. When I came here, volunteering had always been my middle name," said Lebourveau, whose husband, John, was a treasurer for the council for 10 years. "There's this feeling of amazement that an organization would provide, free of charge, medical supplies. Other people from other towns couldn't believe that we had such an organization."

Lebourveau also credited former council Director Stephanie Kalin as a visionary to get the council to what it does today.

The nursing home boutique is a very helpful program, too, said Ferellec, who started off in the early '80s as a volunteer driver for the council taking residents to doctor or hair salon appointments.

"We go once a month, every Monday, to nursing homes," said Ferellec, who knitted the bright yellow bags that boutique items are brought in more than 15 years ago. "They have tables to sell jewelry, stationery, clothing, moisturizer and other toiletries. It gives [nursing home residents] an opportunity to shop."

Ferellec said the boutique has even sold silk scarves that would go for $30 in stores, but went for $1 to elderly residents. The scarves were so popular that a maximum purchase of two scarves was created.

And for a nonprofit organization that does not receive any town or government money, any profits from the boutique go to the holiday bags program which gives out close to 250 bags a year.

"We give them to Needham residents who are homebound, in nursing homes or need a little cheer," said Ferellec. "It has nothing to do with income." Inside the bags are a slew of random items: tissues, a teddy bear, a pack of thank-you notes, soap, moisturizer, chocolate and a card from a local elementary school student.

The impact the council has had on Needham residents is apparent, said Executive Director Sandra Robinson. The always-smiling Robinson said the council often receives generous funds from Needhamites' wills. But the council still has its annual fund drive.

Robinson estimated that 42 percent of the council's revenue comes from the clothes closet in the downstairs of the Lincoln Street building. On Wednesdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., anyone can come downstairs and buy dishes, sheets, blankets, pans or clothes that have been donated. And all donations are tax-deductible.

Robinson said on Mondays there are usually about 12 volunteers downstairs sorting through clothes and other items and affixing price tags. If an item is deemed undesired for the Needham store, it is sent to another organization such as the Salvation Army.

The food pantry is also a highly valued program for 160 Needham families, who only need a referral from the Board of Health or Needham Housing Authority to receive food. The pantry is a choice program that comes at no cost to those in need. Robinson said along with individual donations, Roche Bros., Sudbury Farms and Trader Joe's are all very generous in donating food to the pantry.

The future of the Needham Community Council looks bright with Sandra Robinson in charge. Ferellec added that Robinson's enthusiasm carries through the entire organization.

"I've only been here for three years. I'll be the 'new' director for the next 10 years," Robinson said.

The Community Council will host a silent auction and its annual dinner at the Sheraton Needham Hotel on Thursday, March 31, at 6 p.m. Tickets are $30. Laurence "Skilky" Eaton will be the guest speaker. For tickets, call 781-444-2415.