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Monthly Archives: January 2022

Camp Rhythm – Pioneers NOW Ch 161 – East MO Council & Thank You!

Again, the outcome for 2021 was still affected by virus pandemic, instead of camping and experiencing the outside the children experience the indoor activities such as making tie dye T-shirts, designing and making pieces of Jewelry, Coloring, Painting, drawing, and many more activities.

Again, most importantly, these activities engage each child in life lessons. Learning to be flexible and engaging in a new adventure. They learn to take risks and handle failure, and be  individually creative and using their own imagination and to be on their own. skills that can be harder to come by for children living with the physical and emotional scars of a serious illness.

Our group was not allowed to visit the hospital other than make deliveries as we normally do at the camp ground. Also, we proudly display our New Outlook Pioneer Logo on the donated material.

Thank you for choosing to support St. Louis Children’s Hospital in 2021! 

Because of generous individuals like you, we were able to provide compassionate, cutting-edge healthcare to more than 100,000 kids in 2021. On behalf of our patients and families, please accept our sincere gratitude for allowing our physicians, nurses and hospital staff to provide an opportunity for so many kids to just be kids.

Your donation was much more than a gift. It was treatment for complex medical conditions such as pediatric cancer. It provided community health outreach for dental and asthma care. It created access to behavioral health services, family-centered resources and so much more. Your thoughtfulness also ensured we remained a hub for innovative pediatric research by allowing our Washington University physician-scientists to translate research findings from their labs to the bedside, delivered in a warm and supportive environment that families can’t find anywhere else.

Above all else, please know that your gift created hope for patients and families right when they needed it the most. While times may still feel uncertain for many of us, there is no doubt your remarkable dedication made a difference. Thank you!

Hi Judy, St. Louis Children’s Hospital Made This Video Just For You

Submitted by Judy Herbst

FOOD PANTRY Project – Pioneers New Outlook West Ch. 1961 – East MO Council

This year was a once again a very hard year due to the continuance of COVID, especially for low-income families. We support two food pantries through time and food donations. Circle of Concern and the Affton Food Pantry is what this grant was dedicated to.

Regarding the Affton Food Pantry we have an individual who drives weekly for their Meals on Wheels Program which provides food and assistance to the hungry.

Regarding Circle of Concern the main food items they prefer from their wish list include soups, cereals, pastas and boxed dinner helpers.

Many people think of Circle of Concern as only a food panty but, they do so much more to help families in need. They offer scholarships for high school, and college. They also offer children’s programs, including funding the cost of summer camp, providing back to school supplies, providing a birthday gift for children under twelve years of age, and providing free or reduced breakfast/lunch programs. Once again, these services are offered to only low-income families that qualify.

Circle did say they are overwhelmed by our council’s continued generosity to our community. Due to safe distancing and changes on local government requirement our council occasionally follows The Circle of Concerns recommendations and orders from their Amazon Wish list for their monthly food donated. Although it slightly reduces the PAL hours, it enables us to meet our commitment to the families in need and provides streamline delivery on their end.


The Volunteers

Submitted by Patricia Hawkins and Cyndi Miller

Pioneers Oral History Project

The Pioneers have begun work on an Oral History project to memorialize the history of our experiences through the years. Here is a sample of one part of the final project. We are also working on a book to commemorate the legacy of Pioneering.  If you would like to share your experiences, please call 1-855-890-9254 (toll-free) to share your stories of Pioneering.

Many of the Life Members may have already received their postcard in the mail and updated their data with the Pioneer HQ’s.  If you reply and update your data and do an Oral History there are many different levels you can buy to receive a package of the information that is gathered. Below is the yellow post card you will or have received and the prices of the packages available to purchase.

Submitted by Director Elaine Housley

BACKPACK Project Ch. 132 Murray Hill Club

New Outlook Penn- Jersey Chapter 132 continued its annual initiative to support school children in the area we serve.  For that endeavor, we donated an assortment of school supplies; 1,728 backpacks and 1,794 pencil holders to more than 15 school districts and community organizations.  We purchased the backpacks and pencil holders using funds from Pioneers’ Charitable Foundation Grants that enabled us to sustain our previous years donation.

Chapter 132 allocated individual budgets to each club to pay for school supplies.  We redirected our gifts of backpacks and accompanying pencil holders to organizations that were able and willing to accept these gifts during the pandemic, while designated organizations were closed due to Pandemic restrictions.

Shiloh Baptist Church provided Covid safe space that enabled each chapter to receive supplies at a scheduled time and allowed us to distribute the supplies from their gym.    Every participant was required to follow the Covid standard to wear masks and observe distance specifications

Action Taken

Provided scheduled pick-up windows for backups and supplies at Shiloh Baptist Church in Plainfield NJ.  Shiloh established strict protocols to ensure safety and protection for recipients.

Each Club member purchased and provided school supplies to their specific organization or school.

Distributed New Outlook Pioneers Penn-Jersey Chapter 132 donations to:

  • Civic League of Greater New Brunswick – New Brunswick, NJ
  • Community Coordinated Child Care – Rahway, NJ
  • Constable Elementary School – Kendall Park, NJ
  • Evidence of the Gospel Church, Inc. – Hillsborough, NJ
  • Feeding Hands Food Pantry – Bridgewater, NJ
  • Good Shepherd Lutheran Church – Somerville, NJ
  • Huntington Park Christian Academy – Philadelphia, PA
  • Neighborhood House, Plainfield, NJ
  • Norristown Area School District – Norristown, PA
  • Plainfield School System – Plainfield, NJ
  • Rahway Public Schools – Rahway, NJ
  • Saint Mark’s Church and Saint Mark’s Center for Community Renewal –
  • Keansburg, NJ
  • Salvation Army – Reading, PA
  • Somerset FoodBank – Bridgewater, NJ
  • St. Joseph’s Social Center – Elizabeth, NJ
  • Shiloh Baptist Church Food Pantry – Plainfield, NJ
  • South Brunswick School District – South Brunswick, NJ
  • Union County T.E.A.M.S. Charter School – Plainfield, NJ
Packing The Backpacks

Submitted by Pioneer Pat Fields – President Murray Hills Club

PLAINFIELD TEEN PARENTING PROGRAM, INC. – Penn-Jersey Pioneers Ch. 132 Murray Hill Club

Happy New Year. this video is part of a Holiday event we’ve done every year for the past 30 years. it is very scaled down because of Covid — our team is usually there — playing games, serving food, giving gifts.

Established in 1989 and operating in the Plainfield (NJ) High School, School Based Youth Services: Plainfield Teen Parenting Program, Inc. (SBYS: PTPP) has achieved extraordinary success as a dropout prevention program. The initiative was developed in response to the growing incidences of teenage pregnancies in Plainfield.

With an initial grant of $350,000 each (to 10 similar projects throughout the US) from the AT&T Foundation, the program’s earliest mission was to enable teen parents attending school to successfully carry out parenting, educational/vocational and health care responsibilities by facilitating access to needed support services.

Additional program goals included helping young parents to break the cycle of child abuse and repeat pregnancies, as well as provide the guiding resources to self-motivate the parents in the program to continue their post high school education.

The program also included a quality operated early care and education program for the infants and toddlers of the young parents in its on-site “Infant & Toddler Center” located in the high school. The positive results of this program have made it the national and international model for similar programs and it has been replicated in 14 cities in NJ.

Of the 10 initial projects the Plainfield program remains a stellar support program in the community-mostly because of the Volunteer Component. Since its inception, Pioneers have served as mentors, role models and fund raisers for the program and New Outlook Pioneers continue to have an impact in its success.

Since its inception, nearly 700 students have been enrolled in the program which accommodates up to 28 parents and their children per school year. A significant achievement for the program is that SBYS: PTPP has achieved a 98% graduation rate among its senior student participants with many going on to a continued education or vocation program and become productive citizens in the communities where they live and work

Annually program parents and children are blessed with a holiday dinner and gift giving party sponsored and hosted by New Outlook Pioneers. The event is truly wonderful. The dinner is provided by Shiloh Baptist Church members (who are also NOP volunteers). All of the children received PJ’s, outfits and a stuffed animal. The parents receive grocery store gift cards that are donated by John C. Campbell Realty Company (John is a board member). Staff members also receive a poinsettia as a thank you for the outstanding work that they do for the families in the program.


Submitted by:
Patricia Anne Fields
POB 6225, Plainfield, NJ 07062
908-391-8212

Hug A Bear Volunteer Group To Carry On

In the early months of 2021 when Covid-19 broke out the Hug A Bear group could no longer meet to make the Bears at Maple Ridge Retirement Center. Then in mid April they informed the Heartland Pioneers that after a decade of making Bear in their lower level they were told that they had to vacate by the end of April.

The volunteer group had no place to go and started a search for a new location. The group decided to put everything connected with making of the Bears in storage for the time being. In September as things opened up a home still hadn’t been found. At that time those that still making Bears with the group decided to make Bears in their homes working on them individually. If was found that there were somewhere between 200 to 300 Bears in different stages and they would finish these up before starting any more Bears.

Covid-19 and variants have made it very hard at this time to secure a place to make the Bears and store everything used to make the Bears. The group has decided to keep making Hug A Bears by making them in their homes in the different steps. 3-M in Valley, NE that donates the fluff we use to stuff the Bears is considering partnering with us in some matter making the Bears. We hope that this inquiry works out for both of us.

In December the group had around 80 plus Hug A Bears finished and Judy Coffey told the group that she would find homes for the finished Bears. The week before Christmas Judy connected with the Women’s Center For Advancement and delivered 20 Hug A Bears. After Christmas she connected with Project Harmony and gave them 20 Bears. On January 3 Judy stopped in at the Boys Town National Research Hospital. Judy connected with Gloria at Boys Town and gave her 20 Bears. All three organization told Judy that when the Heartland Pioneers have more Bears made they would gladly accept more Bears for the children.

Women’s Center For Advancement
The WCA assists anyone in the Omaha area who is experiencing domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, or human trafficking. The WCA is Omaha’s designated domestic violence help center. They serve the critical needs of domestic violence and sexual assault victims in Omaha, Nebraska.

Project Harnony
Together, we can end child abuse. Every child deserves to grow up safe, happy and healthy. We’re boldly focused on ending the cycle of child abuse and neglect in our community.

Boys Town Nation Research Hospital
Boys Town National Research Hospital is a clinical and research hospital that focuses on childhood deafness, language, and communication


Submitted by Judy Coffey, Jerry Golmanavich and Bob Wolkins