ABOUT CHRIST CHILD SOCIETY OF NAPLES

With all the paperwork in place, the first official meeting was held in January 1998 at the Boathouse of the Collier Reserve Country Club. The next step was fundraising to support our first projects – layettes and partnering with Golden Terrace School in the Golden Gate area of Naples. The small group held a progressive lasagna dinner with about six members and their spouses. The spouses not only paid for the dinner, but they also had to pay to eat it! A total of $500 was raised. Our chapter continued to grow not only with women who belonged to other Christ Child chapters in the United States, but also with many wonderful ladies who had never before heard of the Christ Child Society. Today, we have a membership of 200 and thousands of volunteer hours provided annually. 

Joanne Halstead started working with the layette project shortly after the chapter was established. Our chapter continues to focus on the importance of this project. To date, more than 10,000 layettes have been distributed to needy moms who have a newborn. Most layettes include beautiful, handmade blankets that many women have spent thousands and thousands of hours knitting or crocheting. These gifts to the moms provide a fresh start for the new baby.

Golden Terrace School wanted the ladies to read to the children, and they became the “Rocking Grannies.” After two years, the members wanted to do more at the school, but the administration did not want to expand the program. We then adopted Golden Gate Elementary School, which was delighted to welcome our volunteers. It is a partnership which continues today. Many projects were established to help meet the needs of the children, including a physical challenge track, a butterfly garden with benches for reading outdoors, running team uniforms and bicycle helmets for safety in riding to school since there is no bus transportation. We provided funds for vegetable gardens that fit with the science program. Mary Anne Palma obtained a $50,000 grant from Target Corporation which allowed us to upgrade the library and provide computers, copy machines and other needed items to the school. The remaining funds were used to upgrade other school libraries in poor condition.

Our list of projects grew. These included furnishing beds with bedding and books for children in Habitat for Humanity homes and tutoring at Fun Time Academy. One early project at Fun Time was the purchase of a large red wagon that could be used to safely transport babies out of the trailers in the event of fire. We have also provided summer scholarships for Fun Time students in addition to many literacy volunteers.

A variety of agencies have called on us to meet particular needs of children, including the Children’s Advocacy Center of Collier County (CAC). Because of the special recording equipment we purchased to record their testimony, many abused children were spared having to appear in court in person. We also give Pack and Play cribs to the CAC to give infants a safe place to sleep. We supplied “My Stuff Bags” to the Center for children taken unexpectedly from their homes with nothing of their own. These bags contained new clothes, pajamas, personal care items, a toy, a book and a stuffed animal.

We provided volunteers to the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile which offers free dental care to needy children. Further, we established the ELLM reading Readiness Program for Head Start students (which ended after COVID), provided volunteers and furnished support to Grace Place, sewed infant Grieving Gowns for babies lost at birth, and provided new parents with the baby care book Bringing Baby Home in English, Spanish and Creole. As with all Christ Child chapters, layettes have always been an integral part of our program.

In 2024, we began a grant process, which enabled us to support organizations in Collier County that work with Children. The grant applications are vetted and approved by the board.

Christ Child Society of Naples has come a long way from the first fundraiser—a lasagna dinner hosted by the original members where their husbands were expected to contribute! They then began holding  fundraising parties at the homes of members. These home-based fundraisers transitioned into parties at the Tiburon Golf Club.  Following Tiburon, subsequent fundraisers were held at The Ritz Carlton Hotel, Port Royal Club, Naples Botanical Garden, and Grey Oaks Country Club. Each year was more successful than the last.

This fundraiser became known as the Red Wagon Gala because our founder, Mary Virginia Merrick, gifted a young boy a red wagon to help his mother deliver the laundry she prepared for wealthy families.  Each Gala featured a silent and live auction, a Fund the Need, and dinner and dancing. In 2015, the board decided to hold the Gala every other year.  In the off year, the Keep the Wheels Rolling fundraiser is held.  Members are asked to make contributions to fund our programs.

COVID forced CCSN to rethink fundraising. During this time, fundraising became virtual, including our 2023 “event” marking our 25th Anniversary! In 2024, we decided to have fundraising on two levels: the annual founders luncheon, held in February, has replaced the Red Wagon gala, and the annual Red Wagon appeal, held in the fall, is now the “virtual” event held for our members and supporters.

Christ Child Society of Naples sends out four newsletters a year.  The first, out in late September, is the Annual Impact Statement.  This includes the financial statement for the previous year.

The additional newsletters come out in October, January, and May.  Email blasts bring  our members up to date on events as well.

By 2015, Christ Child Society of Naples was working with 18 different agencies. Since we only operate six months a year (November through April), and we are an all-volunteer organization, the Board decided it was necessary to cut back on the number of projects. After much study and member feedback, we decided to concentrate on our three core areas: Infant Care (Layettes and Bringing Baby Home books), Basic Needs (Habitat for Humanity, Grace Place, Children’s Advocacy Center) and Literacy (ELLM, Golden Gate Elementary School and Fun Time Academy). Programs dropped were turned over to other agencies. The addition to the Grant process enables us to support new organizations without stretching the resources of CCSN.

We hold member meetings from November – April. These meetings feature a guest speaker (often from organizations we support) and are a wonderful way to catch up with old friends or meet new ones! Specifics on all CCSN meetings and events can be found in the Calendar of Events section of the homepage. 

In 2008, The Joanne Halstead Award was created to recognize the contributions of super volunteers. It was named for the first recipient, Joanne Halstead, who was given the honor for her work with layettes. Subsequent winners were Marge Crnkovich (2009), Nancy Tarika (2010), Mary Pollizzoto (2012), Stephanie Lohri and Maureen Kincaid (2013), Gail Garratt (2014), and Kathleen Flynn Fox and Terry Schrantz (2016) Diane Ebben (2017), Pat Limbach (2019), Arleen Rossi and MaryAngela Smith (2022), Gloria Gaughan and Sharon Prentice Todd (2024).

The list of Presidents and Co-Presidents, listed alphabetically is as follows: Jane Austermiller, Catherine Boltz, Kathleen Clark, Nancy Deakins, Lynne Deal, Judy Fahey, Diane Fall, Kathleen Flynn Fox, Barbara Franks, Mary Frey, Gloria Gaughan, Dottie Gerrity, Sue Keene Lipman, Sue Manion, Colleen Mayes, Valery Moore, Ginny Mulaney, Peggy Nolan, Mary Ellen Palma, Kathy Pezzuti, Ellen Ryan, Terry Schrantz, Patty Schimpf, Cherry Smith, Julia Van Domelen and Jean Voth.

Word of mouth became a wonderful thing for our chapter, and we have grown steadily over the years. Our organization is highly regarded in the area for all the good work that we do. After only two years of partnering with Golden Gate Elementary, the Collier County Education Foundation named the Christ Child Society of Naples Outstanding Business Partner. This chapter is vibrant and should function for many years to come. Clearly we have taken to heart founder Mary Virginia Merrick’s words, “Nothing is ever too much to do for a child.”