Community effort adds up
to disaster relief success
By clare M. masi
Staff Writer

HOWELL — Can a dollar really make a difference? According to Howell podiatrist Dr. Hal Ornstein, the Howell Chamber of Commerce and several tireless volunteers, it certainly can.

Through a cooperative effort, the chamber of commerce, Ornstein and a team of volunteers have been on a mission to see just how much difference a dollar can really make. They spent a week distributing canisters all over town to local businesses in order to collect funds for the families of the victims of the World Trade Center disaster.

Ornstein told Greater Media Newspapers a letter was hand delivered, along with a hand-decorated container made by the volunteers, to more than 200 places of business in town. The funds collected in these containers are earmarked for the American Red Cross, Jersey Coast Chapter. The funds, estimated at $12,500, according to Ornstein, are slated to go directly to the families of the victims of the twin towers tragedy.

In the letter to business owners, Ornstein asked them to encourage their customers to give $1 each over the next two weeks. The letter informed owners the containers would be picked up on Oct. 5.

Ornstein gave business owners a challenge. In addition to housing the containers for the donation, he asked them to consider matching all or a portion of the funds collected. He then issued another challenge, this one specifically to his colleagues.

"I asked them to consider contributing all of their patient co-pays collected on Sept. 27. These funds are also earmarked for the Jersey Coast Chapter of the American Red Cross," Ornstein said.

Distributing more than 200 plastic containers to local businesses in such a short amount of time was an amazing feat which, according to Ornstein, was only possible because of the tireless efforts of so many people.

A chamber of commerce that stands beside its members, Ornstein’s wife, Anna, who supports his work and his charitable nature, a mother in law, Mary, who copied a never-ending stream of paperwork for the drive, and a wonderful group of volunteers, like Karen Butkus, Patty Camme and Anne Marie De Pinto, all helped make Ornstein’s idea work.

Ornstein was not surprised at the almost 100 percent cooperation of the businesses they visited.

"Our local businesses are always there to help the community," he said. "We talked to so many people, both owners and customers, and they all offered to help in any way they could. People were looking for a way to help. People continue to give over and over again as opposed to other charity organization drives where one would donate a single time. People can’t give enough."

Mary Margaret Buklarewicz, the executive director of the Howell Chamber of Commerce, told Greater Media Newspapers she was happy Ornstein and his volunteers came to her with their idea of acanister collection.

"The response has been tremendous. Business owners have actually been calling me to get a canister if they hadn’t already been approached by the team of volunteers," she said.

The director said she’s even received checks in the mail from people who read about the fund-raising drive.

"The volunteers were all so great," she said. "It’s so wonderful to see people join together for the same, single cause — to help others."

Patty Camme and her husband, Anthony, took part in the decoration of canisters provided by Ornstein, as well as the delivery of the canisters to businesses.

The brightly colored canisters decorated with small flags were delivered by Camme and her friends over the last two weeks.

"It was a good feeling to be able to take a proactive approach and do something for the families of the victims. Instead of sitting home mourning their loss, we were able to physically move ourselves to do something to help rather than dwelling on the sadness," Camme said.

The volunteer said the message she took home with her was "to look to the person next to you and join one another."

"I feel I’m helping to bring unity back to the country amidst all the horror of this tragedy," she added.

Karen Butkus, along with her husband, George, volunteered to deliver the canisters. In fact, Butkus made it a family affair by including her brother, John Weg, and her sister, Theresa Brown, in the fund-raising efforts.

Butkus, along with Camme and Anne Marie De Pinto, became familiar sights on Route 9 and Route 33 as they combed the area, dropping off their canisters in the hope of picking them up filled to the brim on Oct. 5.

"The pickup went great," Butkus said. "Business owners were so thankful to be able to do something to help out. Many of them even contributed money out of their own pockets."

She said the Howell PBA volunteered to escort the volunteers to ensure their safety as they moved from businesses, to stores, to offices, picking up the cash donations.

"There were two officers in each car," explained Butkus. "One drove, the other escorted us in and out of the stores and offices."

Four off-duty members of the Howell police force and the PBA volunteered their time to help the women out with the project. John Storrow, T.J. Hurley, Jason Symons and Eric Encarnacion were all glad to be of assistance.

Volunteers were then escorted by the officers to the Community Bank of Howell where officials had previously offered the services of their staff to separate, count and organize the money, then write a check for the total amount to the American Red Cross, Jersey Shore Chapter.

According to Butkus, counting the money would have been a very big undertaking for the women, so the generous offer of the bank officials was appreciated all the more.

"I was glad to be a part of this whole project," Butkus said. "I enjoyed helping to plan it and everything else that went along with it."

De Pinto commented that although they spent the entire day collecting canisters and were all quite exhausted, it was a good feeling to see the response that the fund-raiser had on everyone. She also said the police officers were extremely nice and she was happy they were there to escort the volunteers, giving them all a feeling of safety they would not have had otherwise.