Current Press Release

TOMS RIVER – Many Ocean County children in need will have fresh personal-care and toiletry items, thanks to generous county residents who have responded overwhelmingly to the Ocean County Library’s Sparks B.F.F. Reading Club collection drive. 

The lengthy list of contributors includes the Filipino-American Community Development Center of Toms River, whose volunteers carried nearly 20 boxes of items, including 12 cases of hand sanitizer, to the Toms River Branch. 

Members of Manchester Township High School’s National Honor Society (NHS) and Key Club chapters amassed eight boxes full of much-needed items by mid-month, and delivered them to the Library’s Manchester Branch. 

According to NHS Advisor MaryEllen Fecanin, “The expectation for both Key Club and NHS students is…to demonstrate leadership and community service. They really coordinated this on their own.” 

Key Clubbers solicited donations locally, and received items from Connecticut-based High Ridge Brands. They received community service credits for their efforts. NHS students fulfilled a requirement to perform community-oriented activities along with peer tutoring. 

The students also donated knitted yarn “soap sacks,” created by volunteers of Supporting A Community with Kindness (SACK), the non-profit group founded in 2017 by shore resident Stacy Wiener that serves support agencies, food pantries, veterans’ clinics, homeless shelters, and relief efforts. 

Keep up with Library programs and events at www.theoceancountylibrary.org, and on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Spotify, and Pinterest.

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