LETTER: Afternoon Tea a Success for Family Promise

(Editor's note: The following is a letter to the editor submitted to Salem NH Patch. If you'd like to see your letter published here, submit it to Local Editor Jake O'Donnell at jake.odonnell@patch.com.)

To Everyone Who Made the Afternoon Tea a Success:

Family Promise of Greater Rockingham County is getting closer to opening as generous donors help raise the funds to pay for the van, the day center, and the day staff to help homeless families address the issues that made them homeless.  The recent "" hosted by of Salem raised $1,800 with a lot of help from the community.

and of Salem donated grocery cards, Tamaja Pies of Windham baked several boxes of fabulous chocolate chip cookies and Marilyn Suszek of Salem donated a beautiful Mary Kay bath collection. 

Corinne Dodge of Derry donated a professional "Well in Hand" massage; the Tea Gathering of Methuen, Mass., and donated gift certificates to the tea shop; and from Salem, Bead With Style donated a beading lesson, donated tickets, and donated gift certificates.

Patricia Russell of Windham, famous for chairing two "Searles Girls" Red Hat teas that benefitted the Searles Castle, spent days planning and shopping for the tea, starting with the basics of counting chairs and tables!

Ellen Waters, volunteer for the Pleasant Street food pantry, worked for two days, ironing, setting tables, doing anything needed, even as she was packing to visit family in Ireland. Church and Family Promise volunteers like Chris Hecox and Mary Hamblett worked as long as Energizer batteries.

The Workplace Success volunteers created well-researched, beautiful signs about each raffle prize donor, decorating the ticket containers as well.  The Salvation Army staff and Millie Cartier went out of their way to help gather decorations. 

Kathy Olson lent her lace tablecloths, Dot Wood provided a huge bag of coffee cans for the raffles , and Johanna Kagan cut large squares of fine white cardboard for covering corkboards so pictures could be hung with an attractive background.  Connie Barnes provided linens and teapots, along with Diane Gulden, Sue Violi and a host of Triumphant Cross members, who also baked dozens of cookies.

Dolly Falco, Lorraine Arsenault, Ellen Venturo, Charlotte Panneton, Beverly Johnson and Bernadette Morton, volunteers for the monthly Tea Party at the Salem Ingram Senior Center, earned aerobic points for their many hours working on their feet. They made cookies; shopped for groceries, served tea, grapes, cheese, and mountains of cookies all afternoon and then cleaned up!

They even raised another $52 from the gracious Salem Women's Club members, after the club had already made a donation. Donning formal wear, Paul Lutz of Derry and John Gay of Salem escorted ladies to their tables decorated with fine china as sunshine filtered through lace curtains, while Pam Hartung of Hampstead checked in the guests all afternoon.

Musicians from Pinkerton and filled the hall with beautiful music non-stop throughout the three-hour tea.  The String Quartet from Pinkerton also boasted two great pianists.  Jen Messina, Liann Mosier, Ann Marie Pinard and Lesley Herold played not only classics, but Led Zepplin tunes!  When he was not playing solo, Adam Claussen of Pinkerton played with the Jazz Band from Salem High, David Harris, Brian DiPanfioo, Lexi Warnick and Derek Moali.  Andrew and Rebecca Cunningham and their friend Patrick Chabot played soft rock on acoustic guitar accompanying Jen Messina’s singing, while their dad Craig Cunningham kept the hot chocolate going.  The concert would have been wonderful even had there been no tantalizing refreshments!

This new chapter of Family Promise plans to serve 14 communities.  Newspapers, TV and websites for all these towns were fantastic, running articles, photos and notices in their calendars multiple times, truly generous gifts of coveted time and column space.  Alphabetically they are the Eagle Tribune, Elsie’s Column, the Londonderry Times, the Nutfield News, Pelham~Windham News, Salem Community Patriot, Salem-NH.Patch.com, Salem Observer, SCTV 17, State Line Review, the Tri-Town Times, and the Windham Independent.  Family Promise depends on all of you to continue to spread the word about their mission to move homeless families back into safe housing.

With sincere appreciation,

Betty Gay,  Chairman of the Afternoon Tea for Family Promise