Cherry Hill Conducting First Martin Luther King Jr. Collection Drive

Cherry Hill Township and the Cherry Hill Public School District are partnering for the Township’s first-ever Martin Luther King Day of Service collection drive.

The collection effort will support five local charities: the American Red Cross Service to the Armed Forces; Mothers Matter/the Lauren Rose Albert Foundation; the Cherry Hill Food Pantry; the Camden County Animal Shelter; and the Cherry Hill Public Library.

A full list of items needed is as follows:

American Red Cross: Baby wipes, travel size; chapstick; toothpaste; mouthwash; dental floss; socks; sunblock, travel size; deodorant.

Mother Matters/the Lauren Rose Foundation: shampoo; conditioner; body wash/body scrub; body lotion; decorative scarves; warm, fuzzy socks; nail polish.

Cherry Hill Food Pantry: peanut butter; pancake mix; syrup; tuna fish.

Camden County Animal Shelter: dry or canned dog and cat food; dog and cat treats; cat and dog toys; old bedding/towels; cat-litter (non-clumping); small bottles and nipples for feeding kittens; heating pads for kittens; thermometers for kittens; bleach; dawn dish soap; hand sanitizer; 55 gallon trash bags; tall kitchen trash bags; laundry detergent.

Cherry Hill Public Library: books (used, but in good condition, especially looking for children’s and teen books, graphic novels and foreign language books, but no text books, encyclopedias, magazines or journals.); DVDs (recent titles in original cases); video games (good condition, in original case for Wii, Xbox 360, Playstation 3).

Donations can be dropped off at one of four locations across town:

· Cherry Hill Township Municipal Building, 820 Mercer St. (Donate from Jan. 5-16)

· Cherry Hill Public Library, 1100 Kings Hwy. North (Donate from Jan. 5-16)

· Cherry Hill High School West, 2101 Chapel Ave. (Donate Jan. 12-16 only)

· Clara Barton Elementary School, 223 Rhode Island Ave. (Donate Jan. 12-16 only)

Volunteers from the Township, community and schools will come together from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday, Jan. 19, to sort and deliver the collected items at Cherry Hill High School West.

The Township invites organizations that wish to host their own collection drive in support of this effort to do so. Assistance transporting the items to Cherry Hill West can be provided.

For more information or to volunteer for a trail-maintenance project, please contact Gabrielle Centrone at 856-432-8766, or e-mail Events@chtownship.com.