At its most recent monthly meeting, the Oakview Home and School Association received a donation of $10,735 from Bloomfield businessman Sanj Patel, the owner of Sanj’s Smoke Shop, on Broad Street. Patel is seen above with the association executive board and his two daughters. From left, Patel; President Jennifer Salgado; Recording Secretary Julie Armeno; Tarika Patel, holding check; Corresponding Secretary Debra Nole, in blue; Kamya Patel, holding check; Vice President Jennifer Obiedzinski and Treasurer Laurie Venezia.
BLOOMFIELD, NJ — The Home and School Association of Oakview Elementary School received two checks totaling $10,735 at its recent monthly meeting. The donation was from Bloomfield businessman Sanj Patel, owner of Sanj’s Smoke Shop, located on Broad Street, in the North Center.
In January, to commemorate his 24th year in business, Patel held an invitation-only, anniversary party and charity event to benefit the school. Bags of cigars were sold for $100 each and Patel contributed $5,000 of his own money. His two daughters, Kamya and Tarika, presented the checks to Association President Jennifer Salgado. Kamya, a fourth-grader, and Tarika, a second-grader, attend Oakview Elementary.
In a telephone interview earlier this week, Salgado said donations help to pay for a variety of activities benefiting Oakview. These include garden projects, author visits, assemblies and other enrichment activities. Donations are especially important now, she said, because of cuts in school funding by the state. The association also awards two $550 scholarships to two graduating Bloomfield High School seniors, who were promoted from Oakview Elementary.
Salgado said the association has recently implemented a greater use of recycling bins in the school for children to deposit their empty water bottles and paper wrappers.
“For years we were struggling with children, with paper and plastic in their lunch boxes,” she said in a telephone interview this week. “But there were no recycling bins in the hallways. Now we have them.”
The bins have been placed in the main hallway and outside by the gym, for lunchtime recycling. The effort started late last year.
The association is also becoming more tech-savvy and environmentally conscience itself, Salgado said. It is using more social media to announce its activities and less paper that would be used for fliers.
The association is now having a “calendar raffle,” she said, with winning prize money announced each day, Monday through Friday. There is also an upcoming tricky tray.
“We’re very excited,” she said about the tricky tray. “We haven’t had one on this scale since 2011.”
This tricky tray is scheduled for March 24, in Woodland Park. It will include a sit-down dinner and about 400 baskets. Additional information can be obtained by visiting http://ovhsa.3dcartstores.com/tricky-tray_c_13.html.
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