President's Message

Happy New Year! It is great to see folks on the Island starting to get their vaccine or at least an appointment for a vaccine. Let us hope that this is the beginning of getting back to normal!  

Landlovers and The Salvation Army have a long history together. The Salvation Army has provided significant support to Landlovers at its annual Flea Market for many years. This year for the first time Landlovers volunteered to ring the bell at The Village Walk Pharmacy to support The Salvation Army in its iconic Red Kettle Campaign. This fundraiser began in 1891 and now represents the the Salvation Army’s largest fundraising event, raising millions of dollars each year (82% of which goes to program services).
                                                                                             
Thirty (not counting children and grandchildren) Landlovers volunteers rang the bell for a total of 45 hours and raised $3,411.15 towards Savannah’s $300,000 goal! Special thanks go to Marian Mackle who managed the event; Jason and Susanne Conley, owners of The Village Walk Pharmacy, for hosting the kettle, as well as their daughters and staff; to our single largest donor, the owner of Lucky the dog; and to Larry Batanian who challenged his golf group members to beat the Landlovers’ daily average, which they did by a significant amount as they helped to raise over $900 in one day (which was also one of the highest daily amounts raised in Savannah in one kettle).

There are a number of social and fund raising events planned for 2021. We have moved most of our activity dates to the second quarter. We are hoping this gives the maximum number of folks the opportunity to be vaccinated and participate safely. Remember, we are still collecting items for sale by our auction house; so if you have large items that you would like to donate, please contact Gail Tomassini (fleamarketintake@gmail.com). We have raised almost $10,000 through the auction house.

Please note:  we have changed our submission dates for Scholarships and Merit award to March 1, 2021 and grant applications to April 16th.

Warm regards,
John