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What's New?
March 2004
After nearly 83 years, The Red Bank Lion's Club of Red Bank is still working hard and fulfilling the Lions' Motto, "We Serve."
The Red Bank Lion's held their Annual Dinner in the Tearoom at the Molly Pitcher Inn to honor local charities trying to make a difference in our community.
Members distributed donations totaling $20,000.00 to many local charities, including Jason's Dreams For Kids.
The Lions Club has always been a community organization helping several charities through the years and continues to help others today. Even with today's small membership and aging club, they continue to be a strong presence in the community.
Dreams Do Come True
It was the bandana he noticed first
Dennis McGinnis stopped into a local pizza parlor for lunch and noticed a young girl wearing a scarf on her head.
"I knew by looking at her there was something wrong with her," recalled McGinnis, founder of Jason's Dreams for Kids, Inc. "I motioned to her mother would it be OK if I came over and she said sure, so I sat down and introduced myself."
After helping hundreds of children battling life-threatening illnesses, McGinnis was all too familiar with the telltale signs of cancer treatment.
"She was 10 years old and her mom said they were getting ready to go back for another round of chemotherapy," he said.
When McGinnis found out the family would be staying at the Ronald McDonald House in Philadelphia while she underwent treatment, he reached in his pocket and gave her mother the money to pay for their stay.
Two days later, he got a call at his business, McGinnis Printing on Monmouth Street in Red Bank. Someone was organizing a fundraiser for her and asked if he would help.
That's generally the way McGinnis, Middletown, hears about the children helped by Jason's Dreams for Kids, a foundation he began following the death of his 18-year-old nephew, Jason Creager, in January 1992.
Diagnosed with Burkitts Lymphoma, an aggressive childhood cancer, Jason had undergone chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant when he called his favorite uncle with a request.
"Uncle Dee-Dee do you know what I want for Christmas?" Jason asked. "The doctors told me I only have six weeks to live. Don't let me die and if I do, make me a promise that you'll never forget me."
McGinnis has honored that promise by helping hundreds of children fighting catastrophic illnesses.
At first he and a group of friends raised funds informally, mainly through a golf tournament. But the number of children and families needing help continued to grow and in 1995, Jason's Dreams for Kids, Inc. was incorporated with the mission of simply "putting a smile on a kid's face."
Since then, McGinnis estimates that 500 children have been helped.
"Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of children," said McGinnis, his frustration evident. Occasionally, the foundation also helps an adult in need.
"Ninety-five percent are children with cancer, others are severely autistic, have sickle cell anemia, Cerebral Palsy, Down's Syndrome," he said.
Jason's Dreams has been called up for help ranging from medical bills to a toy store shopping spree.
"Right now we have at least seven families we're working with whose needs range from a wheelchair, to ramps, medical bills, a Disney trip," McGinnis said.
Working with a network of friends and volunteers, he has raised $744,000 over the past four years, 90 percent of which has gone directly to helping the families who turn to Jason's Dreams for aid, according to McGinnis, whose business absorbs administrative costs.
Two annual events are the foundation's major source of funds. The Jason Douglas Creager Memorial Golf Outing held in June and the annual Turkey Bowl held the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Last year the touch football tourney raised $22,000 for Jason's Dreams.
Other funds come from individual donations: a 13-year-old gave $20,000 in gifts from his bar mitzvah, a couple made a donation in lieu of favors at their wedding.
Through the generosity of an anonymous donor, Jason's Dreams for Kids has begun a new initiative - helping families and children affected by the war in Iraq. The foundation is paying for groceries and medical bills for a family whose self-employed father has been called to active duty.
If raising money and making wishes come true aren't the challenge for Jason's Dreams for Kids, what is?
"Trying to convince the families that there's a reason for what's going on," McGinnis responds.
One sleepless night as he gazed up at a sky filled with stars, McGinnis found inspiration.
"I talk to Jason a lot," he explained. "Thoughts came into my head like he was putting them there. You're helping these kids but you need to give the families hope for what they're going through."
The idea for a music video was born and McGinnis turned to country music star Kevin Sharp, a childhood cancer survivor and Jason's Dreams supporter.
McGinnis and Sharp are working on a music video based on Sharp's recording of "Dreams Do Come True," McGinnis' tribute to his nephew. The video will feature the faces of hundreds of Jason's Dreams children who have overcome life-threatening illnesses.
"It will make a difference for families to see the kids that have survived," McGinnis explained. "Not only will it help other kids and their families, but what a tribute to my nephew's life."
Jason's Dreams For Kids is a non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization.
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