MARY ANN ROCCO
145 Beadle Lake Drive
Battle Creek, MI 49014

​​Tel: 269-209-6640

​​Email: roccomaryann@yahoo.com
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THE DICTIONARY PROJECT

"The Dictionary Project" started in South Carolina. The purpose of the project is to put dictionaries into the hands of third graders. These dictionaries are theirs to keep. The organizers of this project are well organized, and have structured the project to make it a success with a minimum of effort. The website includes sample letters, suggestions for labeling the dictionaries, press releases... in short they have thought of everything you need to make the project a success. You may even send for samples of the dictionaries that are offered for sale. Since the current school year is at an end you will have plenty of time to collect information on you school, ordering the dictionaries and make presentation to the school.

There are four things to recommend this project:

GOOD PURPOSE — The Grange has always supported the advancement of education

MEDIUM EXPENSE — The dictionaries are available at a reasonable cost. The books are sold in case lots.

MINIMUM EFFORT — The instructions are very complete. All the thinking work has been done for you. And it would take very few people to finish the project. A small committee could handle it easily.

GOOD PUBLIC RELATIONS — This project would make a very newsworthy story for print or radio.

Please consider this project. If you are interested please contact:

http://www.dictionaryproject.org  or

Mary L. French
P.O. Box #1845
Charleston SC 29402
COMMUNITY SERVICE
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2025 GRANGE NEWS

Happy New Year!!! Sending Warm Wishes for a Happy Holiday Season. Wishing you a time of joy, a time of hope and good health in 2025

As I look back on at this year’s State Session I was pleased to see all the Granges that participated in reporting on the Community Service projects we had going on in our State.. 

 I would be happy to visit your Grange and help in any way I can. Help with your Community Service Reports or with community service ideas. Just let me know if I can help.

The winter months can be very hard for family members, neighbors or shut-ins. Lets see if we can bring a little cheer to a with a short note, a phone call or a short visit.

As I understand there will be some changes in the way out state winning Community Service Book will be reported to the National Grange this year. As soon as I get more information I will makes sure it gets to you.

Community Service Report Rules and Suggestions.

 Program Date: September 1, 2024 – August 31, 2025

Community Service Report Due: 
 September 10th, 2025. This means that your book needs to be delivered to the State Community Service Director on or before that date.

Mary Ann Rocco
145 Beadle Lake Drive
Battle Creek, MI 49014 

Divisions: 
 Granges are divides into two categories, small Granges with 40 members or less and large Granges with more than 40 members. Membership numbers are determined by the second quarter (June 30) membership report to the State Secretary. Granges will compete within their own category.

Summary Report:
 A Summary report form will be supplied to each Community Service Chairman. A report may be submitted alone or with a notebook to receive full credit as an entry. Reports may be typed or nearly hand written.

Notebook Report:
  Notebook reports MUST contain the Summary Report as the first pages of the report. Materials should be organized and indexed in a manner that effectively tells the story of your Grange’s Community Service work. Some choose to arrange projects from large to small and others choose to arrange materials in chronological order. You might also want to include newspaper articles, flyers and or pictures of your events. Remember if a couple of pictures cover the event it isn’t necessary to use a couple of pages of materials. 

Awards:
 Our Granges have several ways to honor its members. You can nominate them for the VIP Award or the Dedicated Person Award. We also have the privilege of honoring a Firefighter/EMT, A Law Enforcement Officer or Teacher of the Year Award in your area. These individuals deserve special recognition for services in your area, helping with Grange service projects or very special projects/service they do.

More in depth information will be coming in the next months. If you have something happening in your grange you would like to share in the Michigan Grange News Community Service Report please let me know.

If I can do anything to help you, please contact me. 
 Mary Ann Rocco

MARCH/APRIL 2025 GRANGE NEWS

Wishing everyone a Happy Saint Patrick Day! And a Blessed Easter.

Hopefully Spring is right around the corner! 

National Grange has given some do’s and don’t on creating your Community Service Books.
​
The Community Service Team, share the following suggestions when putting together your Community Service book. They need to reminds us that these are just suggestions to make the book flow better and make it easier on the people putting it together. State Granges may have different ideas or suggestions. More pages or larger books are not always better. Good organization is important. This is not a history book of everything your Grange did in a year, just the Community Service projects. It is important that the name of your Grange is on the front of the book.
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Suggested DO’s
  • Include a short write up about your Grange and Community. (1 page max)
  • Limit pages to no more than 4 (front and back) for larger projects and 2 (front and back) forsmaller projects
  • Include 2 or 3 photos that demonstrate members (& non-members if applicable) participationand items collected. If it is a cleanup type project before and after photos.
  • 1 or 2 Thank You cards/letters for an event.
  • An overall summary sheet listing continuing projects, new projects, larger and smaller projectsand list of donations. Then utilize this format for the organization of the community servicebook.
  • Include any newspaper article or flyer about the event.
  • When holding a fundraiser dinner/event it is important to include where the monies were donated.
Suggested DON’Ts
  • Don’t include things like State session programs in this book, officer and member 
  • rosters and meeting minutes.
  • Don’t include members or family obituaries because the family used your hall after the funeral.
  • Don’t include every thank you note/letter you get from a project. One is enough, not all 30 from a class you donated dictionaries to.
  • Mowing the grass at the Grange Hall – maintenance not community service.
If you have any questions, feel free to email communityservice@grange.org.

Our Granges are doing many exciting projects throughout their communities I would love to share something your Grange is or has done this year. Just let me know and I’ll put it in the Michigan Grange News.  
  
Michigan’s Community Service reports should include,

​The Notebook Reports:
 The summary report should be placed at the beginning of the Notebook. This form is required!
​
 Material should be organized. Suggested ways to submit the Notebook is to have the projects grouped together by the size of the project, chronologically or have your Notebook read like a book. Easy to read and follow activities. This is your opportunity to tell the story of your Grange in a neat and concise manner.

​ Please do not send more than one Notebook. Notebooks cannot be larger than a 2-inch binder! More isn’t always better!

​ Videotapes and computer discs cannot be used in place of a report for judging. 

​Projects:
​ Describe the new and old project(s) that will answer the Who? What? Where? When? Why? And How?

​ Why did you choose this project? Did it benefit the community? Did you overcome obstacles? Did you record what you would do differently?

​ Would you recommend this type of project to other Granges? 

​ Include the details of the work. Were there special committees? Did it take cooperation of other groups? How many Grangers and non-Grangers were involved? What did you accomplish? Describe your successes.
 
​Include support materials used such as publicity, pictures, news articles & letters.

​ Keep the report concise. Include only material that directly impacts the projects you are explaining.

​ On the Project List pages: List the projects, the approximate number of hours spent on each project. List the number of Grangers and non-Grangers who assisted with the project. If more space is needed use additional pages.

​Community Service Reports are due September 10th, 2025.