News
Items in the media about our
Mission and our Projects.
September 30, 2009 - Thanks to Ambler Theater
July 17, 2009 - Article in the Ambler Gazette about our Food Drive at the Amble Theater.
March 30, 2009 - We will have our picture taken by the Ambler Gazette at the Jarrettown United Methodist Church, 1460 Limekiln Pike, Dresher PA.
Letter: Thank you so much, Ambler Theater
To the Editor:
Bridge To Action would like to publicly thank the Ambler Theater and
its generous patrons for their ongoing support of BTA’s program to
assist Mattie Dixon’s Ambler Food Cupboard. As a grassroots community
service organization, we rely on collaborations like this one to help serve
the community. In this case, theater patrons place food contributions in a
collection receptacle in the theater lobby. BTA collects and delivers
the items to the Ambler Food Cupboard. Numerous times when we deliver, Mattie
Dixon has commented that whenever there is a great need, as there is now, the
generous people of the community respond. It is Bridge To Action’s
calling to help serve the needs within the community and we are grateful to
the Ambler Theater and its patrons for joining with us.
Maria Catrambone Rosen
Project Coordinator, Bridge to Action
Heeding the call to action
Local Obama campaign workers heed the president's call to community service.
By Teri Aldelfer, Staff Writer
Although the campaign for the presidency is long over, volunteers who once dedicated their time to the Ambler Obama/Biden campaign office are now heeding the president's call to community service through a group called Bridge to Action.
The group of about 35 came together in January, and operates under a nonpolitical, nondenominational mantra. It welcomes anyone, not just those from the Ambler area, to join its cause.
“We’re just trying to commit to helping people,” said Donna Lima-Monteiro, former coordinator of volunteers and office manager for the Ambler office. “There’s a commonality to that, I think.”
At monthly meetings, members are encouraged to tell the group about a specific cause that are interested in supporting, and causes are then chosen by a vote. Currently, Bridge to Action has four projects on the table.
They have been working to collect Spanish language books for schoolchildren in an area of Costa Rica, where one member met a couple who told him about the need. Another project is planning yearly fundraisers to assist children with hearing problems and their families in a village in Kenya.
On a more local scale, Lima-Monteiro said the group is working with the Montgomery County Sheriff s Office to plan informational social hour events with senior citizens in the area to discuss the problem of identity theft and how to mitigate it. She added that the group is also hoping to host
Food drives during non-holiday times of the year, when fewer donations are generally received.
The group’s mission statement ensures that its charitable projects include local as well as national and international focuses.
The name Bridge to Action was chosen by the group because it recognizes that community members often have intentions of volunteering, but sometimes struggle to find a group or make a commitment.
"So what we offer is a place for them to come to really get used to us," Lima-Monteiro said.
Bridge to Action member and Ambler resident Maria Rosen said that was what she liked about the group's concept.
"We're not trying to reinvent the wheel, and for me '" I don't have a place to say 'I want to help out, what can 1 do,' so it's a vehicle for that," she said.
Bridge to Action will occasionally work with a similar group in Baederwood called Be the Change-Baederwood, which also formed after the election was over.
"If there's something that we're working on that's quite similar, then we'll work together," Lima-Monteiro said.
Bridge to Action meets once per month at different locations throughout the area. The next meeting will be April 15 at 7:30 p.m. at The Foundation for Islamic Education at 1860 Montgomery Ave. in Villanova. For more information about Bridge to Action, call 215-918-1399.
The Ambler Gazette Vol. 127, No. 13 pp1 & 3, April 1-7, 2009