The Club Associates is an organization made up of 18 social, veteran and fraternal clubs in Chautauqua County who meet monthly to help network and improve communications between clubs, promoting activities and advance fellowship among the clubs. Throughout the year the Club Associates also holds several events to help raise money for local charities. Since 2015 the Club Associates has raised more than $20,000 for charity. In 2024, the group raised $6,000 by holding a Don’t Know Your Destination Bus trip, two Putt-Putt Club Crawls and its annual Charity Golf Tournament. President Chris Sorenson and Vice President Craig Merchant recently presented a donation of $2,000 to three different charities on behalf of the Club Associates.

The first donation was presented to the Kidney Connection. The Kidney Connection is an organization that assists local patients in need of a kidney transplant in searching for local willing donors and to assist them financially with the transplant process.

“I can’t tell you how grateful I am for this most generous donation. The Kidney Connection is a completely free site and this will go a long way to help those in need of a kidney transplant to hopefully find their living donor. Thank you so much, it is much appreciated,” said Jeanette Caprino, co-founder and president of the Kidney Connection.

For more information or to donate to the Kidney Connection www.kidneyconnection.org

From left are Craig Merchant, Club Associates vice president, Cherie Rowland, St. Susan Center executive director, and Chris Sorenson, Club Associates president.

Another donation was presented to Cherie Rowland, St. Susan Center executive director, to help the center’s capital campaign and their efforts to educate and assist those in our community. The donation will help the soup kitchen transition into the former Jamestown Business College as well as open a teaching kitchen for the community. For more information visit www.stsusancenter.org

The last donation was presented to Frank Lamarca and Chuck Overturf of the Vietnam Veterans Association of Jamestown to help in fundraising efforts to assist Dennis Bittinger, a Vietnam veteran who lost his home to a fire at the beginning of December. Bittinger remains in the hospital recovering from his injuries. The Bittinger Fund, a charitable fund, has been established at the Community Bank in Clymer.

The donations were presented at the Club Associates January meeting held at the Jamestown Eagles Club 2145. After the presentation Eagles Club Trustee Chris Allenson said Chautauqua Eagles #2145 will match both $2,000 donations to the Kidney Connection and the St. Susan Center. Sorenson thanked the Eagles Club for the matching donations and all the clubs involved for helping make such large gifts possible.

Club Associates meetings are held monthly on the second Tuesday of the month and are open to any member of the association clubs. For more information go to Southern Chautauqua County Club Associates on Facebook or email clubassociateschris@gmail.com.

From left are Craig Merchant, Club Associates vice president, Jeanette Caprino, Kidney Connection co-founder and president, and Chris Sorenson, Club Associates president.