Singing valentines help fund Kiwanis project

By Jim Tiffin
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS —The Kiwanis Club of Grants is offering singing valentines for this year's Valentines Day celebration on Feb. 13-14.

The singing valentines will be performed by both members and non-members of the Kiwanis, she said.

Some of those performing will be: Jonnie Head, Gail Tripp, Thelma Flowers and Ruth Lane.

"Anyone can order a singing valentine, we take checks and cash, no credit cards."

The cost is $20, and for that a variety of songs is available.

The singers do use songsheets, she said.

"One of the most popular songs for kids is 'I Love You a Bushel and a Peck,' " Bennett said.

The club is hoping to sell between 35 to 40 singing valentines for the fund-raiser.

Each person who has a singing valentine performed for them will also receive a small teddy bear, a silk rose and chocolate covered strawberries.

The promotion is a fund-raiser for the club to raise money to purchase materials and special medical dolls to teach young parents about shaken baby syndrome, said Khristie Bennett.

Shaken baby syndrome is a problem for infants who are shaken by parents who lose their temper, she said.

"Males between 16 and 25 shake babies to stop them crying more than any other age group or women," Bennett said.

Too many young people are having babies, and a baby who is shaken violently never recovers.

"We are trying to bring awareness of what happens to these children when this event occurs," she said.

"The trauma to the infant's brain can cause permanent brain damage, cerebral palsy or both."

"These are not mean people; they do not intend to injure the child. They just don't know what can happen," she said.

"When an infant is shaken violently the brain is still soft and just rattles around and shakes inside the head," she said.

Of course, anyone wishing to just donate money to the club for the shaken child syndrome project or other projects is welcome, Bennett said.

Scholarships to students at Grants High School and New Mexico State University-Grants campus are also projects on the list of fund-raisers for the club.

To order your singing valentine or to donate, call Bennett or her employees at Korner's Books at (505) 287-4331.

To contact reporter Jim Tiffin, call (505) 287-2197 or e-mail: jtiffin.independent@yahoo.com.