Third annual SBR Mahjongg Cards for Charity

Janice Neal
Mahjongg is a very popular game at SaddleBrooke Ranch, and we have many players new to the game as well as those who have played for years. There are weekly games played on Thursdays in La Hacienda Club (and sometimes lessons), coordinated by Gail Latimer and Bonnie Goldman. There are multiple private groups who have weekly games played in their homes. There are mixed mahjongg games played by couples at night, as well as a SaddleBrooke Ranch mahjongg tournament.
All of us play with an annual card, published by the National Mahjongg League (NMJL). The card contains all of the official hands that can be played that year. This will be the third year that I will place a SaddleBrooke Ranch group order to the NMJL. For every card in my order, they donate $2 to our charity, the SaddleBrooke Community Outreach (SBCO) organization.
Last year more than 180 people participated and ordered their cards through me. This order was submitted under the name “SaddleBrooke Ranch Mahjongg Players.” We received $381 from the NMJL, which we donated to the SBCO in a presentation to Steve Groth, SBCO’s president.
Our donation contributes to a program for needy children who live in the Copper Corridor, from Oracle to Mammoth and the San Carlos Reservation. Children, from the ages of five to fifteen who qualify for the free breakfast and lunch programs at school, receive a wardrobe valued at $75 twice per year. The fall wardrobe consists of three pairs of pants, three shirts, one jacket, one pair of shoes, six pairs of socks, six sets of underwear, knit hat and gloves, toothbrush, toothpaste, and two books.
Because this project has been so successful, I will again coordinate ordering the 2020 cards for SaddleBrooke Ranch residents who wish to participate. The NMJL has kept the information online for everyone who ordered last year. I will gather the order information and payments in late December and January, then submit the order by Jan. 20. The process will be published again on the SaddleBrooke Ranch Facebook page and Nextdoor. I hope that many more residents participate in our charity donation project for the SBCO this coming year.