As noted on the front page, two civic groups are featured. The first is the Franklin Rotary Club, which has generously contributed $15,000 in grants to a handful of non-profit organizations. The second is the Hunterdale Ruritan Club, celebrating its 70th anniversary this year.

Thanks to the first group, Graz’n Acres Therapeutic Riding Center, Franklin Cooperative Ministries, Genieve Shelter, Blackwater Robotics and the Western Tidewater Free Clinic will each be able to carry on its respective missions.

The latter has remained active, even when membership has ebbed at times, in order to better the community through supporting the Scouting program, baseball and scholarships, to name but a few.

The groups actually get their money from you. Whether you participate in the Rotarians’ annual Bowl-a-Thon, held each winter, or the Ruritans’ springtime beef barbecue, you are helping them help others.

We encourage residents to continue supporting both organizations — or others of their choice — through participation in their fundraisers. And, if conditions allow, to join and serve.