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(Paramus, NJ) May 16, 2008 - Hundreds of volunteers help Children's Aid and Family Services each year, in projects that range from mentoring to fundraising to landscaping. They come from all walks of life including students, corporate executives, stay-at-home mothers, and retirees. And they each make a difference in the lives of children and families. To honor these giving individuals, Children's Aid and Family Services recently hosted its annual Volunteer Appreciation Evening in the healing garden at its Ridgewood offices, at 148 Prospect Street.
Board members, staff, and volunteers from all areas of the agency gathered together to honor the following individuals and organizations: Baby Basics, Lolly Burgin, Mary Lou Coviello, Mary De Simone, Silvia Labombarda, Cathy Newman, Michelle Sherry, and Victoria Howard.
Baby Basics, a program of Children's Aid and Family Services, provides free nutritional formula and diapers to babies of low-income families from birth through 2 years. Baby Basics is run primarily by volunteers who dedicate their time, energy, and commitment to the program. With their help, supplies to families are distributed from offices in Ridgewood, and also from the Center for Food Action in Englewood.
Ms. Burgin, a self-proclaimed "lifetime lover of children's literature," started her
Read Now! program during the winter of 2005-2006. The goal of Read Now! is to read to and provide books for disadvantaged children, predominantly pre-schoolers, in Bergen and Passaic Counties. The Read Now! Program has more than 30 volunteers working in Hackensack, Englewood, Passaic, Teaneck, and Paterson. Read Now! Volunteers read at seven sites and distribute books to four other groups.
The Depot is an all-volunteer run Gift Shop, located on Prospect Street in Midland Park, and is the largest all-volunteer woman's exchange in the country. Ms. Coviello is one of these wonderful volunteers. In the years that she has been a volunteer at The Depot, she has filled many roles. The most important of these roles has been as a gift buyer. Under her leadership, the gift buying team has searched for new and exciting products, most notably, Vera Bradley merchandise, which have generated unprecedented revenues for Children's Aid and Family Services.
Ms. Simone, or as the children like to call her "Mrs. D", has been volunteering at the Turrell Child Care and Early Learning Center for almost 8 years. Mrs. D is a dedicated woman who volunteers her time every Thursday morning to read to the pre-Kindergarten children in the Center's Marcy Slater Book Library. Each week, in addition to choosing books from our library, Mrs. D. visits her town library to choose books that will engage and entertain the children as well as encourage a love of reading and literature.
Ms. Labombarda came to Children's Aid and Family Services in May of 2007 as an office volunteer for the Development Department. During her once a week volunteering time with the agency, she has helped with seasonal mailings and done extensive computer work updating the agency's database. She has been a great addition to the agency family.
Ms. Newman was a founding member of the agency's Treatment Homes Advisory Council in November of 2001. When officers were appointed, she accepted the position of Vice President and served in that capacity for two years. She then ascended to President and remained as such from 2003-2007. During this time, she reached out to merchants to provide gifts each year at the annual Foster Parent Appreciation Dinner. She also offered her pediatric nursing skills to the agency on a part-time basis when she heard of the need. This volunteer position quickly turned into a part-time job as the agency's Clinical Specialist in pediatrics. Ms. Newman has also served as a volunteer for many other agency programs, including Baby Basics.
Ms. Sherry has been a mentor for the agency for over five years. Over the years she has been matched with several children in our group homes and treatment homes. In January of 2004, she was matched with a young lady who resided in the agency's Eastlea Group Home. They quickly developed a strong relationship and shared many evenings together watching movies, getting their nails done, and having dinner. When her mentee graduated high school and moved out of Eastlea and on to the campus of Kean University, Michelle committed to continue mentoring her informally.
More than three years ago, Victoria Howard, a Wendy's Franchisee, began working with the agency. She started by mobilizing her district managers to assist her with donations of food for a Wendy's Wonderful Kids "Meet and Greet" adoption recruitment event. Wendy's Wonderful Kids is a signature program of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, and provides funding to Children's Aid and Family Services to provide child-specific family recruitment. The following year, Ms. Howard's management team sponsored the second annual Meet and Greet event. They donated the food, gave gifts to all the children, and provided entertainment at the event. She and her staff are already hard at work planning a "Day at the Races" theme for this year's Meet and Greet event, and has been organizing several community fundraisers to support children in foster care.
"These dedicated volunteers are an integral part of the success of the agency," says Bob Jones, Ph.D., president & CEO of Children's Aid and Family Services. "I can't thank them enough for their contributions."
Children's Aid and Family Services is one of the largest, regional, nonprofit human services agencies serving northern New Jersey. The agency is fully accredited and has served our community for more than 100 years. Our mission is to preserve, protect and, when needed, provide families. Motivated by compassion for vulnerable children, young adults, frail elderly and their families, we provide high-quality and innovative services that meet their social, educational and emotional needs. For information on volunteer opportunities, contact Cyndy Mitchell at 201-261-2800 or visit www.cafsnj.org.
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