Charity Update – Covid Response

Charity NNJR

June 17, 2020

Hubert King

The support for charity within NNJR goes back to the early days of our club. For decades the Club has reached out to the northern New Jersey community to support those in need. Please scan the year-by-year highlights (LINK?) on this website to get an idea of how we have contributed.

2020 has been an unusual year and our club’s charity efforts are unlike any since our club’s inception. Traditionally, we focus the club’s charity effort into a single end-of-year event.  With the urgent needs created by the pandemic, we could not wait. We asked members to donate to four charities helping those affected by the Covid pandemic: Community Food Banks of New Jersey/Feeding America, NORWESCAP Food Bank/Second Harvest, Cheshire Home (The 2020 NNJR Supported Charity), and Rutherford First-Aid Ambulance Corps. Matching funds from the club and an anonymous donor allowed us to raise $15,000 in a little over two weeks. 

Going forward, we will return to our tradition of supporting a single organization, and that will be Cheshire Home. 9 Ridgedale Avenue, Florham Park, NJ 07932 https://cheshirehome.org/ 

Their mission is to help young-adults with spinal cord injuries or neurological impairments to recover their lives. Goal for clients is to attain life skills that allow them, as much as possible, to live independently. Provides medical care for those severely affected along with physical and occupation training. Only stand-alone facility of it’s kind in NJ. Main facility houses 35 live-in patients. Two small community-based homes located in surrounding community for less-critical care clients. Drive is for clients to become employable and they offer some on-site employment. Average stay is 2 ½ years. 

As New Jersey reopens we expect to have charity-oriented events in 2020 and beyond. This will provide opportunities for members to contribute. Of course the Charity Committee is always looking for volunteers and for good ideas of supporting events: some ideas we are now considering include a virtual cruise night drive-by for Cheshire Home and participation in their Casino Night Charity Event.  If you have more ideas, let us know.

For those Amazon shoppers among us, you can directly contribute to Cheshire Home by designating them as your charity choice.