New Jersey Heroes

Seventeen Hero Organizations to Develop and Improve Services and Programs In their Communities

Trenton, NJ – First Lady Mary Pat Christie today announced over $100,000 in New Jersey Heroes grants to seventeen organizations previously selected as New Jersey Heroes. The grants, which must be used within twelve months from the date of the award, will help the recipients to further enhance the mission of their respective organizations through new programs and services.

“New Jersey Heroes celebrates and recognizes the tireless efforts of unsung heroes throughout our state who are making a difference in the lives of friends, neighbors and their fellow New Jerseyans,” said Mrs. Christie. “Our heroes represent so many great causes including pediatric and breast cancer awareness, domestic violence programs, youth mentorship, adaptive sports programs and autism. So, I am pleased that through our New Jersey Heroes grants, the remarkable work being done by these organizations will continue to improve and expand in their respective communities.”

The 2014 grant awardees are:

• Breast Intentions, Middletown (Erika S. Rech and Mike Ruane) ─ $2,500: Breast Intentions provides crisis intervention for women facing financial hardship during their battle against breast cancer. New Jersey Heroes is awarding $ 2,500 to help continue the organization’s program, called “Pink Pact”, which focuses on awareness by educating young women in college and high school about breast health, the need for regular breast examinations, and other preventative measures. Breast Intentions added two more high schools to its Pink Pact program in the fall of 2013 and a third this spring, educating over 1,500 girls in the process.

• Brick Stars Challenger Hockey, Inc. , Brick (Alex DePalma) ─ $3,500: Brick Stars Challenger Hockey provides an ice hockey program designed specifically to meet the needs of individuals with developmental disabilities, mental challenges, or learning delays and is a continuation of their initiative, Hockey is for Everyone. New Jersey Heroes is awarding $3,500 to Brick Stars to go towards uniforms and equipment for the program as they continue to expand. The program currently serves 65 special needs individuals, of which 20 are new members this year alone.

• BrosUnited Mentorship Program, New Brunswick (Matthew Cortland) ─$3,500: The BrosUnited Mentorship Program fosters mentoring relationships between young men with autism and Theta Delta Chi fraternity brothers. The “Bros” meet with their respective mentees on a weekly basis for eight weeks, with goals of increasing social and developmental abilities. New Jersey Heroes is providing $3,500 to help fund several of the group’s activities, including an ice skating trip, a bowling trip, and an awards ceremony. To date, approximately fifty local young men with autism and over 150 fraternity brothers at Rutgers University have benefited from the program.

• Community Soup Kitchen & Outreach Center, Morristown (Alan Weinstein) ─$7,500: The Community Soup Kitchen (CSK) serves roughly 300 men, women, and children every day, 365 days a year. They provide nutritious meals and access to nurses, social workers, and various other counselors in a warm, safe, and caring environment free of charge for the homeless, working poor, elderly, and disabled in the community. The CSK relies solely on private donations to keep its doors open. New Jersey Heroes is awarding $7,500 to the CSK to help fund its new Breakfast Program, which currently serves a nutritious breakfast two days a week and has a goal of expanding its services to five days a week.

• GlassRoots, Inc., Newark (Kate Twyla Dowd) ─ $5,000: GlassRoots provides instruction in the art of glass-making to under-served youth to help foster life-long learning and self-expression. The organization serves close to 2,000 people in the Newark area annually. New Jersey Heroes is awarding $5,000 to GlassRoots to install a high capacity Carlisle CC glass torch and related exhaust systems. These will be used in their studio to expand program offerings and support their new scientific glass apprenticeship.

• Hope & Future Inc., Union City (Gian Paul Gonzalez) ─ $5,000: Hope & Future provides opportunities for youth to proactively become empowered members of their respective communities through extracurricular activities, events, and programming while also bridging the gaps between individual growth, strengthening families, and unifying communities. New Jersey Heroes is awarding $5,000 to help the organization open a fully operational youth-focused community center in central Union City, which has been a dream for Gian Paul since starting the Hope & Future Foundation. This community center will provide programs for Union City youth throughout the summer and in after-school hours during the year to serve as a dedicated safe space participants can call their own.

• Make Some Noise: Cure Kids Cancer Foundation, Morristown (Malcolm Sutherland-Foggio) ─ $4,000: Established by a child with cancer, the Make Some Noise: Cure Kids Cancer Foundation works to fund pediatric cancer research by securing private funding to distribute to research facilities and promote awareness through fundraising activities. New Jersey Heroes is providing $4,000 to assist with the Foundation’s National Angel Quilt Tour for this summer, including its new program, Hero Bears. This new program will allow donors to create a teddy bear and donate the bear with a personal note to children afflicted with cancer.

• Operation Beachhead, Manasquan (Michael Ricci) ─$7,500: Operation Beachhead provides adaptive all-season sports activities to veterans, troops, disabled civilian individuals, and their families for the purpose of rehabilitation, inspiration, and recreation. Last year’s New Jersey Heroes Award provided the organization the ability to purchase 3 custom-made surfboards for the program’s wheelchair-bound participants. New Jersey Heroes is providing $7,500 to help purchase and maintain the specialized adaptive equipment that its participants need as they expand their programs by 50% this year.

• Operation Shoebox New Jersey, Somerville (Rod Hirsch)─$10,000: Operation Shoebox New Jersey is a volunteer organization dedicated to collecting donated supplies and shipping care packages to US military personnel deployed overseas. New Jersey Heroes is awarding Operation Shoebox $10,000 so that soldiers will continue to receive the personal supplies they need while serving our country. Operation Shoebox New Jersey estimates that some 12,500 boxes will be assembled in 2014.

• Partners for Women & Justice, Montclair (Jane M. Hanson, Esq.) ─ $10,000: Partners for Women & Justice works to empower low-income and abused women build safe and secure futures for themselves and their children by providing quality legal assistance in domestic violence and family law matters, as well as guidance in promoting financial competence and independence. New Jersey Heroes is awarding $10,000 to the organization to help fund its Partner in Hope Fellowship, which will enable 120 women a year to navigate the legal system with the assistance of a knowledgeable attorney.

• Pony Power Therapies, Mahwah (Dana Spett) ─ $2,500: Pony Power Therapies gives special needs and at-risk children and adults a unique opportunity to ride, care for, and interact with horses. New Jersey Heroes is awarding $ 2,500 to help fund the organization’s School Groups Program, which serves public and private special needs schools, as well as self-contained special education classes from public schools in northern New Jersey. The School Groups Program serves children and young adults ranging in age from 3-21 who have varying special needs, including autism, cerebral palsy, and seizure disorders.

• Project Self-Sufficiency, Inc., Newton (Beverly Gordon) ─ $5,000: Project Self Sufficiency provides a broad spectrum of comprehensive social, health, and educational services that enable low-income families in Northwest New Jersey to achieve economic self-sufficiency, family stability, and a strong and stable future for themselves and their children. New Jersey Heroes is awarding $5,000 to the organization to help secure the services of a dedicated Job Developer who will work with employers in the community to secure permanent, sustainable jobs for men and women who have lost their jobs, single mothers who have completed job training at Project Self-Sufficiency, survivors of domestic violence who are struggling to make it on their own, and other deserving individuals.

• Roots & Wings, Denville (Irene DeGrandpre)─$5,000: Roots & Wings provides young adults who age out of New Jersey’s foster care system with safe housing, education, counseling, and the life skills needed in order to empower them toward self-sufficiency. New Jersey Heroes is awarding $5,000 to the organization to assist in covering the direct costs associated with education for the aged out foster youth in the program such as tuition fees, educational testing, books and school supplies, and tutoring. Roots & Wings currently operates solely in Morris County, but is hoping to open a satellite location in Union County due to be operational by the summer of 2014.

• Team Walker, Jersey City (Jerry Walker)─ $5,000: Team Walker creates positive alternatives for the youth of Jersey City through programs designed to enlighten participants and teach the importance of solid academics, teamwork, and sportsmanship. New Jersey Heroes is awarding $5,000 to Team Walker for the continued development of a series of programs, workshops, and interactive events that focus on improving educational cultural awareness, as well as life skills.

• Women’s Opportunity Center (WOC) – YMCA of Burlington and Camden Counties, Burlington (Cathi Rendfrey) ─$5,000: The Center is committed to helping women gain economic self-sufficiency through education, job readiness, networking, outreach, referrals, and emotional support. The Center focuses its aid on displace homemakers, women who have left a marriage where their spouse was the sole breadwinner, rendering them ineligible for many government programs. New Jersey Heroes is awarding $5,000 to the organization to assist women within the program in purchasing food, clothes, and gasoline for themselves and for their children while they attempt to become self-sufficient.

• Your Grandmother’s Cupboard, Toms River (Clark & Jean Paradise) ─ $5,000. Your Grandmother’s Cupboard helps to provide the homeless and working poor in local communities with basic needs such as clothing, shoes, blankets, and personal care items. In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, the Cupboard was and still is an important hub where donations can be received and distributed. New Jersey Heroes is providing $5,000 for the organization to assist with the operating costs of “The Granny Van”, a mobile home retrofitted to serve as a fully-stocked mobile clothing and essential items depot.

• YouthBuild Newark, Inc, Newark(Robert Clark)─ $15,000: YouthBuild Newark helps young adults who are academically under-skilled, unemployed, and/or have been involved with the juvenile justice system to develop skills needed to achieve their personal and professional goals. The organization provides rigorous academic instruction that enables its participants to receive a GED, various workforce readiness courses and vocational training programs, counseling, and other services. New Jersey Heroes is providing $15,000 to purchase of a 15-passenger van to replace the organization’s current dilapidated modes of transportation for their students to their job sites.

To be considered for the New Jersey Heroes grant, several applicant criteria were required:

• Being a prior New Jersey Hero Award recipient from the New Jersey Heroes Foundation.
• Demonstrating a continued commitment to community contribution, in the spirit of New Jersey Heroes.
• Submitting copy of 501c3 status, IRS tax determination documenting status, or explanation of provided on status as well as a copy of most recent audited financials.
• Summarizing how the grant will be put to use, including a description of the program with goals, objectives, and timeline to achieve the project.

Mrs. Christie launched the New Jersey Heroes program in December 2010 as a way to showcase the positive ways people and organizations are impacting New Jersey in their own distinctive ways — big and small. To nominate a hero, go to http://newjerseyheroes.org and follow the application instructions and submit the person you believe is a true New Jersey Hero.