Photo of the Day

While it may look like these volunteers are simply lounging, they are actually showing off their superior building skills! GE Healthcares visited a school in Trenton to build benches, paint murals and so much more.  Everyone did a great job!

Photo of the Day

Way Back Wednesday!  Back in 2008, Wyeth volunteers headed to Morris County to put together playground equipment and a new fence at an agency supporting homeless families.  With teamwork, sweat, and laughter, the volunteers succeeded in providing a new place for children to play.

Photo of the Day

Volunteers from UBS traveled to a high school in Jersey City to create a memorial garden in honor of September 11, 2001.  These volunteers were not afraid to get their hands dirty while beautifying this school! Other UBS volunteers were involved with constructing and decorating picnic tables.  Thanks for a great day UBS!

Photo of the Day

A University of Phoenix volunteer helps to brighten the hallways of a Jersey City school.  These volunteers not only painted murals but they also led workshops for the students encouraging good nutrition and creative writing.  Inspired by this Photo of the Day? Do more! Visit our website to find a service opportunity near you. 

Reflections on 9.11.01 and Volunteering on 9.11.11

When I think back to September 11, 2001, I immediately think of where I was.  I think of how beautiful of a day it was. I recall sitting in my 2^nd period World Religions class, laughing with other classmates, and I try to remember that feeling of lightness – the feeling of unknown tragedy - that everyone in our country may have experienced before the tragic events on September 11^th. If you were old enough to remember where you were and what you were doing that day, you remember. It’s almost as if that moment – that day – altered the existence of every American. It’s a memory – a tragic memory – we will never forget. Over the past few months, Jersey Cares has been preparing to mobilize 1,000 volunteers throughout New Jersey to pay tribute to the events of September 11th. While my colleagues and I have discussed ways to make the 10^th anniversary more meaningful and possessing greater impact on our New Jersey neighbors and communities, my memories of 2001 turn away from the tragedy of September 11^th, but to the less vivid – but somewhat more inspirational - memory of what I did on September 12^th.

I remember waking up and calling a friend of mine – school was cancelled – and telling her that I felt that we HAD to go do something. Anything – just help someone. Thousands of people had just died – almost 200 of them within a few miles of my house – and I couldn’t spend another minute watching the horrible images on the TV. My friend came over and whether we thought this was the only way we could contribute, or what seemed to be in the most need to us at the time, my friend and I located the nearest location where we could donate blood and went to donate blood. Anyone who knows me knows that I hate blood, needles, anything related to medicine – but there was that call within me that I needed to do something. I needed to give back. Thousands of people from all over the country traveled to New York City, Shanksville, PA and Arlington, VA to assist with the recovery efforts.  Clearly, I was not alone in my feeling of needing to give back. Something had changed within Americans and there seemed to be a common bond between us that inspired us to get up and give back and serve those who had lost so much.

First Lady Michelle Obama recently commented on “the spirit of community and compassion” that emerged following the tragic events on September 11^th. This spirit that she refers to was evident from the volunteer firefighters and others who arrived at Ground Zero to help with the clean-up to the candlelight vigils held around the country. Whether it was large or small, Americans came together – not to just mourn as a country – but to honor those who lost their lives and serve our neighbor in the best way possible. As September 11, 2011 rapidly approaches and I look back on the tragedy that took place ten years ago, I keep reminding myself of what my first thought – and the thought of many others - was on September 12, 2001, that while in our country’s darkest hour, we needed to be a light in that darkness.

In the past few months, Americans have been asked the question – what will you do to pay tribute to the 10^th anniversary? I don’t see the answer to that question being too different than the feeling many of us felt when we woke up on September 12, 2001. While the darkness has seemed to fade, the 10^th anniversary of September 11^th provides our nation with the opportunity to let the world know that our “spirit of community and compassion” does not need to be fueled by a national tragedy, but that we will continue to serve our neighbor – whether it’s by mowing the lawn of a senior that lives on your street or spending the day packing care packages for active military members and their families – whenever and wherever there is a need. 

- Siobhan Tiernan, Jersey Cares Staff 

A Volunteer's Journey….

I began volunteering regularly last October. Since I started my new habit, I have volunteered at after-school programs, food pantries, and at the Jersey Cares Winter Coat Drive. My passion is in tutoring grade school children and serving as a positive role model. I remember how after my first afternoon as a Homework Helper volunteer, I vowed to be there for the children every afternoon. At the time, I was only volunteering for Rauschenbusch Metro Ministries (RMM), a non-profit organization in Midtown Manhattan.

It was in February that I found the Jersey Cares website while browsing Serve.gov (a community service online resource). Seconds after finding the event posting for tutoring and mentoring at Hoboken's Jubilee Center, I signed up for every Monday evening occurrence through the remainder of the school year. That was quite a commitment that I made.

It was Mei Zheng of the Jersey Cares staff, who immediately noticed my commitment and encouraged me to become a Jersey Cares Project Coordinator, essentially a volunteer leader. I went ahead and became this leader and I assure you all that it was a painless process. I was accustomed to staying for the whole duration of an after-school program, typically from 3pm-6pm. I found it unsettling that the tutoring and mentoring event was only for the 6pm-7pm hour for those afternoons. I did ask the Jersey Cares staff for more hours to be posted for the location and Thomas Dougherty, the director of volunteer programs, stepped in to start additional programming support. I then proceeded to show up at the Jubilee Center every Monday and Friday at the start of the program at 2:30pm until 7:00pm when it closed. I was known for being the first volunteer to arrive and the last to leave. Between RMM and the Jubilee Center, I would volunteer every weekday afternoon, working with children. Being a college student with an occasional part-time job, I had a schedule that was just right for the amount of volunteer work I wanted to do.

I volunteer a lot of my time and many may be wondering why. I'll try to explain. My afternoons with the children serve as a tribute to a mother who every afternoon tirelessly tutored her neurologically impaired son, a five year old who was developmentally 2-3 years behind his classmates. Bad news heard from professionals would leave her in tears, but her indomitable spirit would persist. Years later the son would find himself amongst the gifted and talented students of his class. Yes; I am him and I whole-heartedly believe in the children's potential for academic success as my indefatigable mother did with me.

I kept up my current volunteer commitment and reached the end of the school year. After-school programming ended for the summer, but I would still get to help out with summer camp at the Jubilee. An awesome surprise came my way this past week. I received the honor of being offered a job as a counselor for the Jubilee Center. Craig Mainor, the program director for the Jubilee Center, has expressed his joy of having me join his staff for the summer season. I would have continued to volunteer there for the summer anyway, but I now view the compensation as being a reward. I will continue to do what I love the most. I would have never known about the Jubilee Center if Jersey Cares had not existed.

You can bet that I will be signing up for more projects through Jersey Cares. As I can attest to, there are boundless opportunities awaiting anyone who has a desire to help others.

Oliver Pavot,

Jersey Cares Volunteer

Planning Reflections on Jersey Cares Day 2011

Prior to working at Jersey Cares I could never imagine the incredible amount of planning and foresight that goes into Jersey Cares Day. Having worked at Jersey Cares for a little over a month now, I was thrown into the final planning and preparation stages for the day.  From organizing t-shirts for the volunteers to sorting paint colors at Sherwin Williams, I never thought that so much effort could go into the making of one day of service.

It’s an incredible thing these volunteers are doing for communities throughout New Jersey and the staff at Jersey Cares is double checking every supply to make sure that the day goes as smoothly as possible. The past three weeks have been focused on grabbing last minute registrations, procuring and organizing supplies, and then finally delivering the supplies to the Jersey Cares day sites.

 My favorite part of these past weeks has been the supply drop-offs. When going to the sites I get to see how excited the staff there is. The supplies make it real, the paint cans and rollers mean that something new and exiting is coming soon. For one site in Newark, we needed to prime the basement walls before Jersey Cares Day volunteers could cover up the thirteen year-old paint job. The children who spend their time at the Center after school had made a beautiful thank you banner to welcome the volunteers who would be priming the basement. Just the anticipation of change made the children so thankful.

As Jersey Cares Day approaches I’m excited to see the end products of all of the volunteers’ hard work. Thank you to all of those who have registered to volunteer. It means so much to the communities and the staff who work at the facilities where you’re volunteering. And to those who have missed this year’s Jersey Cares Day, there are plenty of more events to come! 

Paulette Leonard