Happy New Year!

From your friends at the Volunteer Center

Happy Holidays

From your fiends at the Volunteer Center

Volunteers Needed for Food Drive Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

January 17 will mark the 25th anniversary of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. federal holiday, when hundreds of thousands of Americans will honor the memory of Dr. King by volunteering in their communities.

To kick off the 2011 MLK holiday and to set the pace for volunteering throughout the year, the Volunteer Center will host a Food Drive on Thursday, January 13th from 2:00-7:00 pm and Friday, January 14th from 7:00 am-12:00 noon at the First Presbyterian Church, 64 Passaic Street in Hackensack, where its offices are located.

Volunteers are needed to accept, sort and pack the donations of canned and packaged food that will be collected. Food will be given to the Center for Food Action sites in Bergen County.

According to Thelma Fedele, at the Center for Food Action, “We’ve seen a staggering increase in the number of people who need help to put food on their tables. Holiday food drives are wonderful, but people need food 365 days a year.”

To register to be a volunteer, or for more information about this event, call (201) 489-9454 Ext. 116 or email info@bergenvolunteers.org.

A VERY B-I-I-I-G Holiday Gift!

Sealed Air, a member company of the Business Volunteer Council of Northern New Jersey, is giving a BIG gift to clients of the Center for Food Action and Eva's Village.

Employees at the company’s Elmwood Park and Saddle Brook sites hold an annual (and highly competitive) Thanksgiving Food Drive, and this year's competition was an astonishing success. Employees donated a total of 18,077 pounds of food, surpassing last year's amazing total by over 3,000 pounds! Great work, Sealed Air, and thanks on behalf of those who will benefit from your extraordinary gift!

For more information about how your company can get involved with the BVC, click here.

Why Give to the Volunteer Center?

To put it simply, because we are good at doing good.

These days, it's more important than ever to carefully consider where you send your end-of-year contributions. Since 1966, The Volunteer Center has been effectively and efficiently doing good in Bergen County. Our recent audit shows that 87% of our expenditures support our programs and services, such as:

The "All Wrapped Up" Holiday Giving Program, which brings holiday cheer to thousands of our needy neighbors during the holidays.

Mentoring Youth (formerly VIPS), which trains and supervises mentors for hundreds of children who have suffered abuse, neglect or isolation.

Mentoring Moms, which trains and supervises mentors for low-income mothers struggling to provide for their families.

The Chore Service, in which volunteer handypersons perform minor home repairs to the elderly and disabled - free-of-charge, helping to keep them safe in their homes.

The Non-Profit Training and Resource Center, which helps local non-profits better serve their clients and our community.

Bergen LEADS, which trains the next generation of community leaders.

Community Volunteer Services and RSVP, which link more than 100,000 people with volunteer jobs in our community.

You can be confident that your charitable dollars are well spent when you invest them in the Volunteer Center of Bergen County. Please click here to give a tax-deductible donation now.

THANK YOU for your support, and Happy Holidays!

Welcome Bank of New Jersey - Our Newest BVC Member

We're pleased to welcome the Bank of New Jersey as the newest member of the Business Volunteer Council of Northern New Jersey, which is sponsored by the Volunteer Center of Bergen County. Headquartered in Fort Lee, the Bank of New Jersey has branches in six Bergen County locations.

Here’s to a long and productive association in serving the needs of our community.

To learn more about the BVC click here.

Always Busy, Always in the Spirit

Cole Schotz, a law firm located in Hackensack, has its own secret weapon in the fight to make sure that no one goes without holiday cheer this season.

Toya Randolph, star of the firm’s marketing department, coordinates Cole Schotz’s involvement in the Volunteer Center’s All Wrapped Holiday Giving Program. Each year, employees “adopt” more than 60 local people in need, providing gifts and cash to buy food store gift cards. Toya, in her quiet and professional way, makes certain that everyone from the firm has the opportunity to give back to the community. What a wonderful example of caring for your neighbors.

Toya will certainly make top billing on Santa’s Nice List.

If you are interested in helping the All Wrapped Up holiday giving program please contact the Volunteer Center at 201-489-9454. Gift Cards are needed in $25.00 increments to provide gifts for those who were not “adopted”.

Local Elves Help Moms and Kids Celebrate the Holdiays

The Mentoring Moms Program recently celebrated the holidays with a festive breakfast where more than 140 mentors, mentees, and volunteers ate, drank and made merry.

Santa Claus himself stopped by delivering gifts that were donated by churches, businesses and community groups. Each family left with gifts, handmade crafts, full bellies and a $20 Shoprite gift card. Each child also received an elf hat and a warm, soft blanket courtesy of TD Bank, and each mom left with a bag filled with toiletries courtesy of W.H. Roddy Company.

Volunteers from UPS, Immaculate Heart Academy, Total Man Ministries, TD Bank and Mocha Moms (pictured) provided extra hands, and Capital One Bank provided welcome funds. Thank you to everyone who helped make this party such a fun and resounding success!

Holiday Spirit Spreads as Oritani Helps Needy Neighbors

Several Bergen County branches of Oritani Bank are proving that there really is a Santa.

Employees from 17 local branches and 15 company-wide departments, along with the Oritani Bank Charitable Foundation are busy elves working to make holiday dreams come true for more than 100 people in our community. Head Elf, Gail Keates, once again, has inspired her fellow elves (employees) to reach out to those in need during this special time of year. Their spirit of giving is exemplary and we extend huge amounts of thanks!

If you or your company would like to make the holidays merry and bright for our neighbors in need, there is still time. Our All Wrapped Up holiday giving program can match you with families and individuals waiting to be matched. Please click here to find out more.

Happy Holidays!