ADVANCING THE COMMON GOOD - CREATE OPPORTUNITIES FOR A BETTER LIFE FOR ALL
There are basic things that we all need for a good life:
- a quality education that leads to a stable job
- income that can support a family through retirement
- and good health.
Education, income and health are the building blocks for a good life. Education is essential to getting a good job. An adequate income is essential to provide for a family’s financial stability. Access to quality health care keeps children on track at school and adults productive at work. Remove any one of these building blocks and the other two topple.
The United Way of Central Jersey wants to encourage everyone to contribute to community change.
GIVE
WHAT YOU HAVE. Clothes, food, cribs, ladders, cars, anything that is in good condition and can help someone else live a better life.
EVEN BETTER, GIVE YOUR MONEY.
Do you know:
- the single mother who cannot afford to feed her child?
- the family making a choice between paying the rent or paying for medicine?
- the senior who can no longer drive to medical appointments?
If not, give your financial support to the people who know and help these people every day. You can choose how to help by joining the United Way of Central Jersey.
ADVOCATE
FIND YOUR VOICE. Champion a cause:
- talk to your friends about universal preschool
- learn about how to deal with poverty and homelessness
- think about the answer to healthcare
- act to support your view
VOLUNTEER
YOUR TIME AND TALENT to create opportunities for a better life:
- Review grant proposals and recommend investment priorities
- Monitor program outcomes and do site visits
- Research community needs and best practices
All people, no matter their position or means, have a role to play in ADVANCING THE COMMON GOOD.
Reach out a hand and change a life.
Give. Advocate. Volunteer. LIVE UNITED
Living United means being part of the change you would like to see in the world.
HOW CAN YOU BE PART OF THE CHANGE?
Here Are A Few Examples:
Education
Give books and toys for pre-schoolers and parents to use to promote brain development. After-school Programs, Homework Help, Recreation, Sports, Child Enrichment
Income
Repairs, painting, etc. at shelters. Food Drives, Clothing Drives, Tax Preparation, Back to School and Holiday Gifts
TEN FAMILIES FINANCIALLY STABLE
You can make a difference by focusing your efforts on improving lives. Help meet basic needs like housing, food, and clothing. Help arrange for job training, transportation, child care and health care.
Health
Increase access to wellness for 1,000
Help people with no health insurance get access to health programs and save money on a range of prescription medicines.
Thank You to the following for their contributions to the community.
J&J LIVES UNITED
Johnson & Johnson volunteers and United Way of Central Jersey came together to get a summer camp into tip top condition so hundreds of low income and at-risk children can play, swim, learn and just enjoy a few weeks away. Cleaning, painting, trail clearing and general cleanup were just some of the ways these volunteers saw fit to show they LIVE UNITED.
BMS LIVES UNITED
United Way of Central Jersey along with 20 volunteers from BMS Plainsboro conducted a “BOARDWALK” fun day for seniors at Roosevelt Care Center, Edison, NJ. Seniors played all the usual down the shore “BOARDWALK” games and won stuffed animals that were donated by United Way of Central Jersey and the volunteers from BMS Plainsboro – these volunteers really know how to LIVE UNITED
UPS-SCS LIVES UNITED
UPS-SCS employees donated their Saturday morning to give smiles and fun to residents during “The Roosevelt Sweepstakes.” A room full of wheelchair occupants cheered as 6 of their number progressed down a track marked out on the floor by masking tape. With each roll of the super-size, foam rubber dice, one wheelchair moved closer to the finish. If you ask the volunteers from UPS-SCS who won, you’ll hear something like that adage, “You get more than you give when you help someone.”
UWCJ LIVES UNITED
June 21 was the longest day of the year. More daylight hours than any other. More time for volunteers to bring sun into someone's life. More light to shine on solutions to community issues. On June 21 United Ways across the country let their actions speak louder than words. To show, by example, what it means to LIVE UNITED. The United Way of Central Jersey worked to rehabilitate a park in Helmetta.
ATT Gives a Book to Help a Child
Did you know that 90% of brain development occurs before age 6?
As kids go through school, inadequate brain development can be a major barrier to academic success, lead to lower self-esteem and higher drop-out rates.
Research shows that reading to young children can improve brain development.
United Way of Central Jersey is launching an evidence-based Home Visitation program consisting of twice weekly visits by a trained home visitor. During the visits, the Home Visitor brings a carefully selected book or educational toy and models verbal interaction and reading and play activities, demonstrating how to use the books and toys to cultivate language and emergent literacy skills and promote school readiness.
ATT, with the leadership of Cheryl Reed, collected over 250 slightly used and new books to help start this initiative. Thank you Ms. Reed and all our friends at ATT!
J&J HCS CSM Food Drive
Almost 600 items of food were gathered by J&J HCS to meet the increased needs reported by food banks across the area. The Emergency Food Distribution service will distribute to 65 food banks and soup kitchens as well as 25 additional sites like homeless shelters, transitional housing and senior residential facilities. With the increased costs of gas and food, as well as the downturn in the economy, the care of the people at J&J HCS will be more and more urgently needed. Thank you to Marge Shakun and everybody who helped raise this needed food.
Women Empowering Women Event June 18 th
United Way of Central Jersey (UWCJ) welcomed Elizabeth Christopherson, Executive Director of NJN, who spoke about the benefits of mentoring women at Middlesex County College on June 18 th.
In addition to Ms. Christopherson, remarks were given by women who had received health and mentoring services from the Nurse-Family Partnership program. UWCJ provides at-risk, first-time mothers with a specially trained nurse who makes home visits during pregnancy and until the child is two. Research on the results of this program in a variety of locations indicate a 43% reduction in child abuse and neglect.
Attendees included, left to right, Joann La Perla-Morales, President of Middlesex County College, Madiha Boraie, Chairperson of the United Way of Central Jersey’s group: “Women Empowering Women,” Agnes Barenti, Freeholder Blanquita Valenti, Jane Leal, Dorothy Heinze, Gloria Aftanski and among many others.
If you would like to become involved in mentoring or other women’s initiatives, please call Ms. Gloria Aftanski, President, United Way of Central Jersey 732 247-3727.
Call Gloria Aftanski, 732 247-3727, to learn how you can LIVE UNITED.
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