News

From Little Seeds Grow Mighty Oaks

Bright students with high potential who attend inner-city schools can sometimes be lost in a system unable to accommodate their aspirations. The result is trapped potential and blocked opportunities. Through an intensive, fourteen month program, New Jersey SEEDS unlocks that potential and opens the doors of opportunity to independent secondary schools by preparing them to thrive in their new environment.…

Bestfoods Educational Foundation: Making a Difference

Bestfoods always valued education. Based in Englewood Cliffs since 1968, it made corporate contributions to educational institutions in New Jersey, and Bestfoods Educational Foundation (BEF) paid toward the continuing education of its employees and the college educations of their children. In 2001, when Bestfoods was acquired by Unilever, BEF came into considerably more money — and decided to shift its focus, to support only non-profit educational causes.…

Fundholder’s Scholarship “Saved My Family”

February 1, 2012 Jeff Cohen likes saving people money. As the owner of a Valpak franchise in northern New Jersey, he has distributed roughly $30 million worth of Valpak coupons each year. And since his Valpaks have been hitting New Jersey mailboxes since 1976, total potential savings from Mr.…

How Donors Can Make a Difference in the Lives of Those in Need During the 2011 Holiday Season

November 10, 2011 Greater Newark Holiday Fund – www.holidayfund.org “For most people the holidays are a season of joy. But the neediest among us have so little to celebrate. You can make a difference. Your support reaches across six counties — Essex, Union, Passaic, Hudson, Morris, and Bergen counties in northern New Jersey to help in so many ways: Food for the Hungry Shelter for the Homeless Care for Seniors Clothes and Toys for Kids Crucial services to individuals and families in crisis Our 2011 campaign runs from November 13, 2011 through January 15, 2012.…

Summer Job Programs Build Character & Confidence

August 24, 2011 For the last few summers, Community Foundation donors have approached us about how to help youth find summer work. Their interest was motivated by a simple belief that summer employment can accomplish a number of good things: for some, it is an opportunity to gain learning opportunities, confidence, and a set of new skills.…

Donation Funds “Hydration Stations” Project

August 2, 2011 Long Beach Township first community to install tankless water coolers for public use The Alliance for a Living Ocean (ALO), whose mission it is to “promote and maintain clean water and a healthy coastal environment” in the Long Beach Island and local Barnegat Bay areas, was awarded a generous anonymous donation to fund tankless water cooler installations along the Island.…

Donor Advised Fund Provides “End of the Line” for Unwanted Firearms

February 6, 2013 According to Federal Bureau of Investigation data recently reported by the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, two-thirds (66%) of New Jersey homicides are attributable to gun violence. Given these staggering statistics, the underground sale of illegal guns poses an undeniable threat to police efforts to stem crime in communities across the state.…

Increasing Access to Field Trips That Bring Learning Alive

What is your favorite school field trip memory? Where did that trip take you that day and since? Field trips have the power to awaken, hush, awe, enrich and change lives of our children by taking students out of familiar surroundings into new places, connecting classroom learning with real-life experiences and enabling them to envision themselves as future college students, researchers, artists, and leaders.…

Jumping for the Cause Without Being Asked

By JACK SHAKELY. Reprinted from The New York Times, March 18, 2008.One of the first people to call to congratulate you is a guy from college you haven’t seen since graduation. He says that he and somebody named Tom Hamilton will be in town next week.…

The Legacy Your Children Deserve

by William T. Knox IV, CFP, CFA, JD, formerly of RegentAtlantic Capital, LLC From the moment our children are born, we must consider and plan for their future without us. As new parents, we are well advised to prepare for every scenario — including one in which our kids might lose both Mom and Dad prematurely.…