November Monthly Newsletter

Healing Hugs, Winter Wonderland, and more was in store this month!

Author

Jaime Paladi
December 01, 2024 • about 4 minutes

Hello, and welcome to November’s installment of the monthly recap newsletter! This month, we made significant strides with our Healing Hugs initiative and hosted a rewarding volunteer event. Let’s dive into the highlights!

Member of the Month

We would like to first recognize our November team member of the month: Justin Perdiz! As our Clark town representative, Justin has gone above and beyond. His dedication to the Healing Hugs initiative is evident in his efforts to secure multiple locations for our drop-off boxes. Thank you, Justin, for your stellar contributions; the team is more than grateful to call you one of us.

Justin Perdiz, November Team Member of the Month (Photo by Gavin Andrade)

Healing Hugs Update: WE DID IT!

We have some very exciting news to announce: we have MET our Healing Hugs donation goal of stuffed animals! This is such an immense accomplishment, and it’s hard to put into words how much we appreciate all of our donors and town representatives that made this possible. However, we are not done with our drive yet. You still have until December 7 to donate either through our physical locations, our Amazon Wishlist, or by buying a stuffed animal at our Winter Wonderland booth (details below). Let’s continue donating and giving children a cuddly friend this upcoming holiday season!

New Town Representative

Zuriel Marino, new Academy for Allied Health Sciences representative (Photo by Jaime Paladi)

We would like to shout out Zuriel Marino, who was appointed as an Academy for Allied Health Sciences representative! She has already made a positive influence on our organization, donating over fifty stuffed animals to our Healing Hugs drive. We are overly thankful for Zuriel for taking this initiative and progressing our growing organization. If you are also interested in helping Inspire Youth NJ by becoming a town representative, please apply at iynj.org/townrep.

Do I See a Promotion?

On top of being the October Team Member of the Month, Samantha Fontanilla has been promoted to the Head of Town Representatives! As the Head of Town Representatives, we will able to expand Inspire Youth NJ’s audience and reach towns outside of Union County.

Congratulations, Samantha! We can’t wait to see what the future holds for us! She can now be reached at [email protected].

Watching Out for the Watchung Reservation

On November 16, we had another volunteer event in conjunction with Union County Adopt-a-Park. Volunteers did the following:

  • Laid down gravel

  • Cleared pipes with drainage issues

  • Removed vegetation

  • Maintained the Historic Trail

Thank you to everyone who participated! Check out the photos from the event here.

Winter Wonderland: Final Details

We have secured a booth at Union Township’s annual Winter Wonderland event! Make sure to catch us at Biertuempfel Park during the following time slots:

  • December 6, 5-9:30 PM

  • December 7, 2-9 PM.

WHAT TO EXPECT:

  1. Stuffed Animal Drive: We will be selling stuffed animals to add to our Healing Hugs drive collection for ten dollars each. You will be contributing to a good cause, so please consider purchasing these plushies!

  2. Photo Booth: We will have a photo booth open. Take photos with friends, family, or a costumed officer!

    1. Digital: $3

    2. Physical: $5

Thank You for Reading!

That sums up the November newsletter! If you enjoyed this article, please subscribe to our newsletter to receive articles directly to your inbox! Thank you all for reading!

- Jaime Paladi, Public Relations
For press inquiries, please contact us at [email protected].

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