Holiday Greeting From Iraq

Army Reserve SPC Ashley Bonet, currently serving in Tallil, Iraq, sends a Thanksgiving greeting to her family in Metuchen.

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Assemblyman Distributes Thanksgiving Turkeys To Needy Families

PERTH AMBOY–Assemblyman Joseph Vas joined Mayrich Development, LLC on Monday to distribute Thanksgiving turkeys to needy families in the 19th Legislative District at three Perth Amboy locations.

“As we celebrate Thanksgiving with our family and friends, we must remember to share our good fortunes with others,” said Vas (D-Middlesex). ”This endeavor will help to enrich the lives of residents in our district. I am proud to join our partners, Mayrich Development, for this event.  This partnership is a prime example of how the benefits of redevelopment cascade throughout the community.”

Mayrich Construction began over 70 years ago with a dream that cultivated through the early years and now serves as an elite force in excavation and foundation construction in New York City.  They have become “the best” and their reputation is unprecedented.

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Firefighters Spread Thanksgiving Cheer

 

Firefighters Spread Thanksgiving Cheer—Members of Linden FMBA Locals 34 and 234 assisted the members of LINCS in passing out Thanksgiving Dinners to the needy.  The LINCS sponsored Food Pantry was also happy to receive a substantial monetary donations from the FMBA groups.  Pictured below (left to right) Frank Gallo, Past Grand Knight, Linden Knights of Columbus and member of LINCS; Fire Fighter Ted Turon, Lt. James Kushner, Lt. Wayne Hanns, Fire Fighter Pete Dente,  Fire Fighter Jay Mayer and (kneeling)  Fire Fighter Luke Monsorno.

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A Thanksgiving Production

A Thanksgiving Production—Patricia Klein’s fourth grade class presented their annual Thanksgiving play at the Madison School auditorium on Nov. 21. The play also featured musical selections by the first grade classes. The cast of characters included: pilgrims Jose Lopez, Amanda Vansco and Kelly Kneisel; Indians Michaela Woolley, Matthew Pereira, Jada Figueroa, Juan Hoyos and Tiffany Thebodeau; and narrators Chantel Winstead, Matthew Hoffman, Scott Marcondes and Danielle McCarthy. Tiffany Moreles and Rayanne Melendez served as the stage crew. Pictured above, Matthew Hoffman, Jose Lopez, Anabella DeMeo, Amanda Vansco and Danielle McCarthy rehearse for the play.

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Trinitas Continues Tradition of Giving

Trinitas Continues Tradition of Giving—Recognizing that many families in Union County have been hard hit by the current economy, employees of Trinitas Regional Medical Center rallied for the fourth consecutive year to pool their resources in creating abundant Thanksgiving baskets for distribution in the community. At the main campus of Trinitas in Elizabeth, Sister Marion Scranton, SC, director of community initiatives, and Gary S. Horan, FACHE, president & CEO, are surrounded by many of the more than 80 baskets and shopping carts filled with all the makings for a Thanksgiving meal, plus staples like coffee, tea and rice, as well as Shop Rite gift cards. Appreciative families in Elizabeth and other communities in the Trinitas RMC service area received the donations several days before Thanksgiving.

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Soehl Students Collect Food

Soehl Students Collect Food—Soehl Middle School students collected food for the local food bank in Linden known as LINCS. The Soehl students who participated in this community service project are Magdalena Kepa, Ashley Molina, Eric Gregorich, Matthew Jaeger. Photo by Christne Hudak, Linden Public Schools

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Thanksgiving Food Drive A Success

Thanksgiving Food Drive A Success—The Blue and Gold Club at Franklin Elementary School in Rahway recently held their annual Thanksgiving food drive. Pictured here, Ana Rita Marques, Cecilia Acevedo-Herras and Tripti Misir stand by some of the food that the generous families of Franklin School donated. A total of 1,360 food items were donated, helping to make this another successful year. The food will go to other families in Rahway so that they can have a memorable Thanksgiving dinner.

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Sharing The Thanksgiving Spirit

Sharing The Thanksgiving Spirit—Thanksgiving stems from the feast held in the autumn of 1621 by the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag American Indians to celebrate the colony’s first successful harvest. The Thanksgiving holiday is a time for sharing love with family and friends. The Linden School #6 family is sharing Thanksgiving baskets filled with all the trimmings so others may also have a bountiful feast. Pictured above, Linden School #6 students collect food for the school’s Thanksgiving baskets. From left to right, Mauricio Colato, Ethan Castellanos, Christopher Jaskowski, Dean Musialowicz, Ariana Eastwood, and Carolina Fus (kneeling) prepare to make baskets.

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Roselle Volunteers Help Families in Need This Thanksgiving

ROSELLE—The Borough of Roselle recently sponsored a holiday food giveaway to help Roselle families in need. On Nov. 22, dozens of residents came to Borough Hall to receive a turkey, gift certificates and non-perishable food items.

Jackie Mitchell, executive director of the Roselle Collaborative for Youth and Families, and Second Ward Councilwoman Sylvia Turnage participate in the first-annual holiday meal program at Roselle Borough Hall. Volunteers distributed nearly 70 free holiday feasts to borough residents in need on Nov. 22.

The borough facilitated the food drive at no cost to taxpayers. All items were donated by local grocery stores and other area businesses. Local churches and other community organizations were contacted to identify families in need.

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Linden Students Celebrate Thanksgiving

Linden Students Celebrate Thanksgiving—Linden School No. 1 celebrated Thanksgiving early with a day of sharing with friends. The students in Miss Garbowski and Mrs. Zucosky’s classrooms learned the importance of teamwork and to share responsibilities. Together, the students made a homemade apple pie by following a recipe from Miss Garbowski’s mom, homemade butter, and homemade applesauce. (Above) Eddie Molano shakes his jar to make butter. (Below) Giovanni Piverget, Steven Ortiz and India Thomas make Thanksgiving placemats for the senior citizens of Linden. Photos by Christine Hudak, Linden Public Schools

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Gathering Good Will

Gathering Good Will—Students in Debbie Kendall’s fifth grade class at The Wardlaw-Hartridge School in Edison gather a large collection of food donations collected by the Lower School students that will be distributed by Starfish Foundation in Plainfield to the needy. Pictured above are: Lara Albrechcinski of Linden, Nicholas Borges of Edison, Cecily D’Amore of Scotch Plains, Alexandra Garces of Plainfield, Sydney Hughes of Parlin, Rahil Lakha of Edison, Jessie Maier of Rahway, Salman Mansuri of Edison, Max Needle of Scotch Plains, Nathaniel Nyema of Edison, Noah Toney of South Orange, Aryan Vavila of Bridgewater, Ankitha Yaddanapudi of Morganville, and Lauren Yates of Piscataway. Photo by Michelle H. LePoidevin

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High School Gives Back At Thanksgiving

 

High School Gives Back At Thanksgiving—Union Catholic High School, Scotch Plains delivered 35 baskets filled with non-perishable food items to Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish located in Scotch Plains. The baskets were then distributed to families in need in time for the Thanksgiving holiday.  The Union Catholic Student Council is responsible for organizing this annual effort of collecting food items from the entire UC community demonstrating the importance of helping others and ensuring that those in need are not forgotten.

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This Thanksgiving, Emergency Nurses Urge Roadway Safety

STATE—This Thanksgiving, tens of thousands of people will travel “over the river and through the woods to Grandmother’s house” and to thousands of other destinations to spend the holidays with friends and family. Sadly, some of those trips will end in tragedy with traffic accidents and ambulance rides to emergency rooms. Many of the injuries and fatalities sustained in those accidents will have been preventable. A new report recently released by the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) highlights the kinds of laws that could prevent many accidents, injuries and fatalities. The 2008 ENA National Scorecard on State Roadway Laws: A Blueprint for Injury Prevention reviews the roadway safety laws in all 50 states and the District of Columbia based on 13 criteria supported by evidence and research. 

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Thanksgiving Is Top Day For Home Cooking Fires

In 2006, Thanksgiving Day topped the charts once again as the peak day for home cooking fires. According to National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) reports, there were 1,400 home structure fires involving cooking equipment that year, which is more than three times the daily average.

Cooking is the leading cause of home fires and home fire injuries. Each year, hundreds of people in the United States are killed in fires that involve cooking equipment and thousands more are injured. Annually, these fires result in more than half a billion dollars in direct property damage to homes and their contents.

“Cooking fires can easily be prevented by following a few simple precautions, such as staying in the kitchen when preparing a meal because fires often start when items cooking are left unattended,” said Lorraine Carli, NFPA’s vice president of communications. “As much as unexpected guests are sometimes a part of the holidays, you don’t want the fire department arriving because your feast is going up in flames.”

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AAA Predicts Decline In Thanksgiving Holiday Travel

FLORHAM PARK—The number of Americans traveling during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend will drop slightly compared to last year, reports AAA. An estimated 41 million Americans are expected to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday 50 miles or more away from home, a decrease of 600,000 travelers (1.4 percent) from last year’s total of 41.6 million. This is the first decline in Thanksgiving holiday travel since 2002 and is the fourth consecutive holiday in 2008 where a year-to-year decrease was forecast. According to AAA, nearly one million people will originate their travels in New Jersey.

“While gas prices have dropped considerably, providing motorists much-need relief at the pump, the overall state of the economy continues to present real challenges for some families looking to travel this Thanksgiving,” says Rick Zeckendorf, vice president of travel services for the AAA New Jersey Automobile Club. “It’s important to note, however, that even in the face of these tough economic times, the desire to spend time with family and friends provides a strong incentive and many people are still planning to travel.”

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