RISE Monthly Newsletter

The holidays are synonymous with toys. It is a joyous time for most. But, for struggling families it is a time of stress and anxiety. Parents barely getting by still want their children to experience the joy and excitement of receiving the toys of their dreams. Thankfully, holiday toy drives help fill the need. To sponsor a child or family this season, please go to https://njrise.org/risetoydrive/ and donate directly to the Holiday Gift Drive!  All donations made to our Gift Drive will be distributed at our Holiday Party on December 11th!  Santa will be passing out gifts to pre-registered children, and they will also receive blankets from Project Linus and new pajamas from Lola & Mimi!  We are so excited to be able to offer this to our local families with help from our donors and our partners.  If you would like to drop off generic gifts that can also be distributed that night, please bring them to the Rise Home Office before December 11th. And thank you in advance for helping to provide a happy holiday for all!

It's that time of year again!  We have been folding and stuffing and stamping envelopes in preparation for our Annual Appeal.  Letters will start going in the mail the second week of December, so keep an eye on your mailbox!   Alternatively, please consider becoming a Rise Good Neighbor!  The mailers for our annual appeal are costly to us, but we rely on the donations we receive to keep our doors open all year long.  Our Good Neighbors donors support our mission by making an automatic gift each month that powers Rise’s ongoing work. Good Neighbors make it possible for Rise to meet urgent needs and work with clients over time to help them recover from setbacks. Good Neighbors know that they are supporting their community every day by giving us a reliable source of income and reducing our fundraising costs so we can focus our funds on helping more people. https://njrise.org/good-neighbors/

We are so excited to announce that big changes are coming to the Rise Thrift Store in the coming year.  To make it easier on our renovation team, we are offering DEEP DISCOUNTS through the month of December!  Stop in and see all of the amazing items, including beautiful housewares, jewelry and vintage clothing that is in store, and help us move our inventory!  Still want to shop virtually this year?  Try shopping our eBay and Etsy shops, where you'll find bigger ticket items and beautiful jewelry for that bling-lover on your list!  We will stop accepting donations for a brief period, beginning January 1st, and then the store will be closed for about a week while we make some very exciting upgrades!  

Give back to your community and brighten your home for the holidays or pick up that perfect last minute hostess gift at the same time! During the entire month of December, head over to the Stop & Shop located at 1600 Perrineville Road, Monroe Township, NJ and purchase the $9.99 Bloomin' 4 Good Bouquet with the red circle sticker on it.  For each bouquet sold, Stop & Shop will donate $1 to Rise!  It's an easy way to help spread holiday cheer and help us keep that good will going all year long!

Every day, our mission is to help our community in whatever way we can.  During the month of November, we're proud to have distributed 1,130 turkeys (with trimmings) with our friends at the Rise to the TASK drive thru event.  We sold 6,722 items at the Rise Thrift Store!  Fridays are the busiest sales days at Rise Thrift, especially at noon.  124 generous donors gave online to Rise in November!  At the Rise Thrift Store alone, volunteers gave 233 hours of their time.  These efforts are made possible by donations that we receive, and we want you to know that you are making a huge difference in the lives of your neighbors who may be struggling.  If you want to help us make these numbers grow, you can donate directly to Rise at https://njrise.org/pantry/