RISE Monthly Newsletter

National Read Across America Day is Wednesday, March 2nd and Rise is celebrating by handing out FREE children's books at three of their locations: the Rise Home Office, Rise Thrift Store, and the Rise Food Pantry!  Read Across America Day is celebrated on the birthday of famed author, Dr. Seuss and is meant to encourage kids to get excited about the joys of reading!  Come to one of our participating locations and choose an age-appropriate book for the young readers in your home!  Want to help us share the joy?  Take a photo of them enjoying their new book and tag us or add the hashtag #readacrossamerica!

With the changing of the seasons and the warmer weather comes fresh new growth all around us.  After a long season indoors and all covered up, we might be feeling like we could use a little freshening up too!  Every year our Spring Time Spruce Up drive helps to provide those in need with toiletry items and hygiene kits to give everyone a chance to look and feel their best! We are collecting items like shampoo and conditioner, soap and body wash, deodorant, oral care items like toothpaste and toothbrushes, and other personal care items like hair color, hair brushes and more that can be handed out to clients at the Rise Home Office.  You could also donate services like a free hair cut or color, laundry services and more!  We received a generous donation in 2021 from "I Support the Girls" and we have lots of feminine hygiene items for all ages including kits for teens, and essential intimate items like bras, and underwear in all sizes that are available for our clients who could use a little help feeling their best this year!  Items for donation can be dropped off at the Rise Home Office or at the Rise Thrift Store during business hours.

We are accepting new registrations in March for our upcoming Families Understanding Nutrition (FUN) session!  FUN is a supplemental program of the Rise Food Pantry that encourages young families with children learn new ways of preparing nutritious meals and provides the educational materials and experience to help them along their way.  Registered clients can pick up special meal kits from the Food Pantry that include all of the ingredients necessary to make at least two full meals for the family, recipes, cooking instructions, and even a bonus gift like an apron or a cooking utensil!  Contact the Rise Home Office to register for participation in the upcoming program.

Every day, our mission is to help our neighbors in whatever way we can.  I February, we had 425 new clients visit the food pantry.  We distributed 12,580 bags of food to local families.  We handed out 68 bags of pet food.  388 bags of baby supplies for new parents were given to those in need.  These efforts are made possible by donations that we receive and by our amazing volunteers.  We want you to know that you are making a huge difference in the lives of people around you who may be struggling, and lifting up your entire community.  If you want to help us make these numbers grow, you can donate to Rise at https://njrise.org/donate. Want to make even more of an impact? Become a Rise Good Neighbor and pledge to make a recurring monthly contribution that helps us better manage our budget and know that we are ready to take action when needs arise outside of our normal fundraising schedule, which has become our reality in recent years.