Giving is Personal. What motivates you to give?
Did you know that there are thousands of non-profit or 501(c)(3) organizations across Monmouth County: from parent-teacher organizations, garden clubs, and fraternal organizations, to hospitals, social service agencies, and local chapters of national organizations. Non-profit staffs and volunteers work tirelessly to fulfill their organizations’ missions by advocating, educating, and raising funds that are essential to creating and sustaining programs and services that help people, save animals, provide food, preserve history, protect the environment, provide information so others can make informed decisions, and so much more. Read more
Navarumsunk Auxiliary Rings Out Another Big Year. Looks Ahead to the Next
At the recent Navarumsunk Auxiliary Holiday Luncheon, held at Rumson Country Club, the auxiliary’s 25 dedicated members took the opportunity to look back on another successful year of fundraising for FCS: recapping each event, reflecting on the auxiliary’s long history of support for the agency’s most vulnerable clients, and making plans for 2019. Deeply committed to strengthening, protecting and preserving the dignity and independence of people in need, the auxiliary also took up its yearly membership appeal, raising funds for the purchase of adult diapers for frail elderly and disabled Home Care clients who are unable to afford the supplies they need. Read more
Diane Tornquist, Aide of the Month
Diane Torquist has been a Certified Home Health Aide (CHHA) with Family & Children’s Service (FCS) Home Care Services for more than two decades. She trained with the agency in 1996 right after graduating from high school. At that time, Diane thought she would work as an aide for a few years, but to her surprise, she fell in love with the work.
The Benefits of Bridge
Playing Bridge is a great way to stay healthy as you age! Research shows the game can keep the mind sharp, enhance social life and nurture partnerships. That’s good news for the 120 guests who signed up for this year’s 2018 Benefit Bridge Luncheon, Wednesday, September 12th at Rumson Country Club hosted by the Navarumsunk Auxiliary. Most of the players who participated in the afternoon tournament were in their 70’s and 80’s and several were in their 90’s! (The American Contract Bridge League estimates the average age of today’s competitive U.S. bridge player is 71.)Read more
Senior Corps Programs Convene in DC
Staff from FCS's Volunteer Services program joined leaders from hundreds of nonprofit and volunteer organizations from across the country in Washington, D.C. this month for the 2018 “National Senior Corps Convening” hosted by the Corporation for National and Community for Service (CNCS). The three-day event brought together directors and staff from the Corps’ Foster Grandparents, Senior Companions and the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) to network with peers, learn best practices and hear from national experts in the fields of aging.
FCS wins big at annual Day at the Races
When Arlene and Maurice “Butch” Lospinoso throw a party, everyone shows up! This past Sunday, despite the blistering heat and humidity, the Middletown couple rallied more than 180 of their closest friends and family to attend their annual “Day at the Races” fundraiser at Monmouth Park Racetrack benefiting FCS. Butch, an avid horse racing fan, and Arlene, a former Chair of the FCS Board of Directors and president of the agency’s Navarumsunk Auxiliary, have been organizing "Day at the Races" for more than 20 years to raise funds for essential FCS programs and services, including protection for vulnerable adults, home care for the frail and elderly and school-based volunteer programs designed to promote childhood well-being. Their efforts have resulted in thousands of dollars in support for the agency.
Raising Awareness of Elder Abuse
Friday, June 15th is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day; a day set aside for communities around the world to raise awareness about elder abuse, and to shed light on the importance of preventing, identifying, and responding to this serious, escalating problem. Jessica Reyes, FCS Director of Adult Protective Services for Monmouth and Middlesex Counties, recently testified before the Monmouth County Office on Aging, Disabilities & Veterans Services on the need for sustained funding of services to protect the growing number of vulnerable adults in our community. Here is her testimony:
The Gift of Literacy
When it comes to summer, reading may not be the first thing on a child's mind, but it is an important activity for maintaining beginner reading skills. Research shows that low-income children often lose reading skills over the summer due to lack of access to reading materials, causing them to fall behind their more advantaged classmates. To help level the playing field, Reading Buddies volunteers at Atlantic Highlands Elementary School are giving away free books to every child in their classrooms , regardless of income.
Annual Fashion Show raises $10,000 for FCS
Thank you to the more than 200 guests who turned out to support the Navarumsunk Auxiliary’s 61st Annual Spring Luncheon, Wednesday, May 9th at Branches in Long Branch. The event is expected to raise $10,000 to benefit for FCS programs and services, including protection for vulnerable adults, home care for the frail and elderly and school-based volunteer programs designed to promote childhood well-being.Read more
On Being a Nurse
Kathleen Rosa is Registered Nurse with FCS Home Care Services, part of a team of four registered nurses who oversee the daily care needs of our nearly 200 Home Care clients. As part of National Nurses Week, we asked Kathleen, whose nursing career has spanned five decades, to share her thoughts on being a nurse.
This week is National Nurses Week -- a significant week for me as this year marks 50 years since I finished nursing school and began my nursing career!
I graduated from the Central Islip State School of Nursing, a hospital-affiliated nursing school, in 1968 and landed my first nursing assignment at New York Hospital in the pediatrics unit. A second pediatrics assignment followed at the Flower and Fifth Avenue Hospital in Manhattan, (now the Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center, an affiliate of the New York Medical College School of Medicine). I enrolled in the Baccalaureate program at Long Island University, and soon after, was inspired to change my focus by one of my nursing professors. She taught Public Health and had a newspaper photo of herself at work in Brooklyn on a bicycle with her nursing bag in a basket in the back. What could be better than that?! Read more