The Ocean County office of the Children’s Home Society of New Jersey is participating in Operation: Child Care, a volunteer effort to support National Guard and Reserve soldiers serving in the Middle East. 30 Children’s Home Society of New Jersey-trained child care providers — both center-based and registered family child care providers — are volunteering to help.
Judi Novak, a registered CHS of N.J. family child care provider, has already donated four hours of child care to Raven, infant child of Felix Zamot, a New Jersey Air National Guardsman, and his wife, Shanna.
Zamot, who was called into active duty on Sept. 11, 2001, spent 22 months in Iraq, serving in the Enduring Free-dom, Iraqi Freedom and Noble Eagle missions.
The following family child care providers, in the Brick-Jackson-Toms River area, registered by the Children’s Home Society of New Jersey — Yvette Concepcion, Lori Ulrich, Carmen John-son, Betsy Birdsall, Judi Novak and Claudia Sargent, have all volunteered free child care hours to Operation Child Care.
The U.S. Army implemented a plan allowing soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan to have rest and recuperation leaves of up to 15 days to visit family or friends in the United States or Europe. The program enables soldiers to enjoy a few hours of donated child care to take care of personal business, take a spouse to dinner, or enjoy other recreational activities.
The nation’s network of child care resource and referral agencies, with the support of the Child Care Bureau, National Child Care Association, National Association of Family Child Care and National 4-H Clubs, organized Operation Child Care. CHS of N.J.’s Ocean County office is the first organization in New Jersey to participate.