Martin Luther King Jr. Day has been recognized as a day of special volunteer service since 1994, when the U.S. Congress passed the King Holiday and Service Act in honor of the late American civil rights leader.
“This was a day that was set aside for the service of others because Dr. King’s outlook on life was that everyone should step up and give back to their community, as well as giving to others by lending a helping hand,” said Freda Lehman, the teen services librarian at the Jackson library. “Today (Jan. 19) we’ve planned an all-day volunteer fair as a day of service for the community.”
Lehman said the event was an opportunity for residents to come to the library and meet with representatives of community service organizations and to learn about volunteer opportunities.
Among the organizations represented at the Jan. 19 fair were the Friends of the Jackson Library; Habitat for Humanity of Northern Ocean County; the Jackson Volunteer First Aid Squad; the 501 Association of Jackson; the Jackson Optimist Club; the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT); and the Jackson Women of Today, which operates the community’s food pantry.
Also on hand were representatives of the League of Women Voters; Young at Heart, which is a senior and adult day care organization; Contact of Ocean County and Monmouth Country; the emergency services and community services at Catholic Charities; Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ocean County; Girl Scouts of the Jersey Shore; Retired and Senior Volunteers; Jackson Recreation and Senior Services; and many more.
From 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., the representatives were on hand to explain how their volunteers help to provide services for the community.
“We need volunteers very much to serve the community in a myriad of different ways and to lend a helping hand to their neighbors, because there is so much need in the various communities,” Lehman said. “They are needed because our taxes and paid government services can provide only so much. So there is always a call for the regular citizen to step up and volunteer their talents.”
Vinnie Rubio was on hand to represent the 501 Association of Jackson.
“This is a fairly new organization. It is a union of all the nonprofit organizations in the township,” he explained.
Rubio said local organizations can now get together to pool their resources, and he said they can also help smaller organizations that are just starting out.
He said there have been times in the past when organizations scheduled events on the same date and that has been a problem. Now there is coordination as to what is being planned, Rubio said.
Jackson Optimist Club President Donna Bussicull said, “We help the kids in the community and we also have Camp Quality in northern New Jersey for kids who have cancer. They can go to camp for one week during the summer with no cost to their parents.”
The Jackson Optimist Club also has a school wish list program, which helps to provide items not covered in the regular school budget.
Steve Eisenstein, Jackson’s director of recreation and senior services, said, “We provide opportunities in town for folks who want to volunteer for some of our events. We have Easter egg hunts, Jackson Day, safe trick-ortreating, and there are volunteer programs for our senior citizens, [as well as] field maintenance for some of our athletic programs as well.”
To volunteer with a Jackson recreation or senior citizens program, call 732-928-1200, ext. 255.
Big Brothers Big Sisters community coordinator Darcy Hackett was on hand with information about her agency and said, “We are a mentoring agency and we match children who are at risk with an adult who will do an activity two to four times a month for three to four hours each (with the child) depending on what the child’s interests are.”
Big Brothers Big Sisters publishes a cookbook that features recipes from mentors, staff members and families of children who are serviced by the organization. To purchase the cookbook, call 732-905- 5349.
At the present time about 600 children are serviced in the community and through a school program, and there is a waiting list of between 80 and 100 children for Big Brothers Big Sisters volunteers.
Warner Rivera, representing the Jackson Rotary Club, said his organization is comprised of business people who give back to the community.
“We help in the community, have fundraisers and run an assortment of programs,” Rivera said. “We run programs for handicapped individuals and we have recently supplied defibrillators to the schools.”
The Jackson Rotary Club meets at the Mug Rack, Bennetts Mills Road, at 7:15 a.m. every Tuesday. For more information, visit www.jacksonrotaryclub.org.
Rob Morrison of the Cornerstone Presbyterian Church was also offering information about his organization and said, “We are a ministry with the deaf. We have an interpreter on Sunday. We have a housing program, if you are deaf, and we try to find homes for [deaf people]. We also landscape and work with schools to give [deaf people] help with their needs.”
The church, which meets at the Holman School, also provides meals for the hungry.
“We need volunteers to help with the ministry for the deaf program,” Morrison said. “Volunteers are also needed to help with the choir that sings in the community and to help with Sunday school.”
For more information about the Cornerstone Presbyterian Church, call 732-928- 2424.
Girl Scout Troop 217 leader Juli Daly was representing the Girl Scouts of the Jersey Shore, which serves girls in Ocean and Monmouth counties. Girls and adult volunteers are welcome to join the organization. Additional information is available at www.ocgsc.org .
First Lt. Gary Nokes said the Jackson Volunteer First Aid Squad exists to serve the community.
“We run volunteer first aid from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m., 365 days a year,” Nokes said. “We also work all the standbys anytime there is a group of 300 people or more in town and anytime there is a celebration or a large organized sports activity, Jackson Day or parades. With the township growing by leaps and bounds, there is only one volunteer first aid squad serving 100 square miles. It’s one of the largest communities in the state.”
For more information about the Jackson first aid squad, call 732-928-0278.
First aid squad volunteer cadets Markus Calabro, 14, a Jackson Liberty High School student, and Eric Loukides, 14, a Jackson Memorial High School student, were on hand to talk about the first aid squad.
Markus said he knew a few people who volunteered for the first aid squad and said he has always been interested in medicine, so this was a good place to start.
Eric said that his father has been on the Jackson first aid squad for five years and wanted him to try it.
“I found it was not only fun to be involved, but I’ve learned a lot from the experience,” Eric said.
Barbara Shafer, a volunteer with Habitat for Humanity, said the organization builds affordable homes for working individuals. Volunteers are needed to help construct the homes. For more information about Habitat for Humanity, call 732-818-9500 and speak with Suzan Fichner.