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MONROE: Wall Street employees donate time for good cause

By Amy Batista, Special Writer
   MONROE — Employees from Goldman Sachs took their global initiative Community TeamWorks and teamed up with Special Strides in Monroe on May 11.
   ”(We) give one day to the community,” said Rajesh Agrawal of Kendall Park, Community TeamWorks member and participant of 11 years. “I have built homes for the poor, Habitat for Humanity, Special Olympics and (the) cleaning of parks, but this is really good because it directly impacts the kids. It’s very nice.”
   The company’s initiative allows employees to take a day off from the office and participate in local projects, according to the company.
   More than 26,500 workers in 43 offices throughout the world volunteered for the program in 2011, partnering with 905 nonprofit organizations and completing a diverse array of community service projects, according to the company.
   For some employees, this was their first experience with Community TeamWorks and doing a community project, while others have been doing it for more than a decade.
   For Team Captain, Krishnan Gururaj, this project meant much more because it directly impacted his family.
   ”My daughter goes for therapy at Special Strides once a week. We started to go based on the advice of our speech therapist in Manalapan and been doing it for the last five years or more. We believe it helps strengthen core muscles and extremities,” said Mr. Gururaj of Holmdel.
   It was his daughter’s involvement that inspired Mr. Gururaj to reach out to Special Strides when it came to doing the Community TeamWorks community service project this year.
   ”Many volunteers really enjoyed it and wanted to have more projects for Special Strides and are ready to do it next year at a bigger level. Laurie and (her) team (here) showed great hospitality,” Mr. Gururaj said.
   ”Special Strides is a magical place that provides equine assisted therapies to 130 individuals with special needs,” said Laurie Landy of Monroe, founder, owner and Occupational Therapist of Congress Hill Farm.
   Ms. Landy said that throughout the year, Hippotherapy, Adaptive Riding and Therapeutic Driving brighten the lives of many clients at the Congress Hill Farm.
   Special Strides is 501c.3 non-profit organization that has been operating for 14 years and is comprised of 15 horses, staff and numerous volunteers. It is a Therapeutic Riding Center that uses Equine Assisted Therapy to elicit rehabilitation, recreation and confidence for individuals with a variety of disabilities such as Cerebral Palsy, Autism, Down syndrome and head injuries.
   Equine Assisted Therapies take place during the year on its 210 acres of sensory trails in both the outdoor and indoor arenas, according to Ms. Landy.
   ”Because the farm is dependent on community support, a parent of a participant organized a partnership with Goldman Sachs to provide a helping hand,” Ms. Landy said.
   Through Team Community Works, Mr. Krishanan organized a project to paint existing barns, arenas and balance beams.
   ”He developed a $1,000 budget in which Goldman Sachs graciously sponsored,” Ms. Landy said. “Fourteen employees from a variety of locations as far as the Bronx, traveled to Special Strides. They were divided into groups and with a shovel, rake or paint brush in hand, they spent the day giving Special Strides a facelift.”
   The team completed several projects including; creating a new riding arena with footing of sand and stone dust for “special riders” who are learning to ride independently, Painted benches in the “Garden of Giving,” built more than 20 signs for outdoor arenas with letters and numbers for children to identify locations, color, and letter recognition and directionality when riding, cleaned up trails of brush, loose twigs and Poison Ivy, weeded the playground area, and painted the balance beams and playground area.
   ”We do this once a year and it’s usually in the spring/summer,” said Brendan O’Keeffe of Glen Rock, team member of Community TeamWorks. “It’s nice to get away from the office for a day and come and help out the community.”
   Some employees like Sreelatha Ponugoti were inspired by the experience to come back and continue to volunteer their services.
   ”This is my first time,” said Sreelatha Ponugoti of East Windsor, team member of Community TeamWorks. “It’s good. I’m planning to volunteer over the weekend whenever I get the time. I made my mind today after looking at the video.”
   ”That appreciation that we get from the people,” said Arpan Shah of Dayton, team member of Community TeamWorks and participant for eight years. “I do it (volunteer) at my home too. That’s the fun part.”