By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
Lawrence Township’s annual Fourth of July fireworks show is 10 months away, but backers of the show are on their way toward their fundraising goal of $30,000.
Those fundraising efforts began even before the last fireworks shell had exploded, said Steven Groeger, township superintendent of recreation. Volunteers began accepting donations from fireworks show spectators, he said.
Lawrence Township does not fund the fireworks show through the municipal budget. The township stopped paying for the show in 2010 because of budget concerns. That’s when the private fundraising effort coordinated by the Lawrence Township Recreation Department was launched to pay for the show, which is held at Rider University.
The fundraising efforts for the 2012 show generated $26,000, and about $15,500 of that amount was spent on fireworks shells. The rest of the money was spent on police overtime and related costs, but a decision was made to set aside $1,000 toward the 2013 show.
Mr. Groeger said that between the money collected on the night of the fireworks show, plus money left over from the 2012 show and the annual Red White and Bang Triathlon for children, there is about $10,000 in the coffers toward next year’s show.
He said he was pleased with the results of the mini-triathlon, which was held on Labor Day. It is a scaled-down version of a typical triathlon for adults and is divided into swimming, bicycling and running segments. It has become a popular event, with 115 children having registered for it, he said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Groeger said his goal is to raise $30,000 for 2013 and to spend $20,000 of that amount on the fireworks shells. Looking ahead, he said he would also like to put aside some money from the 2013 fundraising effort to put toward the 2014 show.
Mr. Groeger said township officials are “certainly” accepting contributions for the 2013 show now. He said collection efforts might be undertaken at Lawrence Township’s annual Community Day next month. Canisters for donations will be set out early next year at township businesses.
”I would like to think that people were very happy with the fireworks show this year,” Mr. Groeger said. “I would hope that those businesses and agencies that contributed to the 2012 show will continue to contribute.”
”If everybody does a little, it really makes it ‘do-able.’ The sum of the parts equals the whole. A lot of the success (of the fireworks show) goes to the people who support the fundraisers,” he said, encouraging fireworks show supporters to send a check to Lawrence Township, earmarked for the fireworks show.
Checks should be made payable to Lawrence Township, with a notation of “fireworks” or “contribution” on the check, and mailed to the Lawrence Township Recreation Department at 2207 Lawrence Road, Lawrence Township, NJ 08648.

