Editor’s note: In light of recent events related to coronavirus, some organizations have decided to cancel their upcoming programs. Please check the status of any event before attending.
The Traumatic Loss Coalitions for Youth will hold the 17th annual Suicide Prevention Conference, focusing on “Reaching for Hope,” from 8:30 a.m. to noon Dec. 3, via WebEx.
Speakers include Susan Klebold, author and activist; and Vanessa L. McGann, clinical psychologist
To register, visit https://rutgers.cloud-cme.com/course/courseoverview?P=5&EID=7116
Cost is $49 per person.
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Dove Hospice Services of New Jersey seeks compassionate volunteers to provide support to local hospice patients and their families.
Hospice patient care volunteers visit with patients in their homes, which can also be nursing facilities or assisted living facilities, at least once a week. They read to the patient, reminisce about their lives, play cards, help with letter writing and provide respite for caregivers.
Visits can be virtual, and are either during the day or early evening.
Volunteers may also assist with administrative work within the hospice office.
Patient care volunteers complete an application and attend a virtual volunteer training program that covers the role of a hospice volunteer. Day and evening virtual training programs are offered.
To sign up for the next virtual training class, contact Volunteer Coordinator Deborah Adams at 732-405-3035 or email deborah@dovehs.com.
The Old Bridge Township Public School District provides special education and related services to disabled children/students ages 3-21 who are in need of special education.
If you reside within the district or have a child attending a non-public school in Old Bridge and suspect your child may be disabled due to physical, sensory, emotional, communication, cognitive or social difficulties, call the Office of Special Services.
For children 3-5 years old, pre-school disabled means an identified disabling condition and or measurable developmental impairment that requires special education and related services.
For additional information, call your neighborhood school and ask for the Child Study Team or call the Office of Special Services at 732-360-4461.
From 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Oct. 14 and 15, shoppers at Boscov’s at the Woodbridge Center Mall will receive 20% off most purchases in a fundraiser to support the Sayreville Public Library. Five percent will be donated back to the Friends.
Select the charity at the register in-store or from a list online during checkout.
The Middlesex County Office of Career Opportunity will hold a drive-thru job fair from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 15 in the parking lot of the Grand Marquis, 1550 Route 9 south, Old Bridge.
Job seekers will receive packets with information about available career opportunities, and job training from more than 75 employers that are participating in the event.
To comply with CDC guidelines, residents will be able to pull into the Grand Marquis parking lot, roll down their window, and receive a job listing packet from Career Opportunity staff.
Residents are also encouraged to drop off their resume which will be entered into a job matching database.
The event is being held in collaboration with the Township of Old Bridge, Central Jersey Partners, and the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
Concurrent events are also being held in Monmouth, Ocean, and Somerset Counties.
The Middlesex County Office of Career Opportunity is funded through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014 and has offices in New Brunswick and Perth Amboy.
For more information about this event, call 732-745-3601.
The First Presbyterian Church of Sayreville will hold a fish/chicken fry from 5-6:45 p.m. Oct. 16.
Drive-in and pickup only.
Chicken dinners must be specified in advance.
Tickets are $15 and are available by calling the church at 732-257-6353 or emailing churchoffice172@optimum.net.
For more information, visit FPCSAYREVILLE.ORG.
The Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, in conjunction with the NJ Reentry Corporation of New Brunswick, will hold a clothing drive to benefit men and women reentering the workforce.
Lightly used clothing items, as well as toiletries and hygiene products, will be collected from Oct. 26-29 at the following locations:
- Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, 25 Kirkpatrick St., Second Floor, Wade Baker Conference Room, New Brunswick. Contact Amber Gibbs at amber.gibbs@co.middlesex.nj.us or Sara Lucas at sara.lucas@co.middlesex.nj.us to set up a drop off time.
- Office of the Clerk of the Board, 75 Bayard St., First Floor, New Brunswick. Contact Daniele Reitsma at daniele.reitsma@co.middlesex.nj.us to set up a drop off time.
- Director’s Office, 1001 Fire Academy Dr., Sayreville. Contact Ginny Rizzo at ginny.rizzo@co.middlesex.nj.us to set up a drop off time.
All items will be delivered to the NJ Reentry Corporation on Oct. 30.
Our Lady of Victories School in Sayreville is holding a Thanksgiving pie sale from Oct. 13 through Nov. 11.
The cost is $20 per pie, which comes from Delicious Orchards. Choices are apple, pumpkin, mince, cherry and pecan.
Send cash or make check payable to OLV HSA and send to OLV School, ATTN: Leo Yetsko – Kindergarten, 36 Main St., Sayreville 08872. List name, contact information, number of pies and payment.
Forty percent of the proceeds will be used to enhance educational programs for children through the OLV Home School Association.
All pies must be picked up from 2-4 p.m. Nov. 23 in Monsignor Dalton Hall. Any pies not picked up will be donated to a food bank.
For more information, contact Panita Yetsko at HSAOLV@gmail.com
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The YMCA of Greater Monmouth County is introducing new child care options and academic programming this fall.
The YMCA is launching the “Y Academy” in September to provide convenient, flexible and affordable options for children in grades K-6, whose schedules are split between in-person and virtual learning.
Parents will have options, with children attending two or three days a week from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. or 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Y Academy will be available at the Freehold Family YMCA, Freehold Borough YMCA Community Center, and Matawan Child Achievement Center.
The Y plans to offer the Y Academy at the Old Bridge Family YMCA and Red Bank Family YMCA, pending licensing, and community sites are also under consideration depending on interest.
Also new this fall is a full-day kindergarten program for families who prefer in-person classroom instruction. Young learners will engage in an academic curriculum, physical fitness, and social and emotional learning activities.
The kindergarten program will be available in September at the Freehold Family YMCA’s Enrichment Center and Matawan Child Achievement Center. It will run 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays, with extended care available at 7 a.m. and until 6 p.m.
Children will be placed in small groups and all safety guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local health departments will be strictly followed. Staff and children will be required to wear masks (with scheduled mask breaks for children). Health screenings will be mandatory at parent drop off and both parent and child will be temperature checked.
The Y will also resume before and after school care in the following school districts: Atlantic Highlands, Fair Haven, Freehold Borough, Freehold Township, Highlands, Little Silver, Manalapan/Englishtown, Matawan, Middletown Township, Millstone, Monmouth Beach, Shrewsbury, Spring Lake Heights and West Long Branch.
Additionally, the Y provides child care for infants to preschoolers at the Freehold Family YMCA and an academic pre-school program at the Matawan Child Achievement Center.
To learn more about YMCA child care programs and registration, visit www.ymcanj.org.
The times and dates of food pantry operations in Sayreville have changed.
Food will be distributed in a contactless drive up service from 10 a.m. to noon every Tuesday at the Sayreville Senior Center, 423 Main St.
Donations will be accepted from 2-4 p.m. every Tuesday, also at the Senior Center, to ensure food is quarantined for a week prior to redistribution.
For more information, email policeoutreach@sayreville.com
The Alborada Spanish Dance Theatre will present “The History of the Migration of Spaniards from Andalucia to New Jersey” from 7-8 p.m. Oct. 15.
There will be a lecture by Dr. Mirta Barrea Marlys; Flamenco guitarist/singer Pedro Jimenez, who was born in Cadiz; a talk by Maria Hill, born in Spain; narration by Eva Lucena; and Spanish cultural demonstrations and regional dances.
The event is free and open to the public.
For reservations, call Lucena at 732-598-3979 or email alboradadance@optonline.net, or visit https://alboradahistorylecture.eventbrite.com
Women Aware will mark 40 years of service to individuals and families in Middlesex County affected by domestic violence with a 40th anniversary Virtual Candlelight Vigil from 7-8 p.m. Oct. 21.
The event will remember victims whose lives were ended by domestic violence and to honor survivors moving beyond abuse.
During the vigil, the organization will honor Women Aware shelter founders Diane Palladino and Ellen Koteen; volunteer advocate Ruth Hague; and Paul Sansone Sr., founder of Sansone Auto Group, Paul Sansone, Sr.
The candlelight vigil is open to the public and free to attend. Visit https://givebutter.com/WomenAware40th
For information about sponsorship opportunities, contact Susan Dyckman, director of development, at sdyckman@womenaware.net or 732-249-4900, ext. 0428.
To donate online, visit https://givebutter.com/WomenAware40th
Text to donate 202-858-1233 Code WA40
Mail a check payable to Women Aware; mail to Women Aware, 40th Anniversary, 250 Livingston Ave., New Brunswick 08901
Follow Women Aware on social media: Facebook @womenawareinc or Instagram @womenaware or Twitter @Women_Aware
Ride a cycling course of your choosing to help support and raise funds for more than 26,000 Special Olympics New Jersey athletes.
This year’s route and mileage are up to each participant.
Through Oct. 24, register and complete your ride.
All registered participants will receive a long sleeve t-shirt, ride bib and finisher medal.
Fundraising incentives are available to those who reach specific milestones.
To register and for more information, visit www.BikeSONJ.org.
The honorees are:
- Chris Beagan, Class of 1990, three-time state championship coach, GMC Coach of the Year
- Steven Casano, Class of 1985, founding executive director of NeuroSearch; Sayreville Little League coach, sponsorship coordinator and board member
- William D’Amico, Class of 1973, distinguished military career; three special operations commanding officer tours of duty; post-military career in corporate medical device, consumer goods and industrial manufacturing industries
- The late Matthew Lynch, Class of 1985, president of Friends Of Children’s Hospital in Warsaw, Poland; honored by U.S. ambassador to Poland for 20 years of service
- Farrah Reilly, Class of 1994, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author under the pen name Emma Chase; books translated into more than 20 languagesTickets are $50 for adults or $30 for children, with a choice of meals.All reservations received to date for tickets and program ads will be honored.New ad book and ticket requests will be mailed in March.For more information, contact Elaine Kubacz at 732-727-0192 or epkubacz@verizon.net.
Monroe Township Jewish War Veterans Post 609 is collecting United States and foreign stamps, both on and off envelopes.
Stamps are used by veterans as hobbies and as therapy to support medical staff at VA Medical Centers nationwide.
Stamps are not traded or sold; they are forwarded to veteran patients at no charge.
Also requested are DVDs suitable for veterans at those locations.
Send all items to JWV Post 609, c/o Charles Koppelman, 6 Yarmouth Dr., Monroe 08831-4742.
Old Bridge High School is seeking active duty or reservist military personnel who are alumni for the Military Wall of Honor expected to be established this year.
The wall is meant to commemorate graduates who have given their lives to honor their country and shine a light on the importance of veterans within the Old Bridge community.
Residents are urged to assist with the project by spreading the word of the proposed military wall. The high school is looking for graduates from 1995 through the present.
To submit information, visit docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSev1sK7AIQ6KvNb2iqUz6l7UgFmPBJXBpMbkAR2IuRwkUeVQQ/viewform or contact Guy Lassen at glassen@obps.org.
The Community Health Law Project (CHLP) has extended the deadline for nominations of candidates for the Ann Klein Advocate Awards and Mike Lione Accessibility Award to recognize those who dedicate themselves to improving the lives of people living with disabilities through Oct. 17.
The Ann Klein Advocate Award is given to a group of select individuals and organizations, nominated by the public, who have performed exemplary work as advocates for people living with disabilities and/or vulnerable populations.
The award is named in memory of Ann Klein, former commissioner of the NJ Department of Human Services, whose career as a public servant, legislator and social worker paved the way for significant advances in the human services systems throughout the State of New Jersey.
The Mike Lione Accessibility Award was established in 2013 in memory of longtime Community Health Law Project Board Member and former Chair Mike Lione. This award is presented to an individual or entity that has performed exemplary work as an advocate for accessibility on behalf of persons living with disabilities.
For more information, visit www.chlp.org or call 973-275-1175.
