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Rise Pantry Celebrates Rebrand with Open House!
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This summer, Rise rolled out their new branding and a fresh new look at the Rise Pantry! On Thursday, July 14, 2022, Rise celebrated the completion of this endeavor with an open house for their board members and clients. The open house was meant to be an introduction to the new pantry brand, one that moves away from “food pantry” to showcase the breadth of what Rise Pantry actually provides, from food to diapers and personal care items like shampoo and dental kits. Rise staff and volunteers repainted the exterior, power washed the building and surrounding walkways, and installed plants and grasses to beautify the surroundings. Painted benches were placed around the exterior for clients and community members to sit in the shade. Inside the pantry, volunteers re-organized the shelves and cleaned the space so that items were easier to find for distribution and the interior felt more inviting for clients. Rise’s Executive Director, Leslie Koppel, closed the event with her sentiments for the future of the pantry: “We look forward to hosting additional community events in the future, while also further opening our doors so Rise can fully work with our neighbors to achieve joint communal success.”
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Register for Rutgers Workshop on Cancer Prevention!
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On September 22nd, join Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and uRise as we talk about the basics of cancer, understand cancer risk factors and what steps you can take to reduce your risk for certain cancers. To sign up, click here for the Cancer 101 workshop, offered in both English or Spanish! The workshops will be held in person at our uRise campus in downtown Hightstown, NJ.
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Thank You for Participating In Our Backpack Drive!
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We're nearing the end of our Backpack Drive and distributions have been taking place throughout the month of August. To date, we've given out 1,137 backpacks full of school supplies to children in need, and we’re still going! Backpacks are still available for pickup at the Rise Home Office. Extras will be distributed to local schools for the staff to hand out as needed to qualifying students who may have missed our distributions. Thank you to all those who took part in making this year’s backpack drive a huge success! From donors to volunteers stuffing backpacks full of supplies, we could not do any of this without you!
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aFUN Begins Again in October!
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In August, we wrapped up our first session of our AFUN Program! Adult Families Understanding Nutrition (AFUN) is a supplemental program of the Rise Pantry. Once a month, participants come to the Pantry to pick up meal kits with all of the ingredients needed to make healthy recipes. Cooking instruction is provided and educational materials are included to encourage healthy eating habits. Some months even include a small gift like an apron or a cooking utensils! If you or someone you know may be interested in the upcoming AFUN program, registration will be opening soon! Contact the Rise home office for details.
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Join Us for Our 9th Annual Latino Festival!
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The coordinators of the 9th Annual Latino Festival would like to invite you to join us at the Hightstown High School on Saturday, September 17th for a day full of culture, food, art, performances and family-friendly fun! The mission of the latino festival committee is to bring our communities together through the arts, showcasing musical performances by La Sonora Dinamita, Mariachi Campers, Gustavo Andres, Juvy, The Latin Brothers and Nicki Denner! We are looking forward to seeing you there! In the event of bad weather, the event will take place the following day at the same place and time!
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August Community Impact by the Numbers
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Every day, our mission is to help our neighbors in whatever way we can. In August, we had 1,936 visits to the food pantry by 518 local families. We distributed 17,146 bags of food to local families, and handed out 124 bags of pet food. 813 bags of baby supplies for new parents were given to those in need. 299 of our Rise volunteers donated 2,777 hours of their time. Our efforts are made possible by donations that we receive and by our amazing volunteers. We want you to know that you are making a huge difference in the lives of people around you who may be struggling, and lifting up your entire community. If you want to help us make these numbers grow, you can donate to Rise at https://njrise.org/donate. Want to make even more of an impact? Become a Rise Good Neighbor and pledge to make a recurring monthly contribution that helps us better manage our budget and know that we are ready to take action when needs arise outside of our normal fundraising schedule, which has become our reality in recent years.
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