Donation of backpacks to Katrina victims in the adopted town of Pascagoula, Mississippi |
Mar. 28, 2006
Press Conference. . . Press Conference. . . Press Conference. . .
WHEN: Wednesday, Mar. 29, 11 a.m.
WHERE: Woodbridge Child Care Center , Avenel (on Kirk Street behind 1st Presbyterian Church of Avenel at 621 E. Woodbridge Ave. just east of Rt. 1 and 1 block north of Avenel Street)
WHO: Mayor Frank G. Pelzman; Sen. Joseph F. Vitale (D-Middlesex); Woodbridge Child Care Students donating $320 of their money to children in Pascagoula
Sen. Joseph F. Vitale’s successful “Backpack Campaign” for New Jersey foster children comes to Woodbridge this Wednesday, Mar. 29, Mayor Frank G. Pelzman has announced.
While visiting the Woodbridge Child Care Center in Avenel, Sen. Vitale and Mayor Pelzman will put together backpacks to be given to children in Pascagoula, Mississippi. The Center’s students will present Sen. Vitale with a check for $320.00 they collected on behalf of their Pascagoula peers.
“For many Gulf Coast residents affected by last summer’s hurricanes, life has not yet normalized,” says Mayor Pelzman. “Sen. Vitale’s Backpack Campaign is a small but important gesture in these families’ efforts to get back on their feet, and Woodbridge is proud to play a role in the donation and distribution effort.”
The Backpack Campaign was created in 1998 by Senator Vitale (D-Middlesex) and Helen Evans of Stand for Children as a psychological boost to children entering the New Jersey foster care system. The children receive backpacks donated by area individuals and businesses that contain notebooks, stuffed animals and personal items. The program is a partnership with Stand for Children, New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS) and New Jersey Foster and Adoptive Family Services.
The Backpack Campaign is also intended to promote awareness within communities about foster children and the services available to children in need. “I am deeply impressed by the good-hearted nature of our citizens,” says Sen. Vitale. “By providing these several hundred backpacks, our community has reached out to children and shown that we care.”
Woodbridge Child Care Center directorRobin Goodrich says her students were immediately enthusiastic about assisting the Backpack Campaign. “Children at this age like to be helpers,” she says. “Knowing that they were helping other kids made it even more meaningful for them.”
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©2000
MIS Department
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