Our Causes
Healing Meals - Last Day at No Fuss Lunch
Building on Women's History Month at
Habitat for Humanity
Y Service Club of NJ got together for an evening of cooking for Healing Meals on June 21, 2022 . Healing Meals provides meals for families undergoing medical treatment. On the menu was 'lentil and rice soup' and 'latin rice.' There were some first-time cooks who demonstrated their gusto for cooking. We celebrated the last day of Healing Meals at No Fuss Lunch kitchen site, which is relocating by early fall. There was a lot of chopping, stirring and fellowship.
Giving back is the definition of what it means to be an affiliated club of Y's Men International. Y Service of North Jersey responded this month, not only to the call for Community Service, but also celebrated March as Women’s History Month. This month Carol Pobanz, Secretary, Y Service Club, NJ with the support of young women associates, joined a day of service with Habitat for Humanity’s “Women Build Construction Day”. The team of six women followed the professional painting direction of Bernard, anointed “honorary woman for the day,” – learning to “cut in” properly at all conjoining walls and ceilings, roll paint on the walls and to roll paint on the ceiling. Carol reports,”Our team was able to complete two coats of paint on the designated areas while enjoying music and chatter of a warm sisterhood. Nothing brings people together better than doing good for others.”
“We thought we were going to construct, but instead, we de-constructed,” said Rev. Carol Pobanz, secretary of Y Service of North Jersey.
The first day of the month dedicated by Y Service International to Emphasis in Youth Involvement & Activities, (as well as Image Building & Branding), Y Service partnered with volunteers from Youth and Students for Peace(YSP), working together with a Habitat for Humanity, Paterson, NJ demolition crew to prepare a house for reconstruction.
The group removed walls, old insulation and all protruding nails in preparation for new plumbing, wiring and heating – all of the reconstruction meeting all current Energy Star standards.
“This was my first time working with Habitat for Humanity. I never thought I'd find myself tearing down a house – pulling out nails and letting them drop to the floor, and pulling down walls!! Absolutely loved it! So, exhilarating!” said Miilhan Stevens, youth director of YSP. “Best of all, I had the chance to deepen my friendships with some people I have not seen for a long time, and meet some wonderful new people as well.”
Healing Meals
What a joy to serve families through volunteering with Healing Meal’s which is a “Gift of Love for Families with Ill Children and Seniors in Need.” Healing Meals provides nutritious meals for families with children undergoing treatment for cancer, or those with serious blood disorders or sickle cell anemia, and it has recently expanded its services to seniors in need.
On Tuesday evening, October 22, a group of representatives of Y Service of North Jersey gathered at the Healing Meals kitchen to join Y Service member and program director Stacey Antine MS, RDN to prepare hundreds of meals for patients, families and seniors. Our group joined with other local volunteers to prepare soup, dinners and desserts.
With a sense of care and cooperation, we were able to get so much done. One volunteer observed “We were working like a well-greased machine.” Also helping that evening were a group of young people from the local area. It was a pleasure to serve together with them. Certainly, for the modest amount of energy invested over those few hours, the satisfaction and joy we received in return was so much greater.
Y Service of North Jersey is hoping to continue to give support to this worthy cause and others like it.
Y Service NJ Supports those Hit by Hurricane Iota and Eta
In January 2020, New Jersey Club, USA officials invited Mr. Mario Salinas from Honduras to New Jersey to discuss the possibility of a pilot project in Character Education in Tela, Honduras. The project was confirmed and scheduled to begin in the Springtime of 2020. However, due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the project was postponed. Not missing the opportunity to expand the footprint of the Y Service Club’s mission, Mr. Daniel Mohan, President of Y Service Club North Jersey encouraged Mr. Salinas to consider starting a Y Service Club in Honduras, which would become the 71st Nation to host a club. The Charter was done and Mr. Mario Salinas was elected as President of Tegucigalpa Y Service Club, Honduras.
Shortly thereafter, Honduras was hit by two consecutive hurricanes - Hurricane Eta and Hurricane Iota. The North Jersey Club carried out a fundraiser in the USA to support the effort. Authorities of the Municipality of Tela worked together to determine how and where to use the donated funds. It was decided that the donations would best be used to acquire bags of food, clothing, baby milk and bottled drinking water for the people most severely hurt by the hurricanes.
Tegucigalpa Y Service delegation traveled 300 KM from the Tegucigalpa, the Capital City of Honduras, to the City of Tela. The challenge for the mission was to reach the communities of San Juan, Jerusalem and La Fortalez, which had been isolated by the landslides and that otherwise had no means of transportation to go down to the city and obtain food.
The weather and the roads were both difficult to navigate. At this altitude, the roads were completely muddy from the hurricare, so that the vehicles could not advance any farther. Since the passage was too dangerous, young people and adults were asked to come down from their village to push the vehicles in order to reach La Fortaleza where a large number of families (the elderly, adults, children and infants) were waiting for the convoy in a small community hut where the goods were distributed. Most of those people had lost their homes. A young man shared with sadness and tears how he had witnessed his wife and two daughters, 13 and 8 years old, say goodbye before slowly being swallowed under the mud, without being able to help them since he himself was equally stuck in the mud. From the bottom their hearts, Tegucigalpa Club and the Tela Team deeply thanked the people from New Jersey Club who, with unconditional love, offered their help for people they did not even know.
As we all know the motto of the Y Service Club is “To acknowledge the duty that accompanies every right.” When we take a moment to think about this motto, and ask the question “What is our greatest right?” We have many rights – the right to freedom, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Our greatest duty then is to care for our human family as our brothers and sisters, recognizing each person regardless of age, race, nationality, religion, financial level, or political or social position as equal in value to God and therefore to us.
YSNJ Supports Family Promise in Giving Credit Where Credit is Most Needed
Y Service Club of NJ undertook a project in association with Family Promise of Bergan County, NJ to provide homeless families access to secure credit to build and/or repair their credit scores as a way to be empowered, confident, and independent.
Family Promise of Bergan County, NJ offers shelter and support to homeless working families. All of the families who enter the Family Promise sheltering programs are working and are still unable to afford the basic necessities of housing, food, transportation, childcare, etc. They generally have poor credit or no credit.
Family Promise provides financial fitness, a series of financial literacy workshops, which equips families with the information necessary for effective money management. Topics such as budgeting, repairing and building credit, savings, tax preparation, and insurance are covered. All families in the network and New Leaf Sheltering program by design are required to attend these workshops.
Most of the families in the program have very poor credit or never established credit in the first place. The workshops emphasize the importance of establishing and maintaining good credit and are the only pathway to homeownership and even renting. They will also be informed of various programs available for homeownership for low-income families.
The first step for these families to establish credit is to obtain a credit card. However, they are in a catch-22 situation; they can not get a credit card because they have no credit history. Family Promise of Bergan county, NJ has established a system and structure with the bank to provide secure credit to these families.
As a start, in cooperation with Family Promise of Bergan County and the participating bank, Y Service Club NJ provided funds to obtain secure credit for 8 families with $250 each. The funding will serve as collateral for purchases made using the card. Payment made on this account is reported to credit bureaus and included in the families' credit history. As the accounts are kept in good standing, the credit history, and the credit score will improve over time. If timely payments are made, after a pre-determined number of months, the bank that issued the credit card will return the deposit to the family. This money will be added to the family's mandatory savings account and will be transferred to them when they leave the program.
As important as funding is the emphasis on workshops and coaching in Financial Literacy and fitness programs and discussions on various federal and state assistance. Family Promise also offers assistance in tax filings. The club also has expertise in these areas and as and when required, our members volunteer for workshops and coaching and free tax filing of individuals and families participating in the programs.
Eating Healthy One Bite at a Time
The North Jersey Club had its regular meeting at the residence of Ms. Michiko Tomioka and after the meeting Michiko gave the demonstration of cooking two complimenting dishes explaining the nutritional information of each ingredient and how it helps when cooking for healthy living.
Michiko who is a nutritionist by profession, offers insightful tips on healthy eating. She works with school children and adult groups explaining the importance of healthy food and a joyful life.