INTERFAITH HEALTH & SUPPORT SERVICES Volunteer News
On Wednesday, May 7th our staff, board members and volunteers were invited to gather in appreciation for our annual volunteer dinner at Saint Francis in Brant Beach. We had a prayerful reflection and reassuring words from Dr. Harry Larkin and Jennifer Larkin, then ended our time of thanks honoring our volunteers with some special awards.
Susan Tolomeo - 10+ Years of Service
Lyn Barry - 10+ Years of Service
Eileen Dolan - 10+ Years of Service
Joseph Keller - 10+ Years of Service
Grace Ruffino - 10+ Years of Service
Harry Meyers - 10+ Years of Service
Nancy Butler - 10+ Years of Service
Lee Lee Devenney - 10+ Years of Service
100+ Hours of Transportation:
Patricia Cicchino, Jim D’Andrea, Jeff Gamble, George Kramer, Christina Lejda
Susan Jakubowski - 100+ Hours of Grocery Shopping
Carole Seidman - 150+ Hours of Reassurance Calls
Christina Lejda - 65+ Hours of Respite Care
RoseMarie Donato - 150+ Hours of Friendly Visiting
Patsy Jordan - 200+ Hours of Friendly Visiting & “All Over Ocean County” Award
Mary Ann Pluskota - 45 Care Receiver Assesments
Hope Gardiner & JB - Pet Therapy Volunteer
Maureen Tambone - 145 Hours of Office Assistance - Manahawkin
Kristina Sullivan - 105 Hours of Office Assistance - Little Egg Harbor
We then moved to the hall for a tasty dinner catered by The German Butcher. A very special thank you to our staff and special volunteers - Laurie, Lily & Brianna who worked so hard!
Thank you also to Father Francis DiSpignio - not only did Saint Francis sponsor our meal but so graciously hosted us at the parish center.
We had such a lovely night celebrating our wonderful volunteers!!!
Thanks to all who attended our Annual Volunteer Appreciation Event!
Board of Directors:
Joanne Leichte, RN, BSN, President
Marie Logue, PhD, Vice President
Jaimee Henbest, Esq, PhD, Secretary
Frederic Schragger, Esq, Treasurer
Eileen Dolan, RN
Boni Hays
Jacqueline Philips
Father Andrew Reitz, OFM
Monsignor Ken Tuzeneu
Robert Van Naarden
Amy Raimondi
Executive Director
Nancy Chicarello
Assistant Director
Susan Tolomeo
Assistant Director
OFFICE UPDATE:
We are proud to share that our transition to one office space is complete. Our Little Egg Harbor office was closed at the end of May and our staff has now been up in our Manahawkin office since June and we are growing together! We thank you for your patience as we navigate this merge. We assure you that all our services are still continuing and growing in the Little Egg & Tuckerton area.
We have welcomed 16 new volunteers this year already, and counting. We are always in need of more volunteers and encourage you to invite friends and neighbors to get involved.
Manahawkin United Methodist Church
Our biggest need is always transportation but we are always appreciative of any new interested volunteers for friendly visiting, shopping, reassurance calls and helping at our Ride for Health - Library programs.
We are always looking for more ways to reach out to our local community! If you live in a 55+ community, please help us spread the word about Interfaith. We are looking for HOA or other group meeting contact information so we may offer a short presentation. Any leads you have would be very helpful - please email Amy at Amy.Raimondi@hmhn.org.
We remind you that we are updating all our records this summer so you may get a phone call to share your updated Drivers License or Insurance info. The last page of the newsletter is our Bingo flyer! Please share it! Tickets for Volunteers go on sale - August 4 , & to the public on August 11 th th. If you have a large amount of tickets to purchase, please call the office to arrange a date & time.
Attention: Drivers
We are hearing that many of our care receivers are often forgetful and in turn confused about their upcoming appointments and who the driver is. To help ease their worries, please call the care receiver 1-2 days after you receive the assignment, and then again the day prior to transport to confirm the pick up details. This will greatly help them to stay confident and less confused. Thank you!
See our website for a full list of coalition members. If you belong to a congregation not on the list, let's invite them to join us.
Nautilus Drive, Manahawkin
Office Hours
Monday - Thursday: 9:00am-3:00pm
Just a reminder that we do not schedule rides for Fridays from Memorial Day to Labor Day due to the increased traffic on the major roadways!
Newsletter sponsored by New York Life Kim Sakevitch is also an Interfaith Volunteer!
the Date!
Our Bingo committees are already meeting and preparing for this year’s fundraiser on Friday, September 19th at St. Mary’s Parish Center.
Tickets will go on sale to VOLUNTEERS on Monday, August 4th
(To the public on August 11th) in our Manahawkin office. If you have a group of more than 10, please call so we can arrange an appointment time for you to come and purchase tickets.
We are in need of more volunteers to help in following roles:
Saint Mary of the Pines
Basket Raffle Assembly - week prior to event (Putting together donations for basket raffle)
15-20, 2025
Volunteers at Event - 4pm-10pm (You can still play bingo!)
Basket Donation Solicitation - Summer Stop by assigned shops/restaurants to ask for or pick up donations for our basket raffles.
If you are interested in helping, please call the office at 609-978-3839.
RAFFLE ITEMS NEEDED
We are looking for items for our Bingo Basket Raffles! We can use any NEW items - bath or gift sets, small appliances, candles, purses, home & holiday items.
Drop off at the Manahawkin office during regular business hours. Thank you!
SCAN HERE to see options
We have partnered with RaiseRight for continued fundraising support!
RaiseRight is an easy to use website where you can purchase gift cards for a large variety of stores (grocery, restaurant, clothing, home) and a portion of your purchase will be donated back to our organization. For example, you can purchase a $100 Shop Rite gift card and 3% ($3) will be donated to Interfaith - there is no additional cost to you!
Please scan the QR code to the left or go to www.raiseright.com, go to sign up and use our enrollment code - QD67KDCTH5HA to help support our organization.
Please pass this on to family & friends too!
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