June 2025 Newsletter - IHSS

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

Thanks to all who attended our Annual Volunteer Appreciation Event!

100+ Hours of Transportation: Patricia Cicchino, Jim D’Andrea, Jeff Gamble, George Kramer, Christina Lejda

Board of Directors:

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

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

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!

Amy Raimondi

Thank you also to Father Francis DiSpignio - not only did Saint Francis sponsor our meal but so graciously hosted us at the parish center.

Nancy Chicarello

We had such a lovely night celebrating our wonderful volunteers!!!

INTERFAITH HEALTH & SUPPORT SERVICES

WWW.INTERFAITHSOC.ORG

Executive Director 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 Manahawkin United Methodist Church always in need of more volunteers and encourage you to invite friends and neighbors to get involved.

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 4th, & to the public on August 11th.

If you have a large amount of tickets to purchase, please call the office to arrange a date & time.

Address 56 Nautilus Drive, Manahawkin Mailing Address 1140 Rte. 72 W, Manahawkin, NJ 08050 Phone Number 609-978-3839 Office Hours Monday - Thursday: 9:00am-3:00pm

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 See our website for a full list of coalition members. the pick up If details.

This will help them to stay confident you belong to agreatly congregation not on theand list,less let'sconfused. invite them to join Thank you!us.

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!

Check out these Summer Events from our Coalition members

Save 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 July 15-20, 2025

www.stmarybarnegat.com

Basket Raffle Assembly - week prior to event (Putting together donations for basket raffle) 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.

WWW.STFRANCISPARISHLBI.ORG

Drop off at the Manahawkin office during regular business hours. Thank you!

We have partnered with RaiseRight for continued fundraising support!

SCAN HERE to see options available & support Interfaith!

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!

Go to www.RaiseRight.com, go to sign up and use our enrollment code - QD67KDCTH5HA to help support Interfaith Health and Support Services

Shop & earn options to fit your lifestyle Make fundraising part of your everyday life with gift cards purchased through RaiseRight.

Multiple card types eGift cards Digital gift cards delivered electronically within minutes.

Physical gift cards Plastic or paper-based gift cards that can be shipped direct to your home.

Reloadable gift cards Allows you to automatically reload funds onto physical gift cards purchased through RaiseRight.

Earning on-the-go The RaiseRight mobile app puts earning at your fingertips—in the checkout lane, at the gas pump, out to dinner, or even from the comfort of your couch.

Shop and buy gift cards View earnings Access and use your gift cards Download the free RaiseRight mobile app for iOs or Android.

Safe & secure payment options Add your bank account or pay with a debit or credit card to enjoy the on-demand convenience of online payments.

Get eGift cards delivered immediately Access exclusive benefits like ship to home delivery Earn 4x more than people who don’t pay online Convenience fees apply based on payment method.

Ship to home delivery feature Get your gift cards delivered right to your door.

250+ brand options—perfect for self-use and gifting Available from the mobile app and on RaiseRight.com Look for brands labeled as “Ship to home eligible” Shipping fees apply.