T H E D A I LY TA R G U M
METRO
OCTOBER 26, 2011
PA G E 7
Residents decorate buildings to light up awareness BY JESSICA PAO CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Middlesex County residents are encouraged to light their windows purple this month to speak out against domestic abuse as part of an ongoing program called “Shine the Light on Domestic Violence.” Women Aware, a New Brunswick-based organization that specializes in helping victims of domestic abuse, initiated the program to honor October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month, said Phyllis Adams, executive director of Women Aware. People are encouraged to display purple lights outside their homes to shed light on the issue because purple is the color to symbolize awareness of domestic violence, Adams said. Adams said the organization, which provides shelter as well as other ser vices to victims
of domestic violence, works to bring greater awareness to the issue. The Middlesex County Board of Chosen Freeholders presented Women Aware earlier this month with a resolution to recognize their efforts at preventing domestic abuse, said Ronald Rios, Middlesex County Freeholder deputy director. “A resolution was passed by the Board of Freeholders to … [also] encourage people not to tolerate any form of domestic violence,” he said. Rios said the Middlesex County Board of Chosen Freeholders also suppor ts the program because they believe it is a useful way to unite the community against domestic abuse. “We are asking people to display their suppor t to stop domestic violence by displaying a purple light in any kind of public way,” he said.
Rios encouraged city of ficials to support the program by displaying purple lights outside their public buildings. “We sent a copy of the resolution to all the mayors and
“We wanted to do whatever we could ... to encourage people to express their support ... of doing away with domestic violence.” BRUCE NAIDOFF Director of Development at Women Aware
police depar tments in Middlesex County to support this program,” he said. Rios also called on citizens throughout Middlesex County
to participate and bring awareness in their communities. Anita Chang of Edison said she would display a purple light outside her home to bring awareness to the issue of domestic violence. “I’m happy to do my part,” Chang said. “Domestic violence is a ver y real issue. People need to pay more attention to it.” Bruce Naidof f, director of Development at Women Aware, hopes there is greater emphasis to shed light on the problem. “It’s really one of the major social issues that we face, yet still one of the least discussed and publicized,” he said. Domestic violence does not happen in isolated incidents, Naidoff said. It is a frequent problem in communities across the nation and the likelihood is extremely high. “National statistics indicate anywhere from 1 in 4 to 1 in 3 women over the age of 18 can
expect to be victimized at some point during her life,” he said. “Mathematically, that means that ever yone of us knows someone who has been or will be a victim.” In addition to the suffering of victims, domestic violence also takes a financial toll on the sufferer, Naidoff said. “It costs lives,” he said. “It costs an enormous amount of money in terms of cost of health care, cost to the criminal justice system, cost of lost work days, productivity ... [and] human cost of victims and their families.” Naidof f said he hopes domestic violence can be eliminated. “We wanted to do whatever we could to bring greater awareness of the issue of domestic violence and to encourage people to express their support for our goals of doing away with domestic violence,” he said.
Hospice volunteers patch up bears to preserve memories BY SASKIA KUSNECOV CONTRIBUTING WRITER
The Haven Hospice at JFK Medical Center found a therapy to help patients and their families cope with terminal illnesses — sewing bears. Memor y Bears, which is also the name of the program, are patchwork bears made out of clothing from an individual who is ill or who already passed, said Maureen David, the volunteer coordinator at Haven Hospice. The program began four months ago when a woman named Gina Damiani called the hospice to inform them of a program her deceased sister participated in at another hospital where she made a bear out of her old clothing, David said. Damiani’s father, a former patient at the Haven Hospice,
motivated Damiani to call and ask for a similar program at JFK Medical Center, she said. “She [Damiani] asked me if we made memory bears,” David said. “I said we didn’t, but after she told me more about them, I did a little more research.” To make a memor y bear, families of the hospice patients have to fill out a form about the person the bear will ser ve as a memor y of, she said. They must also choose items of clothing belonging to the patient to construct the bear. The bears are given to the families as a token of remembrance and as a tool to overcome grief, she said. While multiple hospitals across the state have engaged in the project, Damiani’s bear was the first of many for Haven Hospice. Damiani, whose father, Al, has since passed away, said she
gave hospital volunteers his old robe. “I had given away all of his clothing except for that robe — he wore it all the time,” she said. Once families donate clothes, Joanna Delmer, a volunteer at the hospice, patches the bears up, with the help of other volunteers, David said. Delmer sewed the hospice’s first bear for Damiani’s family. Damiani said she appreciates the personalization and care Delmer put into the bear and believes it was an emotional moment for the hospice as well as for her family. David said Delmer enjoys putting in as much ef for t and emotion into these projects as possible. “Joanna [Delmer] is going to be a tough act to follow,” she said. “She really tries to bring out the personality of the loved
SOUTH BRUNSWICK SCHOOL DISTRICT ADDS HINDU HOLIDAY TO LIST OF APPROVED CLOSINGS A South Br unswick school district will become the second in the state to recognize cultural awareness by closing their schools for the Hindu holiday of Diwali, the festival of lights. Of the 9,000 students populating the district’s 12 schools, about one-third are of Indian descent, and many obser ve the Hindu faith, according to an nj.com ar ticle. The school district last year obser ved Eid al- Fitr and Eid al-Adha after two years of citizens asking the township to recognize the holidays because of the large Indian population, according to the ar ticle. South Brunswick resident and school board member Deven Patel was one of the people lobbying for district recognition of the holiday. “It is a ver y impor tant Hindu holiday,” he said in the ar ticle. There was no criticism from inside the school, but the board
received a few negative emails from outside the state. After the adjusted school calendars were released last year, there was widespread approval throughout the Hindu community. “The Hindu population is ver y happy with New Jersey,” said Rajan Zed, president of the 4-year old Universal Society of Hinduism based in Nevada in the ar ticle. Since holidays fall on dif ferent days ever y year, South Brunswick school of ficials took the initiative to work with clergy members before creating the annual calendar, according to the ar ticle. Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha will not be recognized by South Brunswick’s calendar this year because those holidays do not fall on school days. By recognizing these holidays, Patel said in the ar ticle that he hopes for a cultural openness that will enable South Br unswick residents to celebrate ever yday.
one with ever y bear by working with the information and materials she is given.” David said the day they presented Damiani’s family with the bear, there was not a dr y eye in the office. The hospice has since constructed four more bears for families of terminally ill patients. It is also working with those aged 3 to 21 years old in its children’s program to sew seven additional bears for sick loved ones, usually parents or grandparents, she said. Because the seven bears from the children’s program were collectively stitched together, volunteers will wait until the end of November to give the bears to the children at the same time, David said. Delmer is working on creating a bear from a collection of a patient’s old ties, she said.
Bears have also been made out of materials such as pajamas, bath wear and one bear wore glasses, said Susan Brumell, a hospice social worker. “After a bear is made, the volunteer [who made it] and the patients’ families get together to exchange it,” said Brumell, who counsels the families of patients dealing with terminal illness and particularly works with members of the children’s program. David said the families of patients are excited to receive the bears and enjoy seeing how the hospital immortalized the life of their family member. Damiani said she thinks these bears bring the families’ loved ones home. “I look at my bear and I see Papi,” she said. “Although he would have always been with us anyway, now he really is.”