Your Family Promise of Essex County Updates

"There shall be eternal summer in the grateful heart."

It's hard to believe that the year is already halfway over. We have been busy with multiple events, trying to raise awareness and funds to support the work we do and the families we serve throughout Essex County. As always, thank you to everyone who donated gifts, food or contributed in any way.

Successful (but rainy) FPE 5K Run/Walk!

Thank you to our supporters, volunteers and sponsors for making our first USATF 5K Run/Walk a success!

Thank you to everyone who came out to support our first, USATF 5K Run/Walk at Verona Park on Saturday, June 24th. The weather was a bit soggy, but it cooperated enough for us to get the race in successfully! We greatly appreciate all of those who registered or made a donation (or both)!

Congratulations to the top male finisher, Keith Kelleher of South Orange and top female finisher, Samantha Banker also of South Orange. Each winner received a gift bag of fitness goodies from our sponsor, BRWL Studio! And congrats to top under-19 finisher, Fynn Coolican of Montclair, who was also fourth place overall!

Thank you to Essex County based singer-songwriter, Diane Polledri, who performed the National Anthem and to Leah Hoogerhyde, Outreach Assistant to Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill, who delivered a message on behalf of the Congresswoman and was our official race starter.

Special thanks to our Board Members and Congregation Host Coordinators, who helped us promote the 5K amongst their members and to those who braved the weather to walk or run with us! And a huge thanks to all of the awesome volunteers who helped our event run smoothly.

Finally, thank you to all of our event sponsors PSE&G, Beacon Wealth Partners - Michael Cocco, CFP, CFC, William H. Connolly & Co, BRWL Studio for their financial support. All told, we were able to raise just about $20,000, which will directly support families served by FPE.

Montclair PRIDE

FPE was happy to participate in the 2nd Annual Montclair Pride Day on Saturday, June 10th! It was a great day filled with live music, lots of energy and good vibes. It was also a great opportunity to meet so many new faces and raise awareness about what our organization does and how we serve families throughout Essex County.

Our rainbow ribbon banners were a big hit for children and adults alike. And so was our fun, Scratch Art activity. What was originally supposed to be a fun activity meant for children, became a beautiful messaging tool for all.Thank you to everyone who stopped by to say hi or to learn more about the work we do in Essex County..

Montclair Rental Assistance

Family Promise of Essex County was selected to administer and evaluate all applications for the Montclair Residential Rental Assistance (RRA). The program provides temporary rental assistance to low- and moderate-income households affected by employment loss. Assistance will be available for monthly rent payments and rental arrearages. Enrollment for the RRA Program opened on Friday, June 9th.

FPE is grateful for this opportunity to further serve Montclair residents and our Case Managers have already seen an influx in applications. For more information about the RRA program or to submit an application, please visit the Montclair Township website.

Young Volunteers Making a Difference!

Thank you to Charlie Larson, for selecting Family Promise of Essex County to be the beneficiary of his Bar Mitzvah project at Temple Ner Tamid. Charlie organized a gift card drive that will provide a special field trip for families served by FPE.

He also collected and assembled cleaning products for a Welcome Kit for a family moving out of temporary shelter, and shopped for and cooked a meal for a family currently in shelter.

Charlie also put together a fundraising team for our FPE 5K, Charlie's Mitzvah Machines, which raised more than $300.

We appreciate all that Charlie and his family have done to support FPE.

Thanks to Max Silversten, who put together six Welcome Home Baskets for families that are soon to be transitioning out of our shelter program.

Max took on this initiative as his Bar Mitzvah project with Temple B’Nai Jeshurun. First, he fundraised amongst family and friends, then he shopped and assembled all of the baskets and dropped them to our office this past Friday. The Welcome Kits are stocked with much needed cleaning and laundry supplies that are a huge help to families as they are moving into independent housing after weeks of temporary shelter.

We are grateful to Max and his family for choosing FPE to partner with for his Mitzvah project.

Household Items Needed

Looking for a few generous supporters to help a family (Dad and his teen son) who just transitioned out of our shelter program into their own apartment? The following household items are what is most needed:

Pot & pans
Utensils
Queen size sheets
Full size sheets
Microwave

Please contact angela@fpessexnj.org if you care able to contribute any of the items above and to schedule a drop off our office at your earliest convenience. Thank you!

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