Volunteerism and the spirit of the holidays are alive and well at the University. Student groups, campus offices and athletes, to name a few, have been active recently with charitable efforts.

On the Metropolitan Campus, for the second consecutive year, student-athletes through the Student Athletic Advisory Committee (SAAC) have participated in the Bear Hugs for the Holidays Program, sponsored by The Record. This program solicits from businesses and individuals contributions of toy bears, which are tagged and crated and then shipped to hospitals, children’s homes, shelters and centers throughout Bergen County. The student-athletes, every Tuesday from November 19 to Christmas, travel to the Garden State Plaza Macy’s Court to prepare and tag teddy bears for distribution. The program arranges for 10,000 teddy bears to be shipped to 28 area hospitals and United Way agencies and distributed to children and senior citizens.

Also, for the second year, the Criminal Justice Club on the Metropolitan Campus collected toys to brighten the holidays for needy children. The club turned over its collection to Teaneck Police Department representatives on December 8 for distribution to social services organizations in Teaneck and Bergen County. James Kenny, criminal justice (Metro), is the adviser to the group. According to Kenny, the club selects a volunteer project each semester. Last spring, the club sold chances on elaborate Easter baskets to raise money for charities. The students also contributed to charities focusing on September 11.

All of the money collected for admission to the Pre-Thanksgiving Dinner on November 20 was donated to Father Jack Baron, director campus ministry (Metro), for the Why Hunger Campaign, by Michael Aiello, director of Gourmet Dining. In addition, Michele Vaccaro, MBA program adviser, Silberman College, and assistant to the provost for special projects (Metro), made baskets — one with an Italian theme and the other, a baking theme — for a raffle. The raffle raised more than $100, which was also donated to the Why Hunger Campaign. In addition, the Haitian Cultural Club and Theta Phi Alpha collected food for the homeless.

At the College at Florham, Sigma Tau Delta conducted a children’s book drive for children, in preschool to sixth grade. The books were donated to children aided by the Jersey Battered Women’s Service, Inc. of Morris Plains, N.J.

Also, the Madison Project, a community service organization supervised by the Educational Opportunity (EOF) Program and supported by the entire FDU community, sponsored its Fifth Annual Holiday Food Drive in November. Donations were given to Calvary Baptist Church, Morristown, N.J., for distribution.

Brad Levy, left, associate director, and Christine Sutton, assistant director, both Educational Opportunity Fund (Flor), display the food gathered during the office’s Madison Project holiday food drive.

December 2003/
January 2004

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Flor =
College at Florham, Madison, N.J.

Metro =
Metropolitan Campus, Teaneck, N.J.

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