UNITED WAY’s BACKPACKS FOR KIDS! BEGINS

United Way sets ambitious goal to collect 1,800 backpacks for kids in need in Passaic County.

Paterson, NJ: United Way of Passaic County in partnership with North Jersey Media Group and Enterprise is kicking off Backpacks for Kids! United Way’s school supply program – the largest of its kind in Passaic County. Backpacks for Kids! is part of a larger United Way initiative to increase the academic success and high school graduation rates of children in Passaic County. The program is a combined effort between area businesses and employees to provide backpacks and school supplies for the upcoming school year. 

Last year over 1,800 Passaic County children in need received backpacks filled with school supplies! Backpacks for Kid! now in its 6th year has distributed over 10,000 backpacks to kids in need in Passaic County.

To date the following companies have committed to supplying backpacks to kids in need: Bayer, BP, Coca Cola, Enterprise, FSR, NJFCU, Roche and our Lady of Consolation.

United Way needs your help!
United Way is looking to collect 1,800 backpacks and they are off to a good start with support from Enterprise and Roche. But more backpacks are needed! It’s easy to get involved. You can either purchase school supplies/backpacks for the program; or, for $25 United Way supplies students with their own backpack filled with supplies.

If you are interested in holding a drive please let United Way know by visiting www.unitedwaypassaic.org or contacting their Engagement Manager, Jackie Park Albaum, at (973) 279-8900 Ext. 202 or at Jackie@unitedwaypassaic.org.

Who gets the backpacks?
United Way of Passaic County works with dozens of non-profits and schools throughout Passaic County to identify and distribute in high-need communities.

For More Information
Please contact our Engagement Manager, Jackie Park Albaum, at (973) 279-8900 Ext. 202 and/or at Jackie@unitedwaypassaic.org.

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ABOUT US: United Way of Passaic County envisions a community where every child is ready to succeed in school, every person can meet their most basic needs and everyone can pursue productive and satisfying lives. The organization is committed to creating lasting change - from our Financial Empowerment Zone to our Hunger-Free Communities work. United Way of Passaic County is uniquely positioned to leverage its own health and human services expertise, a powerful base of donors and volunteers, public advocacy and outcome-driven funding to help identify and solve chronic community wide issues within our region. For more information go to the website, www.unitedwaypassaic.org.

Summer Financial Ed Series Concludes Aug. 9 with “Consumer Issues, Debt Collection and Bankruptcy” Workshop

Paterson, NJ— The United Way of Passaic County (UWPC), in collaboration with various nonprofit, government and financial institutions, is scheduling the last session in a series of free financial education and financial literacy classes for local residents. The Financial Empowerment Zone (FEZ) brings awareness and helps to empower the community to increase personal incomes, become financially stable and achieve long term economic independence by learning from experts.

The last class is scheduled for the evening of August 9 and will be given by Northeast New Jersey Legal Services attorneys at Passaic County Community College.  The workshop focuses on consumer issues including debt collection, credit, deceptive practices and bankruptcy. The attorney instructors have presented through the FEZ before and are dedicated to providing the highest quality legal services, as they seek to assure access to the civil justice system is not denied to individuals simply because they cannot afford a private attorney.

The FEZ seminars have run through the summer months and were a success with over 150 local residents signing up and attending one of the 5 classes given so far.  Students have learned about diverse topics including getting out of debt, how to complete IRS tax forms, becoming a first time homeowner, the foreclosure process and keeping their home, avoiding becoming a victim of Medicare fraud and a workshop for teen job seekers focused on getting that first job. Instructors and speakers have included nationally known experts, such as Lynnette Khalfani-Cox, the Money Coach, the IRS, certified CPAs, Old Navy store managers and financial institutions.

All are welcome and encouraged to sign up through the FEZ website www.earn-save-do.org or by calling UWPC at 973 279 8900 x205.

“The United Way is still soliciting ideas for future classes so please call if you or your group has a specific need” said Leslie Schlesinger program manager, “we already are working on a class on retirement and Medicare enrollment for folks that are thinking about retiring and a workshop on saving and budgeting in Spanish for a church group.”

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