2009 pass it along annual program report

Pass It Along Annual Program Report 2009

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PIA Background Page 3 Our Program Page 4 Special Programming Events Page 5 Annual Calendar Events Page 8 Other Pass It Along Programs Page 10 Annual Fundraising Events Page 11

PIA Background

Founded in December 2001, Pass It Along (PIA) provides a way for individuals, especially youth, to make a difference in their community through meaningful volunteer service. In 2002, PIA became a member of the national organization Hands On Network. In 2008, Hands On Network and the Points of Light Foundation merged into one organization, strengthening the worldwide impact of our network. This new entity, entitled Points of Light Institute, has over 370 affiliates who serve 83% of the American population. Pass It Along is one of these affiliates.

Pass It Along serves three populations – volunteers, nonprofit community based organizations, and individuals that are in need of volunteer support. We offer well‐managed and meaningful service projects and programs in nine fields of interest: children and families in need; education; enrichment and literacy; environmental preservation; animal care; hunger and homelessness; elderly and homebound senior care; individuals living with disabilities, and housing. We partner with twenty‐two nonprofit organizations for our programs and special events.

Our core base of teen volunteers makes Pass It Along unique in some key ways. First, we offer teens a chance to develop themselves, both in philanthropy and in leadership, with self‐discovery programs. Second, we are youth driven: teens are guided in identifying their individual gifts and where they want to put their efforts. Our teens work on monthly programs which impact seniors to middle school girls. We also have programs centered on hunger, senior citizens, and developmentally disabled adults as well as after school mentoring programs.

During 2009, 942 volunteers completed 12,100 volunteer hours through our calendar programs, special programming events and other various volunteer opportunities available through Pass It Along. Since our inception, Pass It Along volunteers have given 87,637 hours of their time to our community and beyond. With a 70% youth volunteer base, Pass It Along has shown its strong commitment to forming future leaders.

Visit our website for more about our organization and our mission: www.passitalong.org

Pass It Along’s mission is to awaken, validate and nourish the innate desire to ‘give back’ by mobilizing youth as community partners.

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•Leadership Programs•Youth Council•Essential Leadership•Presentation Boot Camp•Youth Board•Internships & AmeriCorps•High School Chapters•Self‐Esteem/Personal Growth Programs•Girl Power•Winner's Image•Core Development Workshops•Goal Achiever

Youth Development

•Children & Families in Need•Education, Enrichment & Literacy•Environmental Education•Animal Care•Hunger & Homelessness•Elderly & Homebound Senior Care•Living with Disabilities & Terminal Illness•Home Renovation, Revitalization & Repair

Key Areas of

Service

•Writing Circles•Poetry Workshops•Community Cinema•Express Yourself ‐Expression through the Arts•Issues Forum

Self‐Exploration &

Expression

Our Program

Pass It Along empowers, equips and enables youth to make lasting change that significantly impacts their community. Engaging young people from elementary school through college in well‐run, youth‐driven volunteer programs, we provide the opportunity to participate in community service projects with meaningful interaction with the recipients. Through these experiences, volunteers see the

benefits of, and learn to implement, sustainable change. We encourage all volunteers to spend their time in reflective thought, both before and after their service. Our objective is to encourage volunteers

to consider why they serve, where their gifts lie, and what they hope to accomplish.


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Pass It Along Annual Program Report 2009 Summary of Services Provided for Low to Moderate Income Families

The funding provided in 2009 has used to assist Pass It Along in accomplishing the following goal:

Goal: To provide supportive and basic need services to the low to moderate income population in

been

Sussex, Warren and Northern Morris Counties: Pass It Along targeted this population by earmarkin services and funds from the following programs: 2009 Annu

g

al Special Programming Events:

Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration of Service – Each year Pass It Along celebrates MLK day a week of service in his hon t that is coordinated and run by

ur Youth Council. This event typically consists of musical performances, poems, a short slide show, e

• ist Church in Sparta, NJ Church spoke about Martin Luther King’s

message •

s were read •

blic School to paint

witho

or. The week begins with a kickoff even

and/or a speaker. During the week surrounding this kickoff event several types of service projects arcompleted.

In 2009 our MLK Day of Celebration consisted of: This celebration was held at Sparta United Method• Pastor Diane Koob of Sparta United Methodist

Youth read sections of the “I Have a Dream” speech throughout the service • Individuals sang spiritual songs • A presentation was made on “What Still Needs to be Done.” • Affirmations were read by Youth Council members and members of the audience • Poem

House of Mercy Mission’s choir sang

In addition to the kickoff event listed above, a trip was made to a Jersey City Pumurals on the walls of the school to make it more welcoming to the students:

Serve‐A‐Thon ‐ This is an annual event that brings together hundreds of people within our

to make a difference in their neighborhoods. Each year r the day. In addition to signature

Bank is the event each year.

Numbe of people served for Serve‐A‐Thon 2009:

n & Morris County area who in turn serve low to moderate income families. This work was completed by 141

community who commit to one day of serviceour Serve‐A‐Thon grows in the magnitude of the projects offered foprojects, smaller projects are conducted to assist senior citizens as well. First Hopepresenting sponsor of this

r

o We provided services to agencies throughout the Sussex, Warre

volunteers, many of them high school youth. In addition, we sent volunteers to 5 different senior citizen’s homes to do yard work;

o 13 projects were completed for a total of 395 volunteer hours; o The agencies were:


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Sussex County ‐ Peters Valley Craft Center – Walpack‐ 14 volunteers spread mulch, cleaned up

yard work and window this home for disabled young women;

Knoll Heights and Knoll View – Sparta – 32 youth and adult volunteers eaned the windows of residents living in this low income senior citizen

our Girl Power program prepared

wark NJ for the day;

senior citizen’s homes. Warren

c land area;

Morr home

Fo

debris from the winter and planted flowers; SCARC Group Home – Frankford ‐ 7 volunteers, former Pass It Along

AmeriCorps members, cleaned up and recreated an overgrown garden at the group home for disabled residents;

Katie’s House ‐ Newton– 3 volunteers assisted in cleaning for

clcommunity and created a garden for the seniors;

Ma’s Meals – Sparta ‐ 4 volunteers from home cooked meals and distributed them to individuals in need;

Birth Haven – Newton – 16 volunteers painted rooms in this home for homeless, pregnant young women;

Tilly’s Kids –Frankford – 28 youth volunteers that are part of the Pass It Along Youth Council mentored children from inner city Ne

Ginnie’s House – Newton – 7 youth planted flowers and did yard work at this safe haven for physically abused children;

Yard Work – 8 volunteers did yard work at several County –

White Lake – 6 volunteers did trail work and clean up at this publi Worthington State Forest – Columbia – 4 volunteers did trail work and clean

up at this state forest; is County –

Post House – Chester – 12 volunteers created an English Garden at thisfor adopted, special needs children.

odstock ‐ This program was started in partnership with Sussex County United Way and the NJ Hera stock Sussex County food pantries. 50 volunteers from various agencies volunteered rt between individuals

ld as a way to re at this event. Thousands of food items were collected. This was a countywide effo

and businesses. This program now runs two times per year.

Field of Hope ‐ We have been collecting items for our Field of Hope program for the past eight years. At ourhigh schools hel had been collected. All donated items ent to local families in need in our surrounding communities. These items were distributed to the

families

8th annual Youth Conference, which took place after Field of Hope, students from 11 local ped sort, package, and deliver all the items that

w in 2009 through Interfaith Hospitality Network, Birth Haven, Sunrise House, Bodhi Monastery

Food Pantry, and Sparta Ecumenical Food Pantry.

Items collected for the 2009 Field of Hope:

• 9 large boxes and 37 grocery bags containing nonperishable food items, diapers & wipes, toiletries, and feminine hygiene products

Make A Difference Day – This a national day of service that Pass It Along participates in. In 2009, 24 volunteers cleaned the yards of 8 senior citizens homes around the Sussex County area.


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After

Pass It Along Season of Hope Programs:

Family Volunteer Day – This is a national day of service that Pass It Along participates in. Food from individuals and businesses to put togetheritems are collected food boxes to feed families who

have signed up to receive help. Over 125 volunteers of all ages came out to decorate the boxes and pack th

feed homeless individuals through our Cooking with a Mission and Cooking for Interfaith Program.

Note in a Coat

e food that was distributed. In total for 2009, 24Thanksgiving baskets were collected and distributed to area families. In addition, 15 extra turkeys were donated and will be used to

– Each year Pass It Along conducts a massive gently used coat drive. These lies through our Holidays Around the County program. Not

only are coats collected, a special touch is added to this program. Hence the name Note in a Coat. Each ye

coats are distributed to low income fami

ar, as the coats are collected, warm words of encouragement are written on festive slips of paper and placed in the pockets of the coats for the recipient to find. This adds a personal touch and lets the person know that people really do care. In 2009 over 900 coats were collected.

Holiday Toy Drive – This is an annual toy drive to collect toys for our holiday toy shop. Each year businesses around the county place collection boxes in their businesses to collect toy donations from the public. We have received, from hundreds of individuals, families, groups and other organizations and businesses, toys as well as wrapping paper, new clothing, home baked cookies and handmade ornaments for the toy shop.

Holidays Around the County Toy Shop ‐ Annually Pass It Along provides support to families in the low to moderate income bracket during the holiday season. In 2009, during our 8th annual Holidays Around the County program, we were able to provide 5 toys each to 550 families totaling 1551 children. The families were also given wrapping paper, handmade ornaments and a tray of home baked cookies

•

unrise House

•

• Division of Youth and Family Services

Counties

Sisters

.

We served these families by partnering with the following agencies:

• Sussex County Social Services

DASI – Domestic Abuse Services

• 3 NORWESCAP locations

• Project Self‐Sufficiency

• S

Samaritan Inn

• Interfaith Hospitality Services

• Caring Partners of Sussex and Morris

• Partnership for Social Services

• Today’s Choice

• Big Brothers/Big

Before


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• El Refugio

• Newton Even Start

• NJ Dept. of Labor

• People Help

• Early Head Start

• Families were also given vouchers through Pass It Along

Christmas in the City – This program begins with a toy drive for the children of inner city Newark

well as various partners collected and distributed toys to several schools within the

collect, wrap, and package toys plus juice boxes and cupcakes and deliver

hool classroom during the school day. For some of these children, that will

s gift they receive. This program is done in conjunction with Pastor Tilly of The

Newark, NJ. This year 1,057 children received gifts.

2009

NJ. Pass It Along as

city of Newark. Volunteers

them personally to each sc

be the only Christma

House of Mercy Mission in

Annual Calendar Programs:

In addition to the above referenced programs, Pass It Along uses funds raised throughout the year from fundraisers, sponsors, and grants to conduct the following programs, most of which specifically serve families in the low to moderate income bracket:

Homework Helpers – A weekly program was conducted at Rev. Brown School in Sparta where 16‐20 volunteers tutored and helped children ranging in ages from 6‐13 with their homework. Our volunteers were Pope John students and adults.

Life Skills ‐ This program teaches valuable life skills to girls at Birth Haven in Newton. Birth Haven is a home for young women who are pregnant and without a place to live. Included in the life

, Personal Care, and Crocheting & nitting.

skills class are sessions conducted by First Hope Bank that teach banking skills, such as what it means to have a bank account and how to use a check book. Throughout 2009 4 life skills classes were offered to the residents. These included: Banking, Making Baby FoodK

Tilly’s Kids Program – This program runs year‐round. Once per monNewark come up to the country for a day of fun and mentoring with our teethe monthly program, for

th children from inner city n volunteers. In addition to

6 weeks during the summer Pass It Along teen volunteers mentor these children environ

at their day camp as well as at Hopatcong State Park. Activities the youth participate in are mental education, literacy enrichment, swim lessons, and crafts.

Pet Therapy – Once per month, volunteers bring their well‐behaved pets to The Homestead Nursing Home for therapeutic companionship. The seniors look forward to spending time with the volunteers and receiving the unconditional love and comfort that the interaction with the animals provides. Most of the seniors in this facility are low income.


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Cooking with a Mission – This program is run in conjunction with the House of Mercy Mission in Newark NJ. Once per month, 7 – 10 volunteers cook and serve a meal at the House of Mercy Mission soup kitchen. Each month, there is generally around a 150 meals served by our volunteers.

Cooking for Interfaith Hospitality Network – This is a program that was cre

they may have.

ated in partnership with Interfaith Hospitality Network, an organization meeting the needs of the homeless population in Sussex County. Once per month, volunteers cook a meal for the current residents of Interfaith at the host church. Our youth volunteers, in addition to cooking, serving and sharing the meals, also help the children with any homework

PIA Mentoring Program – This mentoring program brings student voschool chapters together to mentor to students in an afterschool program. program runs at two elementary schools.

lunteers from our high Currently this weekly

Girl Power – This program is a student‐to‐student mentoring program that pairs middle school girls wi e valuable lessons are

Talents & Treats

th high school girls. Meetings are held two times each month wherconducted addressing issues middle school girls face every day. This program helps build self‐esteem and good decision making skills. Currently this program operates in three school districts: Vernon, Sparta and Jefferson.

– This program provides entertainment to senior c

es. Dessert is also provided by and served by the youth. This program has grown in popularity and is now o

itizens living in senior living communities. Youth provide an evening of entertainment for the seniors with musical talent such as songs, skits, and comedy and dance routin

ffered in two different locations, with more on the way.

Adopt a Grandparent – This program matches youth with seniors at Knoll View, an assisted living facility, for a companionship program. Youth and the seniors spend time playing games, doing crafts and just talking.

iend

You’ve Got A Fr * – Pass It Along is a part of the Circles™ program taking place in Sussex County. Circles™ is an innovative model based on a body of research suggesting that in order for families with low income to improve their situation, they must have bonding social capital within the community, bridging social capital to access the resources contained by higher income networks and lin ng social capital that connects the first two public institutions. The Circles™ initiative consists of a family working to get out of poverty and several middle and upper income Allies who befriend them and lend support.

ki


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Our program, You’ve Got A Friend, is directed towards the children of these families. This program, led by our teen mentors, focuses on literacy and education enrichment, youth development, and community service. These activities will help the involved increase their self‐esteem, self‐image and life skills.

children

Additional Annual Events that Pass It Along conducts throughout the year:

Global Youth Service Day – This is a national day of service that Pass It Along participates in each year. Each year the projects vary in location and actual project. However, it is typically an all day event served by teen volunteers. In 2009 our teens helped to refurbish historical buildings at Peters Valley Craft Center in Walpack, NJ.

Alternative Spring Break – This program brings together teens from all over Sussex County who want to do something meaningful during their Spring Break. For the last two years, teens have camped at Swartswood State Park and worked over several days cleaning up the park and getting it ready for the summer season. Projects range from raking the beach and putting the snow fences away, planting a tree nursery, mulching and planting trees, raking the water line of debris left over from the winter and other projects that the park needs done.

Youth Conference – For the past eight years the Pass It Along Youth Council has held their annual Youth Conference at the beginning of the school year in which local high schools participate by sending a delegation of students. The day consists of onsite service projects, team–building exercises and a motivational speaker. This day brings together students from various income brackets and diverse backgrounds to work together in a non‐competitive manner to learn about ways they can get involved in their own communities. In 2009, 8 service projects were completed, Field of Hope collections were sorted and distributed, motivational speaker Ty Sells spoke, and team‐building elements were brought in to teach youth how to work together to solve problems. Eleven high schools participated with over 200 students in attendance.

Box City – This annual event brings teens together from all over to learn about the homeless situation in Sussex County. Teens participate in experiential activities that simulate what a homeless person might experience on a day to day basis. They participate in a panel discussion with both current and previous homeless individuals and learn first‐hand what it is like to be without a home of your own. The night ends with the teens sleeping outside in a cardboard box.

Additional Calendar Programs that Pass It Along offers throughout the year:

SCARC Bowling – Teens assist mentally and physically challenged adults in a weekly bowling program. They help the adults keep score, provide physical assistance and cheer the bowlers on.

Knitting and Crocheting for a Cause – This program teaches not only youth, but adults as well, how to knit and crochet various items such as blankets, hats, scarves and mittens to be donated to community members in need.

The following are offered as Youth Leadership and Self‐Discovery programs:

Hot Topics – This program brings youth together through discussion and action while providing rse community. It is a ody, being honest with

opportunities for growth and exploration as an individual and as a part of a diveprogram that helps youth understand each other by being present in mind and b


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ourselves and others, talking about our own experiences, and listening and giving everyone a chance to speak.

Youth Issues Forum – This program brings youth together through discussion and action while providing opportunities for growth and exploration both as individuals and as a part of a diverse community. Understanding, compassion, and freedom of expression are the hallmarks of this program.

Youth Leadership and Presentation Skills – This program is based on the belief that every young person has the potential to become a good communicator and leader, but this potential needs to be developed. The program’s unique eight session workshop style enables participants to develop this potential through practical experience. This program will be offered three times throughout the year.

Winner’s Image – This is an action oriented program with a powerful emphasis on individual accountability. This six week program teaches the best ways to connect with a person’s “hidden self” to guide individuals to success; further, it introduces a daily five point program for materializing a winner’s image.

Youth Council ‐ Our youth council meets four times per year with students representing several area high schools. These meetings are used to engage our future leaders in planning and implementing projects

Annual Fundraising Events:

that impact their community.

* Denotes a new program

Circle of Hope – Monthly and yearly giving program

Pass It Along Concert – Annual benefit concert. Sponsorships are available.

Dodge the Ball Battle – Fun event for the youth to support PIA.

Serve‐A‐Thon – Annual one day of service where hundreds of volunteers come out and work on service projects area. Sponsorships are available. around a three county

Golf Outing – Annual event held atavailable.

various golf clubs in the Sussex County area. Sponsorships are

The Gathering in the Vineyard – Annual wine tasting event held at Perona Farms in conjunction with the Wine Library. Sponsorships are available.

Box City – This is an annual event for youth, in partnership with Interfaith Hospitality Network, to help s spend the night in a cardboard box.

Sponsorships are available.

ses, GoodShop/GoodSearch, Viridian Energy Company monthly donations, and various individual private fundraisers.

raise awareness of homelessness in Sussex County. Participant

Additional ongoing fundraising efforts include: Facebook Cau


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Our Funding:

As a 501(c)(3) organization, Pass It Along relies on donations from corporations and individuals as well as grants from foundations

to continue making a difference in the community.

Major Corporate Sponsors

Sel

Sparta United Methodist Church Sparta Pre

DSuth

TPrinting Responsibly

WSUS & WNNJ RadioWine Library

J. Thomas JewelersFarmstead Golf & Country Club

Brazill Brothers ective Insurance First Hope Bank

Major In Kind Sponsors

sbyterian Church obbs Creative Group

erland Packaging ellurian Networks

Pass It Along 60 Blue Heron Road

Suite 100 Sparta NJ 07871

973.726.9777 (o) 973.726.9715 (f)

www.passitalong.org

2009©

2009 pass it along annual program report

Documents

alongs mission

community partners

innate desire