Last Thursday evening, nearly 75 volunteers, local leaders and community members all came together on a frigid night in the parking lot of the Jewish Center of Teaneck to celebrate and cut the ribbon on Chaverim of Bergen County’s (COBC) first-ever pickup truck.

The event was emceed by COBC coordinator Sol Itzkowitz who introduced and thanked the many officials and leaders from throughout the Tri-State area who were present and who work closely with Chaverim. Andrew Schultz, the current police chaplain of Fair Lawn and Elmwood Park, and a Chaverim member, started off the program with a blessing and formal invocation for the work of Chaverim and the new truck. Itzkowitz then introduced Bergen County Sheriff Anthony Cureton who spoke about how he first met Sol and learned about COBC in a missing person’s case a few years ago and the relationship has only grown since. He also cited a recent trip to Israel and his sorrow upon learning that one of the young men who he met and had spoken to extensively had been killed in the aftermath of Oct. 7.

Teaneck town manager Dean Kazinci also spoke and lauded COBC’s work as a tremendous supplement to the work of law enforcement and congratulated them on their first vehicle. He also thanked them for the tremendous work that Chaverim does for the town of Teaneck. Teaneck’s Mayor Michael Pagan then spoke and presented Chaverim with a formal certificate of appreciation and proclamation from the town council and offered blessings of friendship and support for Chaverim’s work. Teaneck Council Member Karen Orgen was also thanked and recognized.

Itzkowitz also thanked his COBC co-coordinators Chaim Gottesman and Burry Greenbaum and gave special recognition to the many Shomrim and Chaverim leaders from throughout the NY / NJ area. He thanked leaders from Staten Island Shomrim, Rockaway Nassau Safety Patrol, Flatbush Shomrim, Borough Park Shomrim, Crown Heights Shomrim, Chaverim of Rockland County, Chaverim of Passaic, Chaverim of the Five Towns, Williamsburg Chaverim and Chaverim of Kiryas Yoel. Each of the representatives and leaders of the various Shomrims and Chaverim branches came with their own vehicles and they were arrayed in the parking lot with their lights facing the new COBC vehicle, which is officially designated as COBC-02.

At the end of the formal program, Itzkowitz invited the leaders of Urgent Restoration (urgentrestoration.net) to cut the ribbon on the new truck and thanked them for sponsoring the truck for the first year of operation.

For more information about Chaverim of Bergen County, visit cobchelp.org