(Courtesy of JFSCNJ) The Jewish Family Service of Central New Jersey (JFSCNJ) Annual Meeting will be held Wednesday evening, June 30, at 7:30 p.m. via Zoom. New and continuing officers and board members will be installed and volunteers will be recognized.
New board members include Jay Buchsbaum, Elizabeth; Jason Hoberman, Scotch Plains; Dr. David Hoffman, Springfield; and Leah Kaminer, Springfield. The program will include recognition of volunteers of the year; as well as RSVP (Retired and Senior Volunteer Program) program volunteers, Judy Hurok of Scotch Plains and Robin Plattman of Berkeley Heights; youth and family volunteers, the Rafal and Weisman families, both of Scotch Plains; and community partner, The Moms Helping Moms Foundation of Warren.
Judy Hurok has been volunteering for JFSCNJ since 2018. Judy has helped in JFSCNJ’s Charlotte Shak Food Pantry for years and, throughout the pandemic, has been working in the food pantry weekly. She also supports several of our senior clients with weekly friendly calls and visits. She tutors students studying to attain their GEDs and also helps maintain the JFSCNJ Community Urban Garden. Prior to the pandemic, Hurok also volunteered for the Memory Café, a JFSCNJ social program for individuals with Alzheimer’s and related dementias, and their care partners.
Robin Plattman has been a dedicated volunteer for JFSCNJ since early 2019. She has helped in the JFSCNJ Charlotte Shak Food pantry for years and, since the start of the pandemic, has volunteered her time for the food pantry on a weekly basis. Plattman also regularly helps with JFSCNJ’s virtual Café Europa program for Holocaust survivors where she coordinates and delivers lunches to the participants at their homes throughout Union County. Since the pandemic, the monthly in-person program now occurs twice a month on a virtual platform. She also tutors ESL and GED students.
The Rafal Family—Lisa, Alan and their children, Eliana and Ethan, of Scotch Plains, have joined the JFSCNJ team of volunteers since the beginning of the pandemic and immediately became regulars in the food pantry. Lisa’s commitment to helping others has extended to driving seniors to get their COVID-19 vaccines and to other medical appointments. She also visits and shops for an isolated senior.
The Weisman Family—Elise and her daughters, Rose, Violet and Willow, became involved with JFSNJ at the beginning of the pandemic as part of a mitzvah project for Rose’s bat mitzvah. Over the course of the pandemic, the family initiated food collections and brought carloads of food collected from individuals in Scotch Plains to donate to the food pantry. They have regularly managed the weekly distribution of shabbat packages helping countless families in need.
The Moms Helping Moms Foundation, Warren, will receive the Community Partner Award for their donations of essential baby items and feminine hygiene products to the JFSCNJ Charlotte Shak Food Pantry. Founded in 2010, the Moms Helping Moms Foundation is a baby supply and diaper bank serving low-income and vulnerable children 0-5, who live in New Jersey.
RSVP to [email protected], 908-352-8375, by June 28 to receive a Zoom link for the Virtual Annual Meeting.
