From the editor: Thanks for supporting the Needy Cases Fund

Joe Martino
·3 min read

Thank you, Central Jersey.

Once again, Central Jersey residents, as they have done for decades, have shown their generosity and goodwill to help their less fortunate neighbors by donating to our annual Needy Cases Fund during the holiday season.

Despite the scourge of inflation and lingering worries about the pandemic, the response to the annual fundraiser has been heartwarming.

The Needy Cases Fund is a Central Jersey holiday tradition, stretching back more than seven decades. The community service project has been sponsored by the Home News Tribune and its predecessor, the Daily Home News, working with the Lions Club of New Brunswick. In recent years, the Courier News has joined the Home News Tribune in sponsoring the charity.

From Thanksgiving until Christmas, The Home News Tribune, Courier News and MyCentralJersey.com detailed 10 organizations serving Central Jersey. This year’s agencies were Make-A-Wish New Jersey, Elijah's Promise, Franklin Food Bank, CASA of Middlesex County, Lions Club of New Brunswick, Martin Luther King Youth Center, Community Access Unlimited, Aldersgate Outreach Community Center and Fish Inc. – Dunellen Area.

And you responded in kindness and empathy to the stories of our neighbors here in Central Jersey for whom the holiday season is not joyous. Every day they face the challenges presented by health and economic circumstances beyond their control.

You didn't forget them.

Needy Cases 2022:Lions Club remains true to its vision

Thanks to your generosity, the Needy Cases Fund received more than $11,280 this year. In the last two decades, more than $550,000 has been raised.

The Needy Cases Fund is maintained in a separate account by the Lions Club of New Brunswick, and distribution of the funds is apportioned by representatives of MyCentralJersey.com and the club.

We thank the following donors this year for showing once again that generosity is more powerful than adversity:

  • From Gail Aiello in loving memory of Thomas V. Horvath

  • From Gail Aiello in loving memory of Brandon M. Jackson

  • Diane and Brian Davis of Milltown

  • Kevin Rogers of Highland Park

  • Frederick J. Booth and Ann Kiernan of New Brunswick

  • Ann H. Turner of Somerset, in memory of many clients

  • Douglas and Donna Smith of Highland Park, in memory of Arthur and Eric Smith

  • Jeffrey and Gail Aaron of Highland Park

  • Vincent and Doris Krobatsch of South River, in memory of their son Rhett and their parents, Frederick and Marie Fischer and Lenny and Catherine Krobatsch

  • Arthur and Karen Goldenberg of East Brunswick

  • Marilyn and Michael Malinics of Parlin

  • Jane B. Keehbleer of Edison

  • Rotary Club of the Plainfields

  • Michele Senko of South River

  • Steven and Ellen Johnson of Bridgewater

  • John and Carol Strick of Somerset

  • Merrill Marsh of Branchburg

  • Joyce DeProspo of East Brunswick

  • Caril and Kathryn Smith of Milltown, in memory of Arthur Gatarz

  • Michael and Eileen Laggart of Milltown, in memory of their niece Nadine More

  • John and Marylou Domino of Milton, Massachusetts, in memory of the Domino and Grosso families of New Brunswick

  • Margaret Shallcross of North Brunswick, in memory of Frank Mumber and Lawrence Shallcross

  • Rozalyn Sherman of Somerset

In addition there were 17 donors who wished to remain anonymous.

Joe Martino is news director of the Courier News, Home News Tribune and MyCentralJersey.com. He can be reached at 908-243-6608 or jmartino@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Thanks Central Jersey for supporting the Needy Cases Fund