PARSIPPANY — More than 200 clients of the nonprofit NewBridge Services will receive hygiene kits through a community-focused initiative by Gilead Sciences, Inc., a global biopharmaceutical leader.
Sixteen volunteers from the Quality Assurance team at Gilead filled 240 drawstring bags with toiletries, including nail clippers, shampoo, conditioner, lotion, soap, lip balm, combs, razors, a granola bar, bandaids, and antibacterial ointment. Each bag also included a handwritten note of encouragement for the recipient.
NewBridge Executive Director of Counseling Viki Ferlauto said, “The volunteers were welcoming and generous, and their commitment to helping the community shone through.” Ferlauto spoke with the Gilead staff about all NewBridge does to help children, adults, and seniors overcome adversities through mental health counseling, housing, and education. Based in Morris County, NewBridge serves children, adults, and seniors in Morris, Passaic, and Sussex counties. Ferlauto noted that the hygiene kits will be given to clients from any NewBridge program who needs them.
Anna Perrotti, partnerships manager at Life Science Cares New York, coordinated the Gilead service project. Life Science Cares is a nonprofit that connects life sciences companies to nonprofits that are addressing poverty in our communities. Launched in 2022, Life Science Cares New York is the organization’s fifth affiliate and works with corporations and nonprofits across the New York metropolitan area.
`Discovering Treasure’
“Being linked with Gilead through Anna Perrotti was like discovering treasure only five minutes from our newest NewBridge Services location in Parsippany,” Ferlauto said. NewBridge recently moved its Morris County counseling center and Child and Family Services and its alternative education and career program NewBridge JobsPlus to offices at 99 Cherry Hill Road.
“Thank you, Viki Ferlauto, Head of Counseling Services, for coming out to speak about the incredible work at NewBridge!” Perrotti said. “The collaboration between Gilead Sciences and NewBridge Services showcases the powerful impact that community partnerships can have.”
For more information about NewBridge Services programs, send a note to services@newbridge.org. To donate to NewBridge, click here.
To get involved with Life Science Cares New York, contact Perrotti at anna.perrotti@lifesciencecares.org.
Gilead Sciences, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company that has pursued and achieved breakthroughs in medicine for more than three decades, with the goal of creating a healthier world for all people. The company is committed to advancing innovative medicines to prevent and treat life-threatening diseases, including HIV, viral hepatitis, COVID-19, and cancer. Gilead operates in more than 35 countries worldwide, with headquarters in Foster City, California., it is a biopharmaceutical company that has pursued and achieved breakthroughs in medicine for more than thirty years.
Life Science Cares (LSC) activates the financial and human capital of the life sciences industry and partners with nonprofits to disrupt the cycle of poverty and inequality in our communities. Now operating in five US life science hubs (Boston, Philadelphia, San Diego, the San Francisco Bay Area, and New York), LSC has invested $16 million and tens of thousands of volunteer hours in community organizations providing access to basic needs, access to education or access to opportunity. Life Science Cares Switzerland, the first international LSC effort, launched in April 2024. Learn more by clicking here.
Established in 1963, NewBridge Services is a community nonprofit dedicated to bringing balance to people’s lives through counseling, housing, and education. NewBridge tackles some of society’s toughest issues including mental illness, addiction, homelessness and isolation. Each year, NewBridge’s caring, experienced and well-trained professionals serve children, adults and seniors in Morris, Passaic and Sussex counties — and beyond. Among its 12 programs, NewBridge: helps neglected and abused children heal and trains parents to be the caregivers their children deserve; runs a successful alternative education and career program that gives young adults a second chance at success; offers support services to help older adults and those with mental illness live independently; counsels individuals and families to overcome conflicts and grief; and operates five group homes for adults with serious mental illness. NewBridge continually adapts to community needs, developing innovative programs to meet them.
