PARSIPPANY — All news on nature isn’t bad. Looking at the enthusiasm and effort of BAPS Charities Walk Green 2019 participants, one can certainly say, there is hope.

Shivani Patel, 19, of Parsippany will be taking part in the event for the fourth time.  “It’s about doing something to raise funds to plant trees and bringing awareness about the environment,” Patel said. “For the first time in human history, our environmental impacts are happening at a scale that is affecting life on Earth. It gives me solace participating in the walk and doing something about it.”

BAPS Charities Walk Green 2019 in Parsippany was an event to raise funds for The Nature Conservancy, and Carol G. Simon Cancer Center. This year, BAPS Charities supported The Nature Conservancy’s efforts to plant one billion trees by 2025 through their Plant a Billion Trees initiative. Generations of changemakers from 6-year-old first-time fundraisers to senior citizens—came together, with over 250 members of the community participating in total.

“It’s amazing and heartwarming to see how much support has been generated for the walk and how much it has grown over the years,” said Nilkanth Patel, President, BAPS Charities. “This year over 23,000 walkers in over 76 cities in North America joined the walk to help us protect our environment – for our generation and for generations. The collective actions of the community have helped plant helped The Nature Conservancy plant 61,000 additional trees in 2019. During the last four years, from 2016 to 2019, BAPS Charities Walkathons have helped plant a total of 361,000 trees.”

“It means a lot to us that your support is made possible by the thousands of BAPS Charities volunteers who believe like we do, that a healthy planet is critical to building healthy communities where both nature and people can thrive,” said Mark Tercek, President and CEO of The Nature Conservancy.”

In addition to fostering a spirit of service across generations of participants to support a cause touching the world, BAPS Charities involved young adults in high school and college in business sponsorship initiatives. The youth participants worked to secure partnerships from local businesses to support the Walkathon efforts.

Chandu J. Bhoraniya, Walk participant, said, “I was inspired to see so many teenagers participating, not just in the walk but also in the opening ceremonies, and management of the walk.  Engaging the next generation is very crucial, and I am glad BAPS Charities shares that commitment.”

Gilbert Baez, Carol G. Simon Cancer Center, said, “Baps Charities is really an important part again in commitment we have to community.”

Drashti Patel, event lead said, “I thank all the sponsors, the individual fundraisers and all who came out today morning to take part in this walk. We greatly appreciate your support.”

In addition to the annual Walkathon, BAPS Charities actively supports environmental sustainability efforts throughout the year through recycling projects, water conservation and utilizing solar power. BAPS Charities also organizes other humanitarian events throughout the year like Health Fair, Blood Donation Drive, Food Drive, and Children’s Health and Safety Day. The activities of BAPS Charities are centered on improving the quality of lives of individuals and their families. For additional information on BAPS Charities and its philanthropic activities click here.

PARSIPPANY — Todd Deremer, Matheny Adult Day Habilitation Coordinator at Hillsborough, with Randy Stodard, Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Delta Dental of New Jersey, Dennis Wilson, President and CEO of Delta Dental of New Jersey, and two New Jersey Symphony Orchestra musicians who performed recently for clients at Matheny’s Adult Day Center in Hillsborough. The concert was sponsored by Delta Dental of New Jersey.

Clients from Matheny’s Adult Day Center in Hillsborough are pictured with bass-player Jonathan Storck from the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra; Dennis Wilson, President and CEO of Delta Dental of New Jersey; violinist Fran Storck from the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra; and Randy Stodard, Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Delta Dental of New Jersey. Delta Dental of New Jersey recently sponsored a performance Jonathan and Fran gave to clients at Matheny. The Delta Dental of New Jersey Foundation has awarded nearly $1 million over the past 17 years to support Matheny’s dental center located in Peapack.

PARSIPPANY — If you’ve visited the Parsippany Main Library, 449 Halsey Road, in February, you might have seen prom dresses in the lobby or even grabbed one for a steal at the sale.  There’s a great story behind the bargains, however, that the Friends want to share with the community.

This year’s prom dress sale raised over $2000 for the library’s teen programming and collections, which is especially critical in this time of mandated funding not being able to cover all of the needs voiced by the community.  In order for the library to continue offering quality free programs and the latest materials, fundraising like this is essential.

In addition to local young women receiving dresses at a fraction of their retail cost, the Friends were able to connect with the Paterson Neighborhood Assistance Office.  All remaining dresses were donated and were being given away at no cost to young women in the area who would not otherwise be able to afford a dress for their prom.

Since 1984, The Friends of the Parsippany Library have been committed to improving our libraries by raising funds that may be used in various ways, such as to sponsor events and programs; supplement children’s programs; and purchase books, computers, software and audio visual materials.

Funds come from book sales, revenue from “The Book Nook” (the Friends’ used book store) and various fundraisers.  The remainder of the budget is made up of annual dues paid by the membership (whether individual or corporate), donations, and grants.

To learn more about how you can contribute to the growth of Parsippany’s libraries, visit the Friends of the Parsippany Library website by clicking here.

PARSIPPANY — The Whippany River Watershed  Action Committee (WRWAC) coordinated a cleanup for congregation members of St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church at Veterans Park in April 28. The WRWAC supplied contractor bags, work gloves, hand held trash pickers and refreshments for all volunteers. Rev. Susan Sica helped organize the clean-up for her congregation located at480 South Beverwyck Road.

Among the many items removed were shoes, tires, metal pipes and a stereo boombox, as well as a bevy of aluminum cans, glass bottles, plastic bottles and bags.

The Township of Parsippany supplied containers to properly recycle/separate glass, aluminum, plastic, trash and other items found.

“THE WRWAC’s mission is to preserve, protect and maintain the land and water of the Whippany River Watershed.” states WRWAC Co-Chair Len Cipkins. “Every year we identify several locations in our watershed in need of a clean-up.”

The Whippany River Watershed Action Committee  is a non-profit, grassroots organization based in Morris County, comprised of members representing thirteen municipal governments, the Board of Chosen Freeholders, and other stakeholders.

MORRIS COUNTY — The Denville Moms Network launched on Wednesday, May 1.

Their goal is to be your go-to resource for everything in and around Denville, Randolph, Morris Plains, Mountain Lakes, East Hanover and Parsippany.

Their site was founded with the simple goal of saving you time and energy by providing a collection of local events and resources while building a supportive mom community.

The Denville Moms is an ever changing and growing community for moms to come for information, advice, or just a place to feel supported. They have a calendar of events, a resource guide, and general information that is helpful to local families.

The Denville Moms Network is part of The Local Moms Network, a quickly growing digital media company consisting of over 80 hyper-local platforms (like The Denville Moms) in 21 states across the country, all run for and by fellow moms.

They provide crucial resources, an updated activities calendar, introductions to talented local moms, useful guides and fun events, all with the goal of “giving moms the gift of time” as well as a sense of community.

TLMN has over 150k Instagram followers, over 125k monthly page views, and has created over 100 flexible jobs for entrepreneurial moms across the country who share the passion for their suburb.

For more information email by clicking here.

PARSIPPANY — For the 16th consecutive year, Kiwanis Club of Greater Parsippany held another very successful Trivia Night.

The Ultimate Trivia Contest was held on Friday, April 26 at the Parsippany PAL Youth Center. Friends, family, co-workers gathered for a night of fun.

The first place winners were  Annette Demarest, Eddie Baldwin, Mark Peterson, Emily Peterson, T.J. Humphries, Linda Humphries, Mike Dawson and Pete Mars.

The event was a bring your own food and BYOB. Soda, coffee, water, plates, cups, napkins, and utensils were provided.

There are a few simple rules: The use of ANY electronic device whatsoever during competition will immediately disqualify the offending team. This includes but is not limited to I-Pad’s, PDA’s, ICBM’s, drones, etc. The use of printed material such as encyclopedias, almanacs, National Geographic, and the like, is strictly prohibited and of course no tweeting!

In addition, the attendees were asked to bring an extra, non-perishable food item to donate to the Parsippany Food Bank.

You are invited to attend a meeting every Thursday morning at 7:15 a.m. at Empire Diner, 1315 Route 46, Parsippany.

For more information on the Kiwanis Club of Greater Parsippany, click here.

MORRIS COUNTY — Every second Saturday in May, letter carriers in more than 10,000 cities and towns across America collect the goodness and compassion of their postal customers, who participate in the NALC Stamp Out Hunger National Food Drive — the largest one-day food drive in the nation.

NALC is America’s largest one-day food collection event that provides millions of pounds of food to local hunger relief agencies. To help, all one needs to do is place non-perishable food items in a bag next to the mailbox before letter carrier arrives on Saturday, May 11, and the letter carrier will do the rest. Food collected is donated to local food pantries.

In Parsippany the food will be donated to the Interfaith Food Pantry, which serves Morris County residents. Some of the items most needed are canned soup, canned fruit, canned tuna, evaporated, dry or shelf stable milk, peanut butter, pasta sauce in cans or plastic jars, canned beans, canned meats and meals, rice, pasta and cereal.

In the past 14 years more than 371,000 pounds of food from the Letter Carriers Food Drive has been donated to the Interfaith Food Pantry and distributed to Morris County families in need. “We have worked with the local etter carriers for many years and are so grateful for their hard work and for their partnership in our efforts to fight local hunger”, said Carolyn Lake, Interfaith Food Pantry, executive director. “They truly care and understand that many hardworking people still struggle with the high cost of living here in Morris County and may be one illness or car breakdown away from needing food assistance.”

The Interfaith Food Pantry is celebrating 25 years of “neighbors helping neighbors” and has been supplying emergency and supplemental food since 1994 to Morris County residents in need. Clients are low income working families, the unemployed, people with disabilities, and seniors living on fixed incomes. In 2018, the Interfaith Food Pantry helped more than 10,000 Morris County residents and distributed 1.2 million pounds of food. For more information click here or call (973) 538-8049.