PARSIPPANY — Parsippany’s bats are enjoying a BOOM in the housing market this spring, thanks to dedicated volunteers from the Parsippany Bat Protection Project (PBPP), an initiative of the Parsippany Green Team!

Visitors to Par-Troy’s Volunteer Park, Lake Parsippany Park, Jannarone Park, and Lenni Lenape Park at Knoll Country Club will see new native saplings and/or “bat houses” attached to structures, as part of the PBPP’s habitat creation efforts. The four new bat houses, built as a volunteer project by Parsippany’s Boy Scout Troop 173, are actually nursery boxes for bats, each with enough room to support a maternal colony of up to 300 bats!  The houses are painted black to attract sunlight, and the internal structure is grooved to give nursing bats plenty of places to “hang out” with their offspring.  Parsippany Township officials supported these bat habitat projects at local parks.

The newly-planted native saplings, six shagbark hickory (carya ovata) trees, are part of the PBPP’s longer-term plan to create bat-friendly habitat. When mature, these trees feature loose plates of bark which are ideal to shelter roosting bats, and which may be more attractive to several of New Jersey’s bat species, those that prefer naturally-occurring tree crevices rather than man-made structures. New Jersey is home to NINE species of bat (6 year-round and 3 migratory) including the endangered Indiana bat.

The bat house plans and tree recommendations were provided to the PBPP by Rutgers University’s Wildlife Conservation and Management Program at wildlife.rutgers.edu. Researchers from Rutgers visited Parsippany to conduct educational programs in 2021, and for 2022 have already scheduled two Bat Walks to be held at Wildlife Preserves’ Troy Meadows in Parsippany. The popular Bat Walk programs offer an entertaining presentation followed by a short walk at dusk, where participants use a special bat acoustic device that can identify the species flying overhead in real-time.

Bats are one of the most misunderstood, yet important species on our planet. They perform an invaluable ecological function by eating up to 3,000 insects per bat per night. This dramatically reduces the need for pesticides and produces an estimated value to the country’s agricultural industry of over $22 billion per year! 

Unfortunately, numerous bat species may face extinction, due to the deadly White-nose Syndrome fungus which has killed millions of these vulnerable creatures.

The Parsippany Bat Protection Project, as an initiative of the Parsippany Green Team, aims to educate residents and business owners about the importance of bats in the ecosystem, provide local bats with suitable habitat, and humanely reduce conflicts between bats and people. The Project enjoys the support of our local officials and the Township of Parsippany and a broad-based coalition of residents, educators, and nonprofit groups.

To learn more about the Parsippany Bat Protection Project, and how YOU can help Parsippany’s bats by hanging a bat house or planting native vegetation, please visit the following links:

Parsippany Bat Protection Project – Click here

Parsippany Green Team – Click here

Rutgers Wildlife & Conservation Management – Click here

NJ Native Plant Society – Click here

PARSIPPANY — Child Abuse Prevention Month and the Kiwanis Club of Greater Parsippany kicked off the campaign by setting up pinwheel gardens and displays, with the first at the Parsippany-Troy Hills Town Hall, followed by several other displays around town to help raise awareness in our community by turning your attention to the importance of ensuring great childhoods for all children because our children are our future.

In addition, Parsippany-Troy Hills Mayor James Barberio issued a Proclamation designating April as “Child Abuse Prevention Month.”

The theme of the April 2022 Child Abuse Prevention (CAP) Month is “Growing a Better Tomorrow for All Children, Together.”  Throughout CAP Month, Prevent Child Abuse America and Prevent Child Abuse-New Jersey used a community garden metaphor to reinforce the message that “Every day, we help families and children thrive.”

All throughout April, you will see pinwheels on display around the Parsippany and Lake Hiawatha areas as the symbol of this very thought…that all children deserve a great childhood because they are our future.

And while the pinwheel can do many things — bring smiles, lift spirits, call for healthy starts for all children — the one thing it cannot do is move on its own.  Be the force that makes it move, bringing about real change for children in the United States. Protecting our children is everyone’s job…it’s your turn to make a difference!

Since 1983, April has been a time to acknowledge the importance of families and communities working together to prevent child abuse.  As we look at the faces of the many children in our communities and think about all of the children around the world that suffer at the hands of others, let’s remember that April may be Child Abuse Prevention Month, but unfortunately abuse happens every day. That is why every year, during the month of April, communities across the country come together to focus on this startling issue and on the need for widespread prevention and public awareness campaigns to reduce the number of children who, sadly, are victims of abuse. Over 750,000 children were victims of child abuse, and over 1,800 children died as a result of abuse or neglect.

Karen DeChristopher, Kiwanis Club’s Director of of “Young Children Priority One” programs has led this campaign for the past eight years explained, “As an organization that focuses on children, there is one goal that we are looking to achieve…to raise awareness of the many ways people can get involved in the fight against child abuse:  First, we can get educated, so you can learn to recognize the signs of child abuse, so you can be that one person with the courage to step up for these children and report abuse when you suspect it.  Secondly, you can volunteer or support your child advocacy centers (Prevent Child Abuse-NJ) by calling to determine how you can support them because every children’s advocacy center can benefit from your support for the programs and services they provide to child victims of abuse and neglect.  And lastly, but most importantly we must help break the silence surrounding child abuse by raising awareness and spreading the word. These children deserve a voice because this problem has been overlooked for far too long and you can open the doors on this crime of secrecy because we can all make a difference for these children.”

April 2022 was also proclaimed Child Abuse Prevention Month by Morris County Government Commissioners to bring more focus to the societal threats posed by child abuse and neglect. Thank you Karen DeChristopher, Director of the Young Children Priority One Program for Kiwanis Club of Greater Parsippany for joining the ceremony.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have declared child abuse and neglect to be a serious public health threat with long-lasting, negative impacts on every victim. The most effective way to combat child abuse and neglect is to increase awareness and report abuse; encourage nurturing parenting practices, and provide support to everyone who may need help raising their children in a healthy environment.

To learn more about what you can do to help prevent child abuse, contact Pamela Stalcup, Director of Development & Communications for Prevent Child Abuse-NJ at (732) 246-8060 or click here.

Kiwanis is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to changing the world one child and one community at a time. It is not religious-based or partisan in any way. The Kiwanis Club of Greater Parsippany meets every Thursday at 7:15 a.m. at the Empire Diner, 1315 Route 46. New members are always welcome. (Click here for more information on Kiwanis Club of Greater Parsippany).