Group That Helps Others at No Cost Will Celebrate 20 Years of Caring
What if your mom or dad were frail and homebound, and needed help. Suppose you didn’t live nearby. Or you worked and couldn’t leave your job. Who could help your parents? What would it cost? Caregiver Volunteers of Central Jersey (CVCJ), a nonprofit interfaith agency, will help them for free.
This month CVCJ is celebrating its 20th anniversary of caring with a “Gourmet Food and Wine Tasting Pairing,” Thursday, November 14, 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the View Restaurant, Eagle Ridge Golf Club, 2 Augusta Blvd, Lakewood.
The mission of CVCJ is to help the frail and homebound elderly with everyday tasks so that they can remain independent and stay in their own homes. More than 1000 volunteers assist over 2000 senior citizens each month with transportation to medical appointments, grocery shopping, relief for Alzheimer’s disease caregivers, reassuring telephone calls, and friendly pet visits.
Lynette Whiteman, M.S., executive director of CVCJ, said, “Our 20th Year Anniversary is a wonderful milestone for our agency. I hope our community will come out to support the generation who gave so much to make our community strong.”
Tickets cost $50.00 and include gourmet food sampling and wine tasting. Attendees can also enjoy a silent auction, a 50/50 raffle, and an opportunity to go “on air” with WOBM FM’s Shawn and Sue, co-hosts of the “Ocean County Breakfast Show.”
Purchase tickets at https://www.eventbrite.com/event/7904026155 or call Rebecca Maxwell at CVCJ 732-505-2273 ext. 209 or email rebeccam@caregivervolunteers.org.
About Caregiver Volunteers of Central Jersey: CVCJ is a non-profit interfaith agency, with two locations, serving 23 municipalities in Ocean County. All assistance is provided completely free of charge and they rely on donations to continue their mission. The mission of CVCJ is to assist the frail and homebound elderly with everyday tasks enabling them to remain independent in their own homes. More than 1000 volunteers assist over 2000 senior citizens each month with transportation to medical appointments, grocery shopping, relief for Alzheimer’s disease caregivers, reassuring telephone calls, and friendly pet visits.
For more information and to learn about volunteer opportunities, call 732-505-2273; or visit www.caregivervolunteers.org. You can “LIKE” them on facebook at facebook.com/caregivervolunteers.
Toms River H.S. North Military Club to Help Troops Get Halloween Candy
Six members of the newly created Toms River High School North Military Club have volunteered to help pack a van, donated by Greater Media Radio Station WJRZ, with all the Halloween candy collected from Dr. Ron Rotem’s annual Halloween Buy-back program.
The students will then deliver the candy to the Toms River Armory where members of ARMS (American Recreational Military Service), will package and ship the candy to our troops. http://www.supportarms.org/.
The Toms River High School North Military Club, initiated this year by TR North Guidance Counselor Danielle Stolz, meets with Army officials twice a week. Male and female students in the club participate in physical training, and learn problem-solving and leadership skills. The purpose of the group is to develop discipline and respect for others, learn team work, get physically fit and to help out the community when needed. They also learn the functions of an army unit and protocol within the army.
Last year, Toms River dentist Dr. Rotem collected hundreds of pounds of candy, which was shipped to our overseas troops. He said, “I’m very happy that this year we will have help from the members of the Toms River High School North Military Club in loading the candy into a van. You’d be surprised how much candy we collect in our buy-back contest.”
Bring your Halloween candy to Dr. Rotem’s dental office, 355 Lakehurst Road, Toms River, on Monday, November 4 and Tuesday, November 5 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. and he will give you $1.00 a pound up to 10 lbs. per family for candy collected from Halloween trick or treating. The child who brings in the most candy, by weight, will win a $50.00 gift card.
Individual classrooms, not schools, are also eligible to win a cash prize. One teacher from either a public or private school who collects the most Halloween candy, by weight, from students in his or her classroom and brings it to Dr. Rotem’s office will be eligible to win $400.00 to spend for his or her class.
This is the ninth year Dr. Rotem has sponsored his Halloween Buy-back Candy contest. Dr. Rotem said, “I am hoping that buying back the candy will be an incentive for kids to help themselves, make someone else’s life a little sweeter, and save their teeth. Obviously, the less candy kids eat, the better it is for them and their teeth.”
Lakewood Team M.E.D.S. Wins a National HRSA Award
The federal agency HRSA (Health Resources and Services Administration), an arm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (Health Resources and Services Administration), has given a national award to Team M.E.D.S. of OHI (Ocean Health Initiatives), a federally qualified health care center, with locations in Lakewood, Toms River, and Manahawkin.
Team M.E.D.S. (Medication, Education, Drugs, Safety) under the leadership of OHI pharmacist Vijay Vohra received the Gold Team Leadership award as part of the PSPC (Patient Safety and Clinical Pharmacy Services Collaborative) for its work in helping to improve the health, safety, care and management of high risk, high cost, complex patients, suffering from multiple chronic health conditions, such as diabetes, asthma, hypertension and high cholesterol, among others.
The ultimate goal of Team M.E.D.S., which began participating in PSPC in 2008, is to help patients achieve improvement in their health outcomes and to focus on medication safety and management, making sure medications are being prescribed appropriately and safely.
Out of the more than 300 teams that participate in PSPC, OHI’s team was one of five that received the Gold Team Leadership award. PSPC is a national effort to improve the quality of care delivered in the United States through the integration of health care providers and primary care services with clinical pharmacy services.
Dr. Theresa Berger, CEO of OHI, said, “HRSA continually expands its expectations of the goals and clinical outcomes for PSPC teams. Our goal is to get the patients healthy and instill a desire for healthy living and self management.”
The members of OHI’s Team M.E.D.S. include pharmacist Vijay Vohra, pharmacist and team leader; Israel Arroyo, chronic care coordinator; Dr. Gilbert Fleisher, chief medical officer; Diane Klimik, RN, director of nursing; Dr. Shira Meyer; Dr. Kristyn Phelps; Rosemary Faughnan, RN; Lynn Walker, RN; Mary Washington, LPN; Bob La Forge, director of infomatics; Dr. Theresa Berger, CEO and president of OHI; and Hannah Maldony, chief compliance officer and PSPC coach.
For more information, contact Douglas Clark at 732-719-9026 or email PromotionsDept@ohinj.org.
About Ocean Health Initiatives
OHI is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) federally qualified health center (FQHC) with locations at 101 Second Street, Lakewood; and 301 Lakehurst Road, Toms River; and 333 Haywood Road, Manahawkin. OHI provides comprehensive preventative and primary health and dental care to Ocean County uninsured and underinsured populations on a sliding-fee scale, based on an individual’s or family are ability to pay. Services include pediatrics, maternal and child health, prenatal, WIC, universal immunizations behavioral health, dental, family medicine, internal medicine, OB/GYN, podiatry and social services.
OHI has a bilingual staff available to assist patients and callers. To become a patient of OHI, call a representative in the Call Center at either 732-552-0377, Toms River, or 732-363-6655, Lakewood. Visit www.ohinj.org. for further information.
The Rocky Horror Show Up Close and Personal at the Strand
Be seated ON stage for an intimate Rocky Horror Show experience this Halloween at the historic Strand Theater, 400 Clifton Avenue, Lakewood. Three performances only at 8:00 p.m.: Halloween night, October 31; Friday, November 1; and Saturday, November 2. Just 150 tickets to this cult-classic rock musical will be sold each night to ensure full audience participation with a rockin’ cast.
New Strand manager David Cruse says, “I think the ability to transform this beautiful historic venue into a more intimate space, to bring the people on stage and into the show, to feel the music, to be up close and personal with the performers… is just a really special experience.”
Three special guest personalities will be narrating the story: Mike O’Keefe of Improv Jam on October 31; comedian Ryan Maher, November 1; and comedian and author M. Dickson on November 2.
The experience of Anthony D’Amato, who directed and conceived Rocky Horror, has been heralded and recently celebrated by Rock Chicago Magazine (“simply amazing”) and Chicago Reader (“consistently entices”). The cast includes Bre Cade, Jared Picone, Jarrod Scott, Tyler Picone, Kelsi Galya, Jay Casale, and Anthony D’Amato as Frank-n-Furter. The show is produced by Coastal Artists Productions.
Tickets cost $20 (+service charge) are available online at www.strand.org or by calling 732.730.5925. Only 150 tickets will be sold for each performance.
About the Strand Theater: The historic Strand Theater, 400 Clifton Ave., Lakewood, was designed by world-renowned theater architect Thomas Lamb in 1922 and is listed on the N.J. and National Register of Historic Places. The Strand offers year-round entertainment in plush, air-conditioned surroundings. It is a perfect venue to showcase comedians, musicals, dinner theater, stars from television and movies, and legendary musical entertainers. The reception gallery includes a catering facility for 250 people, a dance floor, and restrooms. It is ideal for theater-in-the-round, smaller events and receptions.
The Strand relies on the support of Ocean County Board of Chosen Freeholders, the Township of Lakewood, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority; and the LDC and the UEZ programs along with many businesses, organizations, and individuals.
You Don’t Have to Call Pauly Walnuts to Get Paid! Attorney Jeff Gerstenblatt to Speak at JSBL Breakfast Meeting
Lakewood attorney Jeffrey Gerstenblatt will present “How to Get Paid without Calling Pauly Walnuts,” a talk about the facts and fiction of collections, at a breakfast meeting of Jersey Shore Business Leaders (JSBL) Tuesday, October 22, 2013, from 8:00 to 9:30 a.m. at Atlanta Bread, 1042 Cedar Bridge Avenue, Brick, N.J. 08723. Admission is $10.00 and includes an assortment of breakfast foods.
In recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a portion of the proceeds will benefit Mamma Mare Foundation, a New Jersey-based breast cancer foundation started in 2010 after Krista Kasper lost her mother Mary Ellen Pernice, known to many as Mama Mare, to Stage 4 breast cancer. (www.mamamare.org)
Gerstenblatt, a graduate of Freehold High School, earned a B.A. from Rutgers University and his J.D. from Rutgers School of Law-Camden in 1988. He served as law clerk to four Superior Court Judges: the Honorable Donald Campbell, the Hon. Rosalie B. Cooper, the Hon. Edward Turnbach, and the Hon. Bernard Kannen. Gerstenblatt opened his own law practice in Lakewood in 1995.
He serves as an early settlement panelist and civil mediator for divorce cases in Ocean County. He is a member of the Ocean County, Monmouth County, and New Jersey Creditors Bar associations and the Small Practice Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association.
Gerstenblatt serves on the cooperate leadership council of the American Cancer Society. He is a former board member and volunteer for the New Jersey chapter of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, and a member of Brick Kiwanis having served as its secretary and president. Gerstenblatt received the George Hixson award for outstanding service to Kiwanis in 2005. He is an advocate for the adoption of animals and adopted his cat Briscoe in 2009 from the Monmouth County S.P.C.A.
To register for this event, email JerseyShoreBusinessLeaders@gmail.com or call Arielle Bandes, Woodlake Country Club, at 732-278-4834. Find JSBL on www.facebook.com/ JerseyShoreBusinessLeaders and on Twitter at twitter.com/JSBLNetworking.
JSBL provides career-minded individuals with opportunities to continue to grow professionally, civically and socially by networking and building relationships. JSBL provides education to its members, focusing on business and industry trends.
LRRC Offers First Seminar on Obamacare
Who doesn’t have questions about the Affordable Care Act and how it will affect them? Is the process too complicated and confusing? Are you eligible for free or subsidized coverage? Need help in finding the plan that covers your particular health care needs?
To help the public get answers, the Lakewood Resource and Referral Center (LLRC) is inviting the public to its first Affordable Care Act seminar, known as Obamacare, Tuesday, October 15, 2013, at 7:00 p.m. in the Education Room of CHEMED (Center for Health Education, Medicine & Dentistry) 1771 Madison Avenue, Lakewood.
The seminar is free but registration is required. To register, email rsvp@lrrcenter.org.
The LRRC is now a Certified Application Counseling Agency and Assistor for New Jersey residents seeking information about the Healthcare Marketplace and the Affordable Care Act. Sarah Rothenberg, LRRC director, says that the LRRC is offering application and Internet assistance, and several seminars. The dedicated phone number 732-587-6031 has information about the new healthcare laws. Daniel Meltzer, a certified application counseling coordinator, is also on hand at this number to help individuals.
For more information, call the LRRC (212 Second Street, Suite 204, Lakewood) at 732-587-6031 or visit lrrcenter.org.
Twin City Jewelers Sponsors Scholarship Contest “You’re the Designer”
Tom Calabro, owner of Twin City Jewelers, 36 Clifton Avenue, Lakewood, N.J., is offering a $2500.00 scholarship to any high school student in Ocean and Monmouth counties who is the winner of You’re the Designer, a custom-designed engagement ring contest.
The deadline to submit an original design for a custom engagement ring is December 31, 2013. The winning design will be molded, casted, set, polished, and unveiled at the award ceremony at Twin City Jewelers Saturday, May 3, 2014. Entries will be judged on originality and innovative design.
For an application or more information, email Calabro at tom@twincityjewelers.com or visit twincityjewelers.com. Find Twin City Jewelers on facebook.com/twincityjewelers.
Leta Kids Pumpkin Express Event to Benefit Cure for Type 1 Diabetes
The whole family is invited to enjoy a community event that will benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation at the Leta Kids Pumpkin Express, Sunday, October 13, 2013, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Laurelton Fire House, Route 88 West and Olden Street (across from Jersey Paddler), Brick, N.J.
The event includes kids’ games and prizes, a balloon animal artist, a special appearance by Sunshine the Clown, popcorn, refreshments, baked good, raffles, and a special appearance by Santa at 11:00 a.m. Painted pumpkins decorated by local artists are available for purchase.
For further information call Dave Leta at 732-458-6674 or email pumpkin@DavidLeta.com. Also visit www.PumpkinExpress.org or Facebook at the Leta Kids Pumpkin Express.
Kimball Foundation Food & Wine Festival This Thursday to Benefit Imaging Services
More than 35 food vendors along with wine, champagne and scotch dealers are offering samples of their specialties at the Kimball Medical Center Foundation Food & Wine Festival, Kimball’s centennial celebration, Thursday, October 10, 6:30 to 9:00 p.m., at the Pine Belt Chevrolet Showroom, Route 88, Ocean Avenue, Lakewood, N.J. 08701.
Tickets cost $75.00 and include gourmet food, beverages, music and a swag bag.VIP “Special Tasting” tickets are $100.00 per person and also include culinary demonstrations from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. by Chef Lou, Prime 13 Steakhouse, Pt. Pleasant Beach; Chef Mike, Atlantic Bar and Grill, 24th and Central Avenue, South Seaside Park, N.J.; and an educational wine experience.
The drawing for a new 2013 Chevrolet Camaro will take place during the Food & Wine Festival. Raffle tickets, which can be purchased throughout the evening, cost $100.00 each, with only a limited number of tickets available. Proceeds from the evening will benefit the imaging services of Kimball Medical Center, 600 River Avenue, Lakewood. Kimball Medical Center is part of the Barnabas Health system.
The sponsors of the Food & Wine Festival include Press Communications, HealthSouth Rehabilitation hospitals of Toms River and Tinton Falls, Care One, Pine Bell of Lakewood, Preferred Home Health Care, Revera Health Systems, and Specialty Hospital of Central Jersey.
Call Maria Nelson at 732-886-4438 for Food & Wine Festival tickets, raffle tickets or further information about the Kimball Medical Center Foundation, Inc. Tickets are available at the door.
About Kimball Medical Center Foundation: The Kimball Medical Center Foundation raises funds to expand hospital services, develop new hospital programs, and bring leading edge technology and care to the people of Ocean and Monmouth counties through the support of local businesses, community organizations, area residents, and dedicated physicians, board members, auxiliary members and employees. Contributions to the Kimball Medical Center Foundation make a difference in thousands of lives, and leave a legacy of caring.
For more information about the Foundation or to make a donation, call the Foundation office at 732-886-4438.
Save Your Teeth and Treat the Troops – Dr. Rotem Sponsoring Halloween Candy Buy-back Contest
It’s happening! The stores are already filling up with Halloween candy and it won’t be long before parents will be wondering what to do with the piles of Halloween candy their children collected.
How do you get kids to part with their Halloween candy stash and help save their teeth? Dr. Ron Rotem, a dentist at 355 Lakehurst Road, Toms River, is helping with his annual Halloween Candy Buy-back Contest. Dr. Rotem will buy back Halloween candy, on Monday, November 4 and Tuesday, November 5 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. He will then donate the candy to our troops in the Middle East.
Bring your Halloween candy to Dr. Rotem’s dental office, and he will give you $1.00 a pound up to 10 lbs. per family for candy collected from Halloween trick or treating. The child who brings in the most candy, by weight, will win a $50.00 gift card.
Individual classrooms, not schools, are also eligible to win a cash prize. One teacher from either a public or private school who collects the most Halloween candy, by weight, from students in his or her classroom and brings it to Dr. Rotem’s office will be eligible to win $400.00 to spend for his or her class.
This is the ninth year Dr. Rotem has sponsored his Halloween Buy-back Candy contest. Dr. Rotem said, “I am hoping that buying back the candy will be an incentive for kids to help themselves, make someone else’s life a little sweeter, and save their teeth. Obviously, the less candy kids eat, the better it is for them and their teeth.”
Last year, Dr. Rotem collected hundreds of pounds of candy, which shipped to our overseas troops through the American Recreational Military Service (ARMS). http://www.supportarms.org/