To the Editor

Corrections or additions?

This article prepared for the December 18, 2002 edition of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.

Between the Lines

Ever since 1985 U.S. 1 Newspaper has devoted its last

issue of the year to volunteers in charitable organizations. This

year’s Helping Hands articles are about Peter Dawson, who volunteers

with Eden Family of Services to help those with autism, and Constance

Martin, who spends her spare hours with CASA (Court Appointed Special

Advocates) to help neglected and abused children.

The criteria for these choices? The volunteer must have a full-time

day job, preferably within the U.S. 1 circulation area, and the organization

should be one that we have not covered before. There are exceptions,

as in 1998 for the Junior League and in 2000 when we wrote about Kids-for-Kids.

Yes, the founder of that group had a full-time occupation, but it

was as a student at Princeton High School.

Which charities have we covered so far? They include Princeton Medical

Center’s home hospice program in 1985; the Princeton YWCA in 1986;

Jobseekers, the Girl Scouts, Singles Helping Others, and Recording

for the Blind in 1987; Hyacinth Foundation and the I Have a Dream

Foundation in 1988; Princeton Community Housing, literacy tutors,

Charitable Knights, and Family Service Association in 1989; Womanspace

and HomeFront in 1990; HiTops and the Accountants for Public Interest

in 1991; Plainsboro Public Library and Princeton University alumni’s

Project ’55 in 1992; prison counseling and Dreams Come True in 1993;

The Children’s Home Society and the Mercer County Commission on Abused,

Neglected, and Missing Children in 1994; Big Brothers and Big Sisters

in 1995; Mercer County Child Placement Review Board and The Hub in

1996; Habitat for Humanity and Bootstraps in 1997; American Red Cross

and Princeton Granada Sister Cities project in 1998; the American

Cancer Society in 1999; Interfaith Hospitality Network and Enable

in 2000; and Contact and NAMI New Jersey in 2001.

Without taking credit from any of the volunteers we have written about,

it’s important to note that we are not focusing on "the best of

the best," those who amaze everyone with their devotion to a cause.

Instead we show people who might inspire the rest of us to say, "I

could do that."

December is not the only month when we pay attention to charities.

We always welcome notices under the "Corporate Angels" heading,

which commemorates donations to a charity, and for our "Donate

Please" column, which can include everything from requests for

toys to golf tourney sponsorships. "Participate Please" can

use calls for volunteers. In Survival Guide we cover the nonprofit

community’s meetings, and we write about charitable organizations

in the "On the Move" column.

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