FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New Local Non-Profit Run by
College of Saint Elizabeth Student Volunteers

DECEMBER 2002-CONVENT STATION, NJ: Focus America A NJ Non-Profit Corporation founded in October 2002, announced that they have sent 50 uniforms to a poverty-stricken community in Kankakee County, Illinois to help return students to the classroom after the public school system implemented a uniform dress code.

"We selected the Pembroke communities as our first project based on an article from the New York Times back in September,” Shelly Zimmerman, President and Founder of Focus America, said. “The project started out as an internship for one of my students but it has snowballed to the point that we had to create a non-profit corporation. Student volunteers and interns from the College of Saint Elizabeth manage the projects. It’s a wonderful learning exercise for these students.”

Focus America’s mission is to provide all levels of support through the talents, skills, and dedication of an extensive network of volunteers, mostly college students from the College of Saint Elizabeth (Convent Station, NJ) and a few out-of-state universities. They work specifically with destitute and underserved communities throughout the USA, focusing on addressing basic needs (shelter, food, and clothing) then introducing educational programs to help the communities achieve self-sufficiency. Their ultimate goal is to help eliminate poverty in these underdeveloped communities.

"It’s interesting to watch the students work so hard to help provide not just food and clothing for the children in Pembroke but to help raise money to purchase uniforms, educational supplies, and books for the children as well,” Zimmerman said. “The student volunteers from the College of Saint Elizabeth understand the value of education and knowledge and they are working energetically to pass this value along to the poor community in Pembroke.”

Plans to expand Focus America’s outreach include helping communities in Appalachia, the Mississippi Delta, Arkansas, and some communities in New Jersey, too.

For more information, contact Shelly Zimmerman at szimmerman@focusamerica.org or visit their website at http://www.focusamerica.org.

CONTACT: Shelly Zimmerman, President and Founder
PO Box 267
Convent Station, NJ 07961
862-812-0648 (cell) or 973-993-8639 (home)
szimmerman@focusamerica.org