FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Focus America
Distributing Free School Supplies
at Market Street Mission August
10, 2004--Morristown
NJ: For the second year in a row, Focus America, a NJ Non-Profit Corporation,
is teaming up with the Market Street Mission and Wind of the Spirit to
collect and distribute school supplies to 1000 children from impoverished
communities in New Jersey, Illinois, and West Virginia. Over the past few months,
numerous corporations, churches, and individuals have been collecting school
supplies. During the next few weeks, volunteers will gather at the Market
Street Mission to organize the materials for distribution on August 21st
at the Mission in Morristown. Additional items are being shipped to impoverished
communities in Illinois and West Virginia as well as locally through FACT-NJ
(Families and Communities Together) to help foster children in transition. "Communities need
to become mutual sources of support for each other,” state
Shelly Zimmerman, President and Founder of Focus America. “The
greatest power children have to escape the cycle of poverty that they
have inherited is through their education. By providing them with new
tools at the beginning of the school year, we are arming them with the
ability to learn...the only way children can raise the bar on their own
lives.“ The program was started
last year by a Montclair high school senior, Leanne Polachek, who was working
for her Girl Scouts of America Gold Award. Between her efforts and the efforts
of several community individuals, over 300 backpacks filled with school supplies
were distributed in Morris County, NJ as well as shipped out to Kankakee
County, IL. ABOUT FOCUS AMERICA: Founded in October 2002, Focus America is a 501c3 non-profit
volunteer-run corporation that develops high school
and
college-aged volunteers
(as well as adult volunteers) with hands-on service
learning and project management skills through the creation, implementation,
and management
of individual community
service projects. Volunteers work specifically with
destitute
and underserved communities, focusing on addressing basic needs (shelter,
food, and
clothing) then introducing mentor programs to help
improve the
self-esteem of the
hardest hit members of these communities: the children.
Their
ultimate goal is to
help eliminate poverty in these underdeveloped communities
while developing the
business skills of the college-aged volunteers who
create, implement, and manage the projects. For more information, visit http://www.focusamerica.org.
CONTACT:
Shelly Zimmerman, President
PO Box 267
Convent Station, NJ 07961
szimmerman@focusamerica.org
Phone: 862-812-0548
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