2009-2010 RISE Holiday Party

Rockets - Raising Our Children

2009-2010 RISE Holiday Party will be held on Dec 19th, 2009

History

For the 7th year in a row the JLGP has collaborated with RISE formerly known as Community Action Service Center, Inc (CASC) to execute a successful holiday party. This year's party was held on Saturday, December 20, 2008 in Hightstown at the Grace Norton Rogers School. The cafeteria came to life with over 500 families in attendance. This was the largest turnout in the 42-year history of the RISE event.

This year, the JLGP provided each child with a printed photo of Santa using the HP printer from BTH and the personal printer of Patty Thomsson. Amazingly, Rebecca Taha and Patty (with the help of many more) were able to accommodate the hundreds of photos taken with Santa between 11 and 1. In addition to the photo, each child crafted a photo frame to accompany their picture and colored a holiday themed bag to store their goodies. Every child also received a free book in support of the JLGP ROCKETS mission of promoting literacy and education.

Mike McDonald, the General Manager of Shop Rite in East Windsor deserves a special thank you for all of his contributions to the party. He not only helped the Hightstown Methodist Church wrap the gifts, but he also provided a delivery truck to transport the gifts to the school and made a significant donation of additional bagels, cream cheese and butter to help us accommodate the 50% increase in attendance. Katie Herspeigal and her husband Brent also donated hundreds of bagels to help with the increase. The success of the party was featured in the Sunday Trenton Times accompanied by several photos of the families.

Sandy Moran and I would like to extend a warm and heartfelt thank you to the many volunteers who helped to make this party happen. The committee spent many, many hours this fall organizing the event and the party volunteers executed every detail with cheer and enthusiasm. A special note was sent from Amanda Porter of RISE; “We feel incredibly lucky to have this partnership, which has made the party a better experience for everyone each year. I can't thank you enough for all you did to make it a very special day for all the children and parents there.”