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Natural Awakenings Central New Jersey

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How Hands Uplift Hearts

Volunteering provides rewarding satisfaction and progress for adults and children alike. Seniors stay involved and parents work alongside kids to experience the value of helping others.

Local places of worship often maintain a list of opportunities to serve a community through helping and healing ministries as well as special projects. The Red Cross is best known for supplying aid in emergency situations, but many needs are year-round (RedCross.org). A call to city hall can steer willing participants to the right local organization. Here are other examples from around the country and nearby to spark love-inspired ideas.

People

Meals on Wheels does much more than deliver lunches to those in need (MOWAA.org).

In Austin, Texas, the Healthy Options Program for the Elderly program brings a bag of groceries monthly to clients most nutritionally at risk, plus Groceries to Go volunteers shop for or with clients every two weeks. Minor safety-related home repairs are provided through the Handy Wheels project.

In Seattle, community helpers paint classrooms, install new playground equipment and donate books and supplies at the city’s public schools.

Berkley, California, YMCA volunteers teach classes like mindful meditation or restorative yoga, work the front desk, read to preschoolers and do fundraising.

Animals

Homeless dogs in shelters learn leash manners while participating in the Walk a Hound, Lose a Pound program at South Carolina’s Aiken County Animal Shelter. Leashes and treats are supplied to encourage volunteers to walk dogs at least once a week. It’s healthy exercise for both dogs and humans. To calculate the calorie burn, visit Tinyurl.com/WalkOffCalories. Shelter cats need socialization, too. Visits that include playtime and gentle petting make them more adoptable.

Environment

New York Cares has family projects available with no minimum age requirement (NYCares.org). Either on an ongoing or a one-day basis, volunteers improve parks, plant community gardens and refresh public spaces. Trails require refurbishing after bad weather. Streams and waterways need a good cleanup after floods. Check with the park ranger for more information.

With a little research, volunteers can find the right activity, whatever their location, interest, age or abilities. Another good place to start is VolunteerMatch.org, which is easy to search by zip code and personal interests. A perfect opportunity to help others awaits.

 

volunteerism volunteering Feature
Tick Talk

Spring officially sprung on March 21. We have turned our clocks ahead. We are looking forward to warm winds, sunny skies and the smell of fresh cut grass. The daffodils and tulips have recently bloomed and we are just starting with the yard work that comes with the warmer weather.  Sadly, another season has started ramping up.  Tick season.

•             The best form of protection is prevention. Educating oneself about tick activity and how our behaviors overlap with tick habitats is the first step.

•             According to the NJ DOH, in 2022 Hunterdon County led the state with a Lyme disease incidence rate of 426 cases per 100,000 people. The fact is ticks spend approximately 90% of their lives not on a host but aggressively searching for one, molting to their next stage or over-wintering. This is why a tick remediation program should be implemented on school grounds where NJ DOH deems high risk for tick exposure and subsequent attachment to human hosts.

•             Governor Murphy has signed a bill that mandates tick education in NJ public schools. See this for the details.  Tick education must now be incorporated into K-12 school curriculum. See link:

https://www.nj.gov/education/broadcasts/2023/sept/27/TicksandTick-BorneIllnessEducation.pdf

•             May is a great month to remind the public that tick activity is in full swing. In New Jersey, there are many tickborne diseases that affect residents, including Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis, Ehrlichiosis, Lyme disease, Powassan, and Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiosis.

•             For years, the focus has mainly been about protecting ourselves from Lyme disease. But other tick-borne diseases are on the rise in Central Jersey. An increase of incidence of Babesia and Anaplasma are sidelining people too. These two pathogens are scary because they effect our blood cells. Babesia affects the red blood cells and Anaplasma effects the white blood cells.

•             Ticks can be infected with more than one pathogen. When you contract Lyme it is possible to contract more than just that one disease. This is called a co-infection. It is super important to pay attention to your symptoms. See link.

https://twp.freehold.nj.us/480/Disease-Co-Infection

A good resource from the State:

https://www.nj.gov/health/cd/topics/tickborne.shtml

 

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