This report is made available by NJN News, December 30, 2009. Used with permission.

A Better World Café will have its Grand Opening Friday Nov. 20 with a ribbon-cutting (or quiche-cutting) ceremony at 11:30 a.m. The café serves lunch weekdays 11-3 pm in the Reformed Church of Highland Park, with flexible pricing so that all may eat, no matter what their income level. Since its opening on Oct. 21, about 100 people a day have attended, enjoying the healthy, delicious fare. Volunteers are needed for the dining room and the kitchen, and may have a meal in exchange for their service. Several volunteers have already committed to a regular time slot on a particular weekday. If you enjoy teamwork and giving your time to a cause that helps feed everyone in dignity, please come by the café and volunteer.

Who is My Neighbor is pleased to announce receipt of a $10,000 grant from the J. Steward Johnson, Sr. 1963 Charitable Trust. The Board of Who Is My Neighbor recognizes the generosity and past philanthropic efforts of Mr. Seward Johnson, Sr. and his foresight in establishing his Trust.  We are grateful to receive this empowering contribution. For the third time in our six year history, the work of our grassroots community agency has been affirmed and continued through a generous donation from this esteemed benefactor.

Who is My Neighbor? Inc. raised over $7,000 at its annual fundraiser on October 24th, as the Celtic band Blackwater entertained over 150 supporters of this community nonprofit. The opening singers, a dozen girls from Highland Park High School who form the ensemble Amandala, also charmed the audience with their amazing voices. Thanks, everyone involved in producing the concert and to those who came out and supported this local charitable organization (in spite of torrential rain)!

Save Saturday night, Oct. 24th to attend our benefit concert starring the band Blackwater, playing and singing traditional and modern Celtic music. Opening will be Amandala, the student-run girls’ a cappella phenomenon from Highland Park High School. Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door. The concert starts at 7:30 pm in the social hall of the Reformed Church of Highland Park. You can be even more supportive by placing an ad or greeting in the concert’s program book! Call (732) 247-3700 or email to info@whoismyneighbor.net or stop by the office to purchase tickets, place an ad, or supply your time and skills as a volunteer.

Back by popular demand, Blackwater played to a full house in 2006 as part of Who Is My Neighbor’s Global Heart concert series. Rooted in Irish and British traditions, the three men and two women perform songs that range from rollicking and thunderous to winsome and poignant. With traditional and modern instruments they make music that is high-spirited or reflective, with plenty of humor in the mix. Treat yourself to this energetic evening of live music coming to you right here in the Borough: it’s all for a good cause.

Of more than 700 Fair Trade towns and cities in the world, Highland Park NJ is only the 13th in the USA. This distinction is recognized by Fair Trade Towns USA, an Oakland, CA-based organization that coordinates the Fair Trade Towns movement across the country. Highland Park has met a set of five criteria designed to advance fair trade.

One of the criteria is having an active local coalition. Borough Council member Jon Erickson and Main Street Highland Park director James McCrone joined with Who Is My Neighbor to create the Highland Park Fair Trade Coalition, a steering committee to increase fair trade locally. The coalition meets on the 1st Fri. of the month at 1 pm at the office of Main Street Highland Park and welcomes all volunteers.

Three other requirements for gaining the status of FT Town involved documenting the range of Fair trade products available at multiple stores in Highland Park, documenting that local organizations have policies to use fair trade products, and obtaining passage of a municipal resolution. Borough Council resolved on April 7, 2009 to maximize its own purchase of fair trade products, in line with its sustainability goals.

The fifth requirement was to illustrate extensive media attention and public support for fair trade. Who Is My Neighbor’s record of its fair trade initiatives since 2003 helped Highland Park to qualify.

A market-based model for alleviating global poverty through direct trade with small-scale farmers and artisans in developing countries, the fair trade movement has the motto of "trade not aid." Empowering the poor to develop themselves and their communities, fair trade provides them with access to markets. Through a certification and monitoring process, it offers to co-operatives of farm workers or artisans fair wages, safe working conditions, access to credit, and direct trade relationships, eliminating “middle men” and delivering more of the purchase price into the hands of those who labored to make or grow the goods. It assures no child labor, and guarantees all production processes are environmentally sound.

The coalition will work on increasing the variety of fair trade certified goods available in local stores. A goal is to give consumers in Highland Park opportunities to purchase fairly traded food products such as coffee, bananas, nuts, herbs, tea, vanilla, cocoa, chocolate, rice, sugar, flowers and honey. Another goal is to expand the availability of fair trade goods manufactured by hand, such as toys, furniture, clothing, jewelry, musical instruments, and home furnishings.

The world’s first Fair Trade Town was Garstang, in the United Kingdom, certified in the year 2000. In the past nine years the movement has spread to eighteen countries. Besides Highland Park (NJ), the other confirmed Fair Trade Towns in the USA are San Francisco, Milwaukee, Taos (NM), Burlington (VT), Brattleboro (VT), Amherst (MA), Northampton (MA), Montclair (NJ), Bluffton (OH), Chico (CA), Ballston Spa (NY), and Media (PA). Many places that have campaigns in progress to become Fair Trade Towns include Chicago, Boston, Seattle, Orlando, Berkeley, Oakland, San Diego, Los Angeles, Missoula, Red Bank, Teaneck, Fayetteville, and Washington, DC.

Saturday night Oct. 17, 2009 at 8PM in the Social Hall at the Reformed Church. Featuring performances by middle and high school youth. The Hip Hop Show gives rappers, steppers, dancers, and singers a chance to perform and show off their talents. Once again DJ Big K will emcee. Youth pay $2 admission, and parents are admitted free in exchange for helping to chaperone.

Now is the time for people who want to perform to get with their friends and practice their routine, or devise a solo act. Performers should bring their music selections (such as on a CD) to the show for Big K to play. Lyrics and dancing must be clean/non offensive.

All youth attending the show have the chance to participate in a dance contest for which trophies will be awarded. Refreshments will be available for sale. As an organization serving youth, Who Is My Neighbor Inc. is delighted to provide this chance for teens to be on stage, in the spotlight, microphone in hand, audience cheering.

Student coordinator of the event is HPHS sophomore, Glenn Harrison. Youth who are interested in performing should speak to Glenn or Big K or call Who Is My Neighbor Inc. at 732-247-3700 or come by The Cave for more information.

Pals (teen volunteers) and Buddies (kids with special needs) begin an 8 week season of one-to-one fun when Highland Park’s first Buddy Soccer gets underway Sept. 26 on the turf field at HPHS. Buddy Ball, a nationwide program that allows kids with disabilities to enjoy team sports, was started locally last spring by middle school student Harry Landis, who raised the money to cover all expenses – team shirts, trophies, etc. – through his bar mitzvah. This makes the program free to Buddies as well as to Pals. Who Is My Neighbor Inc. serves as the fiscal agent.

A successful season of Buddy Basketball last spring convinced the organizers to next try an outdoor sport. The 8:30 to 10 a.m. Buddy Soccer sessions are rain or shine, utilizing indoor space nearby in case of rain. Buddies as well as Pals need parent signature to sign up. (Registration forms are available at the event.)

Buddies may live in HP or surrounding communities. Pals must be age 12 or older. Each Pal coaches a Buddy, teaching the skills, rules and attitudes for playing the game. Pals do not need to be good at soccer. Their job is to give their Buddy attention, friendship, encouragement, and patience, helping them through the group skills practice and the scrimmages. High-fives, positive reinforcement, and addressing the Buddy by name are the order of the day. Buddies thrive in this arrangement, making visible progress week to week -- exciting and rewarding to the Pals, the Buddies, and the Buddies’ parents.

Reprinted from The Mirror Sep 11 - Sep 22, 2009

Lori Freedman

Special to the Mirror

Stalagmites…. stalactites…. every cave has its ups and downs.  So, too, for The Cave, a free after-school drop-in center for Highland Park and surrounding area pre-teens and teenagers in grades six through nine.  Sponsored by Who Is My Neighbor, Inc. (WIMNI), The Cave keeps young folks off the streets and engaged in productive activities in the crucial hours between the time school ends and parents return from work.  This is an important benefit to all residents and businesses in Highland Park.

There are many “ups” to Cave life.  In addition to providing a safe, supervised hang-out from 3:00 to 5:00 on days that school is open for full-day session, The Cave, located in the basement of the Reform Church of Highland Park, encourages students to get involved in running the program.  Students have planned potluck dinners, pool tournaments, dance contests, game days and craft activities, and have taken field trips to Rutgers Gardens.  High School students also get involved in Cave life by serving as VolunTeens, helping their middle school counterparts with homework or other activities.

What is the “down” side of Cave life?  For the participants, nothing.  But for the organization that runs the Cave, there is the struggle to raise funds needed to keep the Cave going.  Although they operate on a shoestring budget, relying on donated supplies and community volunteers who help with certain tasks, The Cave costs a minimum of $24,000 per year including staffing, insurance, equipment, and supplies that are not donated.  In the current economy, grants that they were previously able to obtain, as well as donations from businesses and individuals, have all been down.  As such, the Cave is being forced to delay open until October, instead of its usual September start.

The good news is – you can help Save the Cave and make sure that it has the funding needed to operate.  Although some funding is lined up, covering about $90 of the $150/day cost of running the Cave for 160 days this school year, there is a $60/day gap that needs to be filled. A donation in any amount – made out to WIMNI/The Cave and sent to 19 So. 2^nd Ave. – would show the youth of our town they have the support of their community.

   For further information call WIMNI at 732-247-3700 or visit:

www.whoismyneighbor.net