Do you know someone who needs a little extra help this holiday season?

It’s no secret that we’re in a particularly challenging time right now. Millions of people are out of work thanks to the recession, which means that non-profit organizations are witnessing an increased demand for their services. Unfortunately, many of these groups are also in the middle of financial trouble because they have fewer resources to give to the people they were designed to assist. However, there is a way that you can help!

The Greater Newark Holiday Fund has been serving those in need since the Great Depression. For 72 years, the non-profit fund has been making donations to 12 outstanding charities that provide social services through Essex, Union, Passaic, Hudson, Morris, and Bergen counties. The charities include:

• Catholic Community Services
• Children’s Aid & Family Services
• Chrill Care
• Family Service Bureau of Newark
• Family Service League
• Jewish Family Service of Metro West
• Newark Day Center
• Nutley Family Service Bureau
• Salvation Army Services
• Urban League of Essex County
• Youth Consultation Service

Click here to give a donation to this very important cause!

The 2009 campaign began on November 15th and lasts for eight-weeks during the holiday season. The end of the budget year can be tough for even the most well-endowed non-profits, which is why the Greater Newark Holiday Fund makes their donation at the end of the budget year. It helps to finance much-needed initiatives that make the lives of individuals and families better, including:

• Family and children’s services
o Foster care and adoption
o Pre-school programs
o Elder care
o Parenthood counseling
• Nutrition counseling and food donations
• Support for the physically and mentally challenged
• Rape care and counseling
• Domestic violence prevention
• Financial counseling and direct assistance

With the Thanksgiving season quickly approaching, the generosity of donors is very much appreciated at this time of the year. Last year, the campaign raised upwards of $350,000. More than 60 percent came from individual contributors.

“The daily donations that we get, which are listed in the Ledger, are from ordinary, everyday people who will send in $5 in memory of a deceased loved one, or $25 in honor of the men and women serving our country in Iraq,” said Frank Ferruggia, a law partner at McCarter & English and the Fund’s board president.

Unfortunately, hunger and abuse does not stop during the holidays, and there are thousands of New Jersey residents who wonder where their next meal is coming from or how they can provide for their loved ones.

Children tend to suffer the most because they aren’t able to help themselves at all. A donation to the Greater Newark Holiday Fund could help turn the winter months into a season of hope and generosity. Food, clothing, toys, and other services would be a welcome holiday present for hundreds of New Jersey families.

For more information about the Greater Newark Holiday Fund, you can visit their Facebook page or call them toll-free at 1-866-292-HOPE (4673).