Upcoming Plainfield Food Distribution Events

This past Saturday, Union County held another food distribution event at Cedar Brook Park in Plainfield, co-sponsored by Community FoodBank of New Jersey. I joined a small army of volunteers, along with my Freeholder colleagues Chairman Alexander Mirabella and Freeholder Andrea Staten, to distribute food boxes to residents (drive-up and walk-up) who are experiencing food insecurity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The next food distribution events are listed below. Visit https://ucnj.org/covid19/food-distribution-events for more specific info on the upcoming events (excluding Kean University, some are walk-up). Questions? Call the UCDHS Director's Action Line at 888-845-3434 or 908-558-2288.

October Dates

Sat, Oct. 10 - Kean University, Union Township

Sat, Oct. 17 - Cedar Brook Park, Plainfield 

Sat, Oct. 24 - Kean University, Union Township

Sat, Oct. 31 - Warinanco Park, Roselle (by the Skating Rink)

November Dates

Sat, Nov. 7 - Kean University, Union Township

Sat, Nov. 14 - (Thanksgiving Box) Cedar Brook Park, Plainfield

Sat, Nov. 21 - (Thanksgiving Box) Kean University, Union

December Dates

Sat, Dec. 12 - (Holiday Box/Turkey) Cedar Brook Park, Plainfield 

Sat, Dec. 19 - (Holiday Box/Turkey) Kean University, Union Township

Plainfield Recreation's "Take Home" Easter Egg Hunt - Social Distancing Saves Lives!

The Plainfield Division of Parks and Recreation has teamed up with the Plainfield Public School District's Food Services Director Dre James of Maschio's Food Services' Inc. to ensure that children have an opportunity to participate in a "take home" Easter Egg Hunt. Recreation has prepared special kits for families to have their own egg hunt at home. Each bag includes 10 candy-filled Easter eggs and a chocolate bunny. Also included are additional "social distancing" guidelines for families to follow. 

The team has taken the necessary safety measure and precautions when preparing these bags. Plastic eggs have been sanitized before being filled, and proper hand washing and glove usage has been implemented when handling. The limited supply bags are being distributed by Maschio's frontline workers with the meals. 

Photo Courtesy of Dre James, Maschio's Food Services

At left, the food service workers take care to make sure that everyone observes social distancing guidelines when picking up the food. Stay safe and be well!

Visit Plainfield Recreation on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/divofparksandrecplainfield/

Kudos to the Division of Parks and Recreation for always keeping our residents in mind!

Union County Support Services: COVID-19

Cross-posted on https://freeholderrebecca.blogspot.com
As we move to contain COVID-19, Union County is providing additional support services to our constituents during this stressful time. Please read the press release below about these services. As noted below: "Comprehensive information and guidance about COVID-19 is available online at nj.gov/health. For updates on Union County cancellations and services that have been modified due to the outbreak, visit the County website at ucnj.org/coronavirus-update."

Support Available During COVID-19 Outbreak

Union County, NJ – Additional support services are available in Union County for residents who are experiencing anxiety or stress related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“If you need help, please do not hesitate to reach out to these community resources,” said Union County Freeholder Alexander Mirabella. “There are people ready to assist you with experienced, reliable guidance.”

“Union County has taken extraordinary measures to protect our residents and employees, and our first responders and other essential staff are working around-the-clock to fight against the spread of the virus,” added Mirabella. “Everyone in Union County can join the battle and help ‘flatten the curve’ by working together to shield each other from exposure.”

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control has advised that effective protective measures include maintaining social distance, washing hands frequently, covering coughs with a tissue or elbow, keeping hands away from face, staying away from sick people, and staying home when sick.

The following local, state, and national support services are available by telephone: 

24/7 Emergency Psychiatric Crisis Intervention Services

• Mobile Community Outreach for Adults: 908-994-7131
• Union County Mobile Response and Stabilization for Children: 1-877-652-7624
• RWJ University Hospital: 732-381-4200
• Overlook Hospital: 908-522-2000

Other 24/7 Crisis Services

• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline:  1-800-273-8255
• NJ HOPELINE (for emotional distress):1-855-654-6735
• Vet 2 Vet (for any New Jersey veteran): 1-866-838-7654
• Vets 4 Warriors (national — for any veteran who has served in war): 1-855-838-8255
• Substance Abuse (ReachNJ): 1-844-732-2465
• Cop 2 Cop (law enforcement officers) 1-866-267-2267

Assistance with Emotional Distress

• NJ Mental Health Cares: 1-866-202-4357 (8:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.)
• The Peer Recovery WarmLine 1-877-292-5588 (8:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.)
• Mom2Mom, for mothers with special needs children: 1-877-914-6662 (8:30 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.; or leave a message after hours for a call-back)
• Care2Caregiver, for family members caring for family member with memory loss, Alzheimer’s, dementia or a related disorder: 1-800-424-2494 (8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.)
• Worker2Worker, for New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency employees: 1-855-327-7482 (8:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.)
• NJ Peer Recovery: 1-833-422-2765 or TTY 711 (currently 8:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.; will expand to 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. as of March 26)

Support for School Staff and Their Families

• Aid NJEA: 1-866-243-6532 (Monday-Thursday 12:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.; Friday 12:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.)

General Information about COVID-19

• New Jersey Department of Health: 1-800-222-1222 or 1-800-962-1253.
• New Jersey Poison Control Center in partnership with 211: 2-1-1 or 1-800-962-1253.
• Members of the public can also text questions to NJCOVID to 898-211, or receive live text assistance by texting their zip code to NJCOVID to 898-211.

Comprehensive information and guidance about COVID-19 is available online at nj.gov/health.

For updates on Union County cancellations and services that have been modified due to the outbreak, visit the County website at ucnj.org/coronavirus-update.

Octavia E. Butler - Journey Through Blackness

Author Octavia E. Butler, 1947 - 2006.
#journeythroughblackness

W.E.B. Du Bois - Journey Through Blackness

#journeythroughblackness

Black Reconstruction/
Begins with radical thought/
Followed by action. 

W.E.B. DuBois, (1868-1963), by Van Vechten, 1946.

Frances E. W. Harper - Journey Through Blackness

“We want more soul, a higher cultivation of all spiritual faculties. We need more unselfishness, earnestness, and integrity. We need men and women whose hearts are the homes of high and lofty enthusiasm and a noble devotion to the cause of emancipation, who are ready and willing to lay time, talent, and money on the altar of universal freedom.” --Frances E.W. Harper, The Anglo-African Magazine, 1859 

#journeythroughblackness

Echoing the truth

Across centuries that we

Are "bound together."

Frances E.W. Harper

(b. September 25, 1825 - d. February 22, 1911)

Abolitionist, feminist, poet, essayist, and novelist Frances Ellen Watkins Harper was the author of the first short story published by an African American. “The Two Offers” was published in 1859 in the Anglo-African. Just click on the links below to read the short story, as well as important poems and essays by Harper.

“The Two Offers” (1859)

Poems by Frances E.W. Harper

“The Slave Mother” (1854)

“The Slave Auction” (1854)

“Bury Me in a Free Land” (1864)

Speeches by Frances E.W. Harper

“We Are All Bound Up Together” (1866)

“The Great Problem to be Solved” (1875)

“A Heritage of Scorn” (1891)

“Then and Now” (1900)

Malcolm X - Journey Through Blackness

Malcolm X was assassinated on February 21, 1965. I would urge folks to watch the new documentary, Who Killed Malcolm X?, now showing on Netflix. It is an absorbing, 6-part series that has raised enough questions to prompt a new look at the case by the Manhattan district attorney. Click here for an article on the series.
#journeythroughblackness

Malcolm X proved that
Intellect is a potent
And lasting resource.

Malcolm X

(b. May 19, 1925 - d. February 21, 1965)

Frederick Douglass - Journey Through Blackness

Frederick Douglass, born ca. 1818, d. February 20, 1895.

#journeythroughblackness

If we must speak of heroes

Let us remember Douglass

Abolition’s soul.

Performing "Race" - Juanita Hall - Journey Through Blackness

Several years ago, I started posting images of prominent African American artists (writers, performers, dancers, painters, sculptors, etc.) from the Van Vechten archive at Yale University. Many of the portraits were newly digitized back then, so they had not been seen in volume prior to that time. For Black History Month, I thought I would revisit some of these images. This first one is of Juanita Hall, a New Jersey native and musical performer perhaps best known for her portrayal of "Bloody Mary" in Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific. I would suggest readers check out more on Hall and some of the other African American figures that I will be posting images of over the next few weeks.
#journeythroughblackness

“South Pacific” and/

The racial implications/

Of “Bloody Mary.” 

Juanita Hall (1901-1968), by Van Vechten, 1953.

Toni Morrison - Journey Through Blackness

Author Toni Morrison, born February 18, 1931 - d. August 5, 2019.

#journeythroughblackness

Frances Harper & Camden Slave Auction - Journey Through Blackness

Last month, my Journey Through Blackness took me to Frances Harper's house in Philadelphia, and then to Eden Cemetery where she is buried. The cemetery was closed, so I will have to go back on another day. 
#journeythroughblackness

Today's Journey through Blackness culminated at Cooper’s Point Ferry (pictured below) on Camden's waterfront, which has now been marked as one of three slave auction sites. New Jersey was the last northern state to end slavery. It's right in front of the aquarium, at the intersection of Delaware and Federal. 

National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day - We're In This, Together!

Today is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, held annually on February 7. This year's theme is “We're In This, Together.” Here in the United States, even as we have seen some decreases, the statistics remain alarming for African Americans. Black people continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS, and today is a day that we can use to talk about HIV/AIDS. Click here for the black awareness day home page: NBHAAD

As noted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that in 2018, blacks/African Americans accounted for 13% of the U.S. population but 42% of the 37,832 new HIV diagnoses in the United States and dependent areas.” Click here for the Centers for Disease Control's most recent statistics on the HIV rates in the black community: HIV and African Americans

So please use this awareness day (but not only this day!) to encourage folks to get tested. There are testing sites in Union County and throughout the state--here are just a few--click on the organization name to be taken to its website: 

Hyacinth AIDS Foundation 107 Park Avenue, 3rd Floor in Plainfield: 908-755-0021

Iris House 630 E. Front Street, Ste. 100 in Plainfield: 908-561-5057

Planned Parenthood/HIV Testing Elizabeth 1171 Elizabeth Avenue in Elizabeth: 908-351-5384

Proceed, Inc. 1126 Dickinson Street in Elizabeth: 908-351-7727

Click on the link below for a comprehensive list of sites in the area and in other communities:

HIV Testing Sites & Care Services Locator

Note: Cross-posted on both blogs.

Happy New Year - 2020 Roars In!

I wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a very Happy New Year! I have been so busy over the past couple of months that I have not posted to my blogs. I am excited about what this new year will bring, and I hope you are as well. 

This year, I want to focus more on writing about cultural events, literature, and film, but I will continue to post information about (mostly) local events in Plainfield, as well as continuing to highlight other aspects of our city. I am happy to have been re-elected to a full term on the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders, and I will continue to do my best to serve the residents of our county. 

Best,

Rebecca