Friday, September 14, 2012
Program provides much-needed weekend food to SOMA children.
At-risk schoolchildren in South Orange and Maplewood benefit from the district's free breakfast and lunch programs. But those same children may face the prospect of a weekend without food. To bridge that hunger gap, Rent Party BackPack Pals provides weekend meals for children in need who attend SOMA schools. Volunteers assemble packs of kid-friendly, shelf-stable food such as canned pasta meals, fruit cups, boxed milk and cereal bars, and place them directly into students' backpacks on Friday afternoons or before school holidays.. Last year, the program delivered 1,036 packs of food to local children. To identify children who would benefit from the program, organizers David Wagner and Chris Dickson work closely with The Parenting Center …
Monday, September 10, 2012
James Maddock headlines the Sept. 14 concert with Rent Party. Proceeds will go to feed the hungry.
Rent Party, the monthly Friday night rock concert at the South Orange Elks Lodge that raises money for local food banks, will host a live show on Sept. 14 featuring James Maddock, with special guest Freddie Stevenson. The concert is from 8 p.m. to midnight, at 220 Prospect St., in South Orange. Tickets are $25 and are available at Maplewood Wine & Liquor at 3 Highland Place in Maplewood. "We're so excited to have James back," said Rent Party coordinator Chris Dickson. "His first Rent Party show was one that people still talk about and he was terrific at Maplewoodstock. This is a nice opportunity to see James an an incredibly intimate setting and it's all for a good cause." Launched in 2009, the monthly Rent Party concerts have helped to …
Saturday, July 21, 2012
OLS Food Pantry has a desperate need for food or money
The Our Lady of Sorrows food pantry has run out of food. Demand in the community is so high that the cupboard is bare. Each Saturday morning, about 100 families are provided with food; volunteers spend the previous week packing brown paper grocery bags with cereal, a roll of paper towels or toilet paper, macaroni and cheese, pasta sauce, pasta, soup, canned vegetables, tuna, spam, peanut butter and jelly, and rice. Each family receives a bag and usually some extra items, as well. "We like to give personal items such as toothpaste, shampoo, deodorant," explains a volunteer. The pantry is, literally, that, a small room with shelves on two sides, and freezers at the far end. When people come on Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m., volunteers…
Friday, July 13, 2012
The woman who gave the Rent Party its look now turns to local artists
- VOLUNTEERS IN THE NEWS
- Tia Swanson
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Friday, July 13, 2012
Rent Party, the monthly rock concert at the South Orange Elks Club that raises money for local food banks, is awash in talented people working hard for no money, little glory and great good. One of the most important and least seen is Susan Brand, who came to be part of the Rent Party team the usual way: she lives near Rent Party founder Chris Dickson and she has a skill he needed. Brand is a graphic designer who has more or less created the Rent Party brand. She makes the monthly flyers, who designs the lawn signs that sprout around town every month and she came up with the phrase that defines the party: Good Music. Good Cause. She remembers Dickson coming to her early on with his idea, and his plea. “I figured on one poster,’’ said …
Friday, April 13, 2012
Lucky Friday the 13th brings a special act to the Elks Lodge.
- VOLUNTEERS IN THE NEWS
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Friday, April 13, 2012
The best $5 you can spend in the towns will get you great music and company on Friday the 13th at the South Orange Elks Club for the monthly Rent Party. This from Chris Dickson, Rent Party organizer extraordinaire: We're LOCAL, baby. Rent Party helps fight hunger in our community. We support the OLS and St. Joe's food pantries and feed 40+ " at risk" kids in the South Orange/Maplewood schools. We are building a Community Garden at the South Orange Elks. More on that garden soon. Meanwhile, Rich Deans (see video) will be performing, along with The Monacchios and Ruby on the Vine. The event is sponsored by the HK Community Fund.
Friday, March 9, 2012
Big Mamou and Big Train make it a larger-than-life Rent Party -- with Cantor Marsden along for the ride.
Looking to listen to some live music in a low-key setting while hoisting a few beers in the towns tonight? Head for the South Orange Elks Lodge on Prospect Street from 8 p.m. to midnight where the Rent Party will be raising funds for local food pantries by putting on a show featuring Big Mamou, Big Train and Cantor Marsden. $5 at the door.
Friday, February 10, 2012
$25 gets you a good time for a good cause on Friday, Feb. 10.
- VOLUNTEERS IN THE NEWS
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Friday, February 10, 2012
esiders
2:57 pm on Friday, September 14, 2012
Obesity is a problem in less affluent neighborhoods due to POOR FOOD OPTIONS, not because there's an abundance of food being eaten. It's better for people to eat a canned pasta meal than a $5 fried food and supersized sugery drink meal from Burger King. This program is an attempt to get better food options to our neighbors who are struggling to put food on the table. Great job Rent Party BackPack… more ›