Easter Egg Hunt
By Anila
MADE spent four days stuffing
9,000 eggs with candy and tattoos in preparation for the 16th Annual Flashlight Easter
Egg Hunt. Finally, the weekend rolled around where over 40 MADE volunteers positioned themselves behind the Bridgewater
Municipal building. In the fields, those 9,000 eggs were scattered all over the place. Slowly, many excited kids, ranging
from infants to seven year olds, arrived. They eagerly waited the signal to be made for them to start hunting those eggs.
Once the signal was made, the kids fled onto the fields determined to pick up as many eggs as possible. In the next five to
ten minutes, the fields were empty, for all the eggs had been collected. Next the kids lined up to take a picture with the
Easter bunny and to collect other neat prizes. In the end, Bridgewater experienced a night of excitement and thrill
and our MADE members enjoyed helping with the logistics. For all those celebrating Easter this coming Sunday, Happy Easter!
Elijah’s Promise Soup Kitchen
By Kristin
Thirteen MADE volunteers arrived at Elijah’s Promise Soup Kitchen in New Brunswick,
from 9am-12, and worked on preparing food bundles for needy families to take home. This
organization has been helping low-income people in the central New Jersey
community. From nutritious meals, to social services and health screening, to culinary arts job training to their own catering
business, Elijah's Promise has been moving people from hunger to wholeness. On Saturday, we didn’t actually have to
cook or serve food, instead we helped out in bagging food that certain families are able to pick up and enjoy once a month.
Our first task was cleaning up tables and washing the windows. Then we unloaded a truck full of boxes filled with many food items such as chicken, hamburger meat, vegetables,
French fries, lasagna, peanut butter, macaroni and cheese, bean soup, and much more. We had to organize these boxes by frozen
foods, non-perishable items, and pie. All the volunteers filled up a total of
about 40-50 bags of each category. Any extra packages were stored in the freezer,
and thanks to the help of MADE, a lot of needy families will be able to take home their nicely organized bundles of food!
Great job everybody! The last thing we did, which was just to help out the Soup
Kitchen, was taking a box full of plastic bags and double bagging them. It took
a while, and was a little tedious, but everyone started to make it a race and had a lot of fun!
Crim Fun Fair
By Debby
On April
21, 2007, Crim
Elementary School (Bridgewater,
NJ) hosted their annual Crim Fun Fair. MADE sent its members to help run the
many booths there, each with its own fun activities such as face-painting, shooting hoops, and fishing with magnets. Members
handed out beads to the young children for each activity, which were quickly and eagerly strung on lanyards to keep track
of how many activities the kids had done. This was a unique experience that allowed the MADE members to connect with a younger
generation, who were thrilled by the many activities available, and reconnect with their own youth. MADE cannot wait to help
with this activity again!
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SBWA Clean Up
By Serena
MADE members gave up sleeping late on a drowsy Saturday morning to give back
to the community. At 10:00 p.m., site 18 of the Raritan River,
fifteen MADE members could be seen toiling away at SBWA clean up. Each member was donned in old dirty pants and a bright red
MADE t-shirt; some, luckier ones, had hiking boots, while others wore ratty old sneakers, and lost them in the sludge by the
River. For this particular event, MADE members were to trudge their way through mud and plant life in search of trash. The
Raritan River
floods every spring and a surprisingly large amount of trash is left behind on the bank of the river. Pieces of glass, cardboard,
and even an abnormally large budlight can were found and thrown into a big trash bag each member carried. They even found
a decaying skull of some small animal in the conjunction of two trees. One particularly brave MADE member even ventured into
the Raritan River
to pick at the bigger trash in the shallower part of the river. The event ended sooner then anticipated, however, the bulging
bags of trash showed that the MADE member did not work any less, and the dedication and hard work that MADE puts into helping
the community.
MS Walk
By Joseph
According to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, over 400,000 Americans and their families suffer from the devastating
conditions of Multiple Sclerosis. Thirteen MADE volunteers gathered at Adamsville Primary School
to help make a difference! We were driven approximately 2 miles to the Somerville YMCA, a rest stop provisioned to help those
walking the four miles to support those afflicted with Multiple Sclerosis. For over 4 hours, MADE volunteers cheered the walkers
on as they journeyed on past the rest station. They also scurried about filling water bottles, arranging snacks and even assisting
those with minor injuries. After they finished their duties at the station, the volunteers all headed back to Adamsville for
a sumptuous lunch of cold turkey sandwiches and chips. The walk was a success and the MADE volunteers all had fun making a
difference in our world.
Habitat For Humanity Carnival
By Monisha
The Habitat for Humanity Fair, held at the Bridgewater-Raritan
High School, was a big hit. Although MADE did not actually run the event, there were many members who ran booths for the cause.
The event was held for approximately three hours. The booths varied from sand art and nail painting, to mother’s day
cards and flower planting. There was a moon bounce that the kids outside could jump on. There was also a piņata event and
a game of tug-of-war. With hard work, the fair was a success and many of the booths were a big hit. Once again, MADE was able
to make a difference everywhere.
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