High School

As you know, New Jersey got hit with a wicked storm last weekend that flooded large parts of our community.  The Tri-County Red Cross opened shelters in North Plainfield and Cranford that served families from seven towns, and our volunteers continue to help in our chapter and around the state.

In Branchburg there is still a shelter open for residents of Bound Brook.  It's heartbreaking that people have to stay in a shelter for two weeks before they can get back in their homes.

The Red Cross has sheltered about a thousand people, and volunteers have served close to 90,000 meals and snacks at the shelters and in people's homes who still don't have heat or electricity. 

Needless to say, this is very expensive and the Red Cross needs your help to offset the costs of this ongoing operation.

Please consider making a gift today of $50, $100, $1000 or more to replenish our American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund.  You can make the gift online at our website, by calling Corinna at (908) 756-6414, or mailing it to 332 West Front Street, Plainfield NJ 07060.

But even more importantly, please consider holding a fundraiser at your home, school, workplace or in the community.  A pot-luck dinner, a cocktail party, or just collecting change at work are all good ideas, but you can go with anything you think is worth it.  Give me a call at (908) 756-6414 and I'll be glad to help out.

Believe it or not, this is how I first got involved with the American Red Cross.  In 1999 I was a volunteer for North Plainfield helping pull people out of their cars and homes along Somerset Street and Greenbrook Road for the town's Office of Emergency Management.  Whenever we rescued someone we took them to the Red Cross shelter at the community center.

I was so impressed with the Red Cross and their operation that I organized a fundraiser with local restaurants.  We got pizza, Mexican, sandwiches, Chinese and lots of other food one evening after the water receded and charged $10 or whatever someone could afford to come for dinner.

Believe it or not we raised a few thousand dollars that night.  I did it again after 9/11, the tsunami and Katrina.  I hope you'll consider getting involved with us, as well.  It's really gratifying and helps a lot of people.

Thanks for your support, and I look forward to hearing from you!

Best regards,

Nathan Rudy

WASHINGTON, Jan. 26, 2010 - The Defense Department has launched a free, online tutoring service for servicemembers and their families.

The site - http://www.tutor.com/military -- offers round-the-clock professional tutors who can assist with homework, studying, test preparation, resume writing and more.

Marine Corps and Army families have had access to the program for more than a year. Seeing the value, Defense Department officials decided to expand the service to encompass all servicemembers and their families, officials said.

"Providing 24/7 academic and career support for military families during a time when so many parents have a deployed spouse has been an important and well-received benefit for Marine Corps and Army families," said Tommy T. Thomas, deputy undersecretary of defense for military community and family policy.

"We are pleased to expand this program to all U.S. military families and provide peace of mind that their children are never alone when it comes to learning - there is always a certified, professional tutor available to help," he said.

Active-duty servicemembers, National Guard and reserve personnel on active duty in a deployed status, Defense Department civilians in a deployed status and their dependents are eligible to participate, officials said. Along with test preparation, the site is open to students of any age - from kindergartners to high school seniors - for one-on-one help in math, science, social studies and English.

Many of these students, officials said, are making the most of the live, one-on-one help. "Thanks for having this service when our family is separated at this time due to deployments and training," a 6th grader of a Marine commented. "My father is unable to help one-on-one."

"I really appreciate this," another program participant, a 9th grader, said. "It really helps me understand my schoolwork. It's going to really help me ace my exams coming up! I am definitely going to use this very often."

Tutor.com's network includes more than 1,800 professional tutors and career specialists who have delivered more than 5 million one-on-one tutoring sessions since 2001, officials said. Each tutor is certified through the site, and all sessions are recorded for quality control.

Written by Elaine Wilson, American Forces Press Service

Plainfield, NJ: This summer we were hosts to a number of high school students from JP Stevens High School in Edison, NJ.  Instead of spending time at the pool or the mall, these kids gave their time to the Tri-County Red Cross to help us get our offices and supplies ready for the upcoming hurricane and home fire seasons.

No job was too small -- or too big.  However, we're pretty sure that if any of these kids sees a shredder again it will be too soon!

They also built shelves in our office for storing disaster supplies in case there is a major event like Hurricane Floyd, 9/11 or the Nor 'Easter.

and moved disaster supplies from our office to a storage warehouse in Elizabeth.  The storage locker, by the way, was donated by Access Self Storage as was the van.  Thanks!

 You can see more photos at out Flickr site!