Imagine, A Center for Coping with Loss, recently partnered with the Mandy Reichman Feeding Program at Temple Emanu-El, 756 East Broad Street, Westfield, and the Good Will Rescue Mission. 79 University Avenue, Newark, to make lunches for people who may be food-insecure in Newark, New Jersey. Participants and volunteers at Imagine donated bread, deli meats and cheese, juice, and water as well as fruit, candy, and snack foods along with sandwich bags and brown paper lunch bags to make over 150 lunches for people in need. Inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Imagine offered the opportunity for participants who come for grief support to make lunches and give back to a community in need.
“Being of service builds our own resilience,” said Mandi Zucker, Imagine’s Program Director. “We can all think of a time when we were feeling down and helpless and then did something nice for someone else. More often than not we feel better about ourselves and empowered that we can still do for others even when we are in need ourselves.”
Imagine provides several opportunities each year for service work for participants. Imagine is a free year-round peer grief support program for children ages 3 to 18 and young adults from 18 to 30 who have had a parent, brother, or sister die, or who are living with a family member with a life-altering physical illness. Concurrent support groups are available for parents and guardians in both programs. Imagine also provides educational workshops and on-site bereavement and crisis support for businesses, corporations, schools and community agencies. Imagine supports children and families coping with loss and fosters resiliency and emotional well-being for all those who grieve. If you or someone you know could benefit please contact Imagine at 908-264-3100 or email info@imaginenj.org.
(above) Imagine participants and volunteers prepare sandwiches for people in need on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
