Recognition from Mayor of Bernards Township

Friends and neighbors,

I hope this finds all of you well.  As we put another month behind us, I want to once again thank each and every one of our residents for their continued perseverance and fortitude as we begrudgingly make our way through this Covid-19 pandemic.  It is an ongoing honor to be able to identify and recognize those township residents who have continued to go above and beyond in terms of bringing people from all walks of life together and working toward a common goal of helping their fellow neighbors, community and country.  I would like to share with you two such individuals in our Township who continue to make such a positive difference for so many.

As the cofounders of a local charity, Knit Crochet with Love (KCWL), that makes chemotherapy caps and blankets for cancer patients, Sudha Pai and Richa Gupta have a wonderful story of caring and assistance for the people of our town and beyond.  In March 2020, when disposable masks were unavailable, KCWL and local volunteer residents came together to make and provide fabric masks to front-line health care workers. The attached video compilation (by one of our own Ridge High School students) shows how strangers came together to help one another in this time of need.  This truly was a community project and successful because of all of these dedicated volunteers.  Each and every volunteer put their heart and soul into a cause bigger than themselves for the sake of helping our community.  Strangers from multi and diverse ethnicities came together and worked in harmony without thinking about color, race, religion or culture.  Exactly how it should always be.

Because of the overwhelming support from the community, organizations, and various companies, KCWL was able to provide free masks to those who needed them most, and also received donations of raw materials such as fabric, elastic, thread and sewing machines.  KCWL was also offered the IDEA grant by Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences for providing masks to various communities in Newark.   While as a group this team recently ceased making masks, a few of the ladies are continuing to make protective gear for friends and family or any special request(s) from a health care facility(s).   They have since resumed knitting and crocheting activities to help cancer patients and will continue to engage and serve the community and those in need.   I share this with you to help celebrate just one of the many positive and selfless achievements by so many of our caring and compassionate residents.  I’m certain I can speak on behalf of all of my colleagues when I say thank you for all your contributions and for making our community a better place to live.  You have all my support and appreciation on a job well done and I encourage all of our residents to reach out and help support KCWL if you can.  Please keep up the great work!

Here are the links to the video:

YouTube-

https://youtu.be/E7vP0RdZmCs

Facebook-

https://www.facebook.com/1072848076/posts/10219888858106510/?d=n

https://knitcrochetwithlove.org/

I also want to take the opportunity to again thank our Board of Health for their continued hard work and consistent updates with regard to the coronavirus issues and the myriad of other responsibilities with which they’re charged.  Our Township Administration and staff continue to go above and beyond in acclimating to the new norms for the foreseeable future and I truly appreciate all the efforts they put in daily.

And I want to send a special thanks to our Police Department for getting us in the top ten safest cities in the United States of America.  We’re officially the 10th safest city in our country according to SafeWise.  We are truly blessed to have our men and women in blue who continue to help make our town the warm, welcoming and safe community it is.  Read the full report here to see which other cities made the list: https://www.safewise.com/safest-cities-america/

As we make our way into our fifth month of the Covid pandemic, I wanted to again reiterate my sincere appreciation and admiration for all of our citizens and residents here in Bernards Township.  While we are still moving at a slower, methodical pace in terms of fully reopening, your continued patience, personal responsibility and exceptional demeanor has been and continues to be a driving force in making sure that we are all doing our part to put this behind us as soon as possible.  Again, it continues to be my honor and privilege to serve as your Mayor.  As we move forward, everyone please stay safe and let’s all continue to stay positive.  I remain ever optimistic that we are getting closer to where we all want to be in one day soon putting this behind us.  I encourage everyone to join in this optimism and think of the better and brighter days ahead.

And lastly, on a personal note, I want to wish my Dad a happy 73rd birthday.  I love you Pop.

God bless you all and thank you.

Very sincerely yours,

Jim Baldassare

Bernards Township

Mayor

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