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ARC counts on community
(by Kathryn Davis - March 31, 2008)
Jim Travis, Kevin Guyette, Norm Worth, and Robert Pruznick attended the ARC Radiothon Kick-off event.
Everyday, our nation welcomes over 10,000 newborns into the world. One of these infants starts life HIV positive, three are born with Muscular Dystrophy, four with Spina Bifida, ten with Down’s Syndrome, twenty with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, and one hundred with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, a condition that is 100% preventable. Unlike most, the joy these parents feel is colored by worries and difficulties most people cannot even imagine. They do not have to face these problems alone.
The ARC, which was founded in 1954 by parents, educators, and other supporters, recognized a need. Today the ARC provides services such as family support, advocacy, early intervention, case management, recreation, and community living arrangements to 1,100 developmentally disabled and their families in Warren County each year. They are part of a state and national ARC network, which helps over 3 million people annually. The ARC Foundation is a nonprofit charitable foundation established in 1998. Its goal is to provide funding for the ARC programs that are so vital to the community. Camp Warren, in particular, is one program making a real difference for both the developmentally disabled and their families.
ARC Director of Development, Kevin Guyette, is overseeing the annual Radiothon on April 18. This event has successfully reached its goal every year because of the dedication and generosity of so many caring and compassionate members of the community. “Radiothon is really about people,” Guyette says. She adds that the event has “helped fund many family support programs. A pledge of any amount helps. We’ve had $10 pledges. We’ve had $1000 pledges. No one has ever been turned away from Camp Warren because of financial need.”
The ARC Radiothon is held each year at Hackettstown Ford located on Main Street. General Manager Mike Pallante has graciously and consistently offered the location for this event. Phones are set up and WRNJ radio offers updates and live interviews all day with radio personalities Deirdre Bryant of ABC Radio Network News and WRNJ’s “morning man”, Russ Long.
Bryant has been doing this for about 16 years. At the Radiothon Kick-off event held at Hackettstown Ford on March 13, she spoke about her participation. “The sweetest thing is when there’s people driving around and they’ll hear us on their radio and just come down to give. That’s always the best, when people make that effort.” Then she adds, “We always wonder, ‘are we going to make our goal?’ With the economy the way it is, we really have to depend on the kindness of others.”
Robert Pruznick, Executive Director of the Warren County ARC, spoke to the kick-off attendees, saying, “The first time we did this, it was all about simple public relations, letting people know that there was an organization to help people. It’s not something everyone’s familiar with, but people always respond from the heart. We don’t have enough funds to keep this going without support.”
Like Bryant, he understands that the economy this year is making it tough for everyone. He notes, “We have always found the community never lets us down.”
The ARC’s importance to the community has attracted people from all over the area. Their dedication is evidenced by the fact that many of these volunteers keep coming back year after year.
Norm Worth, owner and general manager of WRNJ, and Jim Travis of SASCO Insurance Services, are co-chairing the event. “We’re fortunate in our businesses,” Travis explains. “It’s a good cause and Kevin is a good promoter. I was invited to be a VIP (fundraiser). Norm and I took over as chairs 4 or 5 years ago. It’s not a result of any affiliations. It’s just the cause. It’s our turn to give back a little.”
“Why do we do this?” Worth asks rhetorically. “We go into the camp; we look at the pictures. We do it because we can. It’s just a great cause.”
Volunteers are dedicated and look forward to supporting the ARC. Melanie Thiel of WNTI at Centenary College was asked to become a volunteer several years ago. “How do you say no to Kevin Guyette?” she says with a genuine smile. “The Radiothon experience has been a pleasure. The ARC is very important to me. I have a 31-year-old nephew with Down Syndrome. Being involved with the Radiothon is my way of saying thanks…of giving back for what has been done for my family.”
Enthusiasm for the upcoming fundraiser is apparent in all the volunteers. The March 13 Kick-off brought out many caring members of the community, including WRNJ’s Russell Ahm who announced that the Radiothon “takes place 34 days from today.”
Others attending the Kick-off included Kathleen Doherty of Design Options, Maria DiGiovanni from Skylands Community Bank, and Ray Sosnovik, a member of the Hackettstown Rotary.
“I’m a ‘newbee’,” says Sosnovik, referring to the fact that so many volunteers have been involved for years.
Volunteers become involved out of genuine concern and compassion for others. Volunteering takes no special skills. DiGiovanni says, “What do I know about this? What I found is people are so responsive. At the end of the day, you walk out the door and you say, ‘you know what? I did something important today. I touched a life’.”
For more information on the ARC Radiothon, which takes place on April 18, contact Kevin Guyette at (908) 689-7525 X212 or at kguyette@arcwarren.org or visit www.arcwarren.org.
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