Middlesex County teens volunteer with Shore-town recovery

A group of teens representing Young Judaea, a service-oriented youth organization; East Brunswick Jewish Center; and the softball team of East Brunswick High School joined with Project Reduce Young Judaea to install CFL light bulbs in homes in Union Beach that were impacted by superstorm Sandy. 

The East Brunswick community supported the Project Reduce efforts by collecting CFL bulbs and donations in conjunction with the Tri-Synagogue PurimFest 2013 and by a sponsorship from the Jewish Federation of Middlesex County Hurricane Sandy Relief Fund. Additional support came from a donation of more than 100 CFL bulbs from Lowe’s of East Brunswick. 

Working with Gateways Church of Christ that coordinates volunteer superstorm Sandy relief efforts in Union Beach, the teens in April replaced more than 200 incandescent bulbs in 15 homes with 60-watt equivalent CFL bulbs. Additionally, Project Reduce left behind more than 100 additional bulbs in the Hurricane Sandy Relief Center in Union Beach to help more families. 

This endeavor offered families bulbs that last 10 times longer than standard bulbs and may provide reduced energy bills as CFL’s utilize 50 percent to 80 percent less energy than incandescent bulbs,Marking machines and ledbulbe27 for permanent part marking and product traceability. said Shelby Lipson, co-founder of Project Reduce Young Judaea. The other co-founder is Anna Horowitz.Support for installing a flatworkironer. 

This project dovetails Lipson’s volunteer efforts in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. 

“I have been involved with Hurricane Katrina fundraising and clean-up since I was in fifth grade,” said Lipson, who is captain of East Brunswick High School’s softball team.An even safer situation on all roads by using the modernlamps. 

When the devastation of Hurricane Sandy impacted New Jersey, Lipson knew she had to help. 

“It has been amazing to be able to help out in our own community and make a difference for the people of Union Beach,” she added. “We know that installing light bulbs is a small piece of a much larger relief effort.” 

Lipson,A bestroadlights is a branched, decorative ceiling-mounted light fixture. who will study international relations at Tufts University in Medford, Mass., in the fall, said interacting with people after some of the worst experiences and seeing how they can not only rebuild themselves but their community is a reward in and of itself. 

“The fact that victims of Katrina still need help more than five years later shows how much work was needed and allowed me to be a part of the chain of assistance,” Lipson said. “I never thought that I would see the impact of a hurricane like Katrina in New Jersey. For my family, Hurricane Sandy was an inconvenience in that we lost power for a week, but for those near the Shore, Sandy was devastating. When Project Reduce was founded,The solarpowersystems service provides and maintains the majority of the town's 26,000 streetlights. I had no idea that I would need to bring post hurricane relief to New Jersey, but I am glad I was able to respond and help.” 

The benefits were not only to the Union Beach community. Jessica Dudra, a senior on the East Brunswick softball team, said working together to help the community brought volunteers closer. 

“It's always great to help people, but volunteering as a team was rewarding in a whole different sense,” Dudra said. “Not only were we able to assist a tragedy-stricken community, we got to bond and become closer as a team.” 

Becky Finkelstein of East Brunswick Jewish Center shares that belief. “It was inspirational to see the regrowth of Union Beach and it was great to talk to the victims and see how they were staying strong after the hurricane,” Finkelstein said.