Working with a Newark restaurant, real estate owner and property manager ProudLiving Cos. said it would donate 200 meals to health care and public safety workers throughout Essex County.
ProudLiving founder and President T.J. Caleca and Property Manager Hakeem Williams will deliver food from Papa Pat’s Pizza through mid-July.
“At ProudLiving, we simply want to show that local businesses appreciate and support those professionals who continue to make sacrifices for the sake of community well-being,” Caleca said in a June 17 statement. “Through our active community partnerships, and our latest initiative to deliver fresh pizza to essential workers, we’re doing a small part to give back. We continue to be impressed by the kindness and dedication demonstrated by health care and public safety professionals. I believe that at the very least, we can ensure they’re well-fed.”
Front-line health care workers. – EDWIN J. TORRES/GOVERNOR’S OFFICE
The effort was scheduled to begin on June 19 with Papa Pat’s serving pizza to the Newark Fire Department, the Essex County Sheriff’s Office and the Irvington police and fire departments. That same day, food will be delivered to a voter registration event being held at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Orange. Another deliver will occur on June 24 at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in East Orange.
“On behalf of Papa Pat’s Pizza, of the West Ward in the City of Newark, we would like to thank the individuals who have dedicated their time and service during these unprecedented times,” said Papa Pat’s owner Pat Romagnuolo. “These individuals have shown tremendous courage and selflessness and have remained thoughtful in providing the highest quality of care during one of the more challenging events in recent memory. We’re thrilled to partner with ProudLiving on this new initiative, and we’re trying to make the world better – one pizza at a time.”
Elsewhere, Dover-based technology company Plott said it donated 22,000 KN95 masks to frontline health care workers. As of June 9, masks had been delivered to hospitals, municipal offices and other public service agencies in Newark and Hackensack.
“These donations are the least we can do for the hospitals and nurses who don’t have access to the protective equipment they need when dealing with COVID-19. We proudly support our friends and neighbors on the frontlines as they are risking the health of themselves and their families to serve our communities during this difficult time,” said Plott founder and Chief Executive Officer David Xing, in a statement. “The hospitals we’ve been donating to are some of the hardest hit in New Jersey. We’re glad to be giving back to the community in this way and are willing and able to provide additional masks for others in need.”
Plott develops extended reality measuring and design products for DIY and construction projects.
First Lady Tammy Murphy. – STATE OF NEW JERSEY
Finally, the Kislak Family Foundation awarded a $50,000 grant to the Community Foundation of New Jersey to support the New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund.
“The Kislak family business was founded in New Jersey in 1906, and I am proud of the Kislak Family Foundation’s continued support of those in need in our state, especially during this extraordinary time when COVID-19 is dramatically affecting nearly all aspects of our lives,” said Jason Pucci, chief operating officer of Woodbridge-based The Kislak Co. Inc. “New Jersey ranks second in the nation in COVID-19 cases and deaths and this important assistance exemplifies our late Chairman Jay I. Kislak’s legacy of meaningful philanthropy.”
The Kislak Co. is a commercial real estate brokerage. The foundation, based in Miami Lakes, Fla., was established in 1992.
“We are incredibly grateful for this generous grant from the Kislak Family Foundation that will make a significant impact in addressing the urgent needs of our community, both now and in the weeks and months ahead as we continue fighting this pandemic,” said First Lady Tammy Murphy, the founder of the NJPRF.
In May, the fund said it had made 174 grants totaling $4.2 million, with the awards ranging in size from $4,000 to $150,000.
