Frelinghuysen School Makes Donation to Project Self-Sufficiency

Students at Frelinghuysen Township School recently demonstrated their school spirit while simultaneously supporting local non-profit agency Project Self-Sufficiency by participating in Crazy Hair Day. Students styled their hair in a zany fashion and purchased new haircare products for distribution to low-income families through the agency’s food pantry. School Spirit Day is celebrated once a month at the school which serves children in preschool through sixth grade in Frelinghuysen Township. Linking the celebration to support of Project Self-Sufficiency was the brainchild of PTO President Gene Jones. “We thought about Project Self-Sufficiency because the organization does amazing work within the community,” noted Jones. “They have found a niche that so desperately needed to be served and it has just grown exponentially.”

“We always try to encourage service learning with our students and we try to teach them to put others needs in front of our own through our Champions Challenge,” adds Frelinghuysen Township Superintendent Nicholas Diaz. “Students come up with a new challenge each week. This donation to Project Self-Sufficiency fits in perfectly with the theme of trying to be champions for other people.”

“Project Self-Sufficiency is in constant need of donations of food and personal care products for our food pantry,” commented Deborah Berry-Toon, Executive Director of Project Self-Sufficiency. “Involving children in the act of caring for their neighbors in need is a wonderful way for the community to demonstrate their support. We are very appreciative of the effort by the students and the parents within the Frelinghuysen Township school community in making this donation.”

Project Self-Sufficiency’s mission is to provide the services necessary for single parents, teen parents, displaced homemakers and two-parent families to improve the quality of their lives and those of their children through the attainment of economic self-sufficiency and family stability. Project Self-Sufficiency offers a supportive family-centered environment where life issues are addressed through a combination of individual counseling, peer support groups, case management services, parenting skills training, life skills management training, home visits, childcare and early childhood education, family activities and health education. Since 1986 Project Self-Sufficiency has served more than 20,500 families, including more than 30,000 children.