Students, Staff and Family Honor Isaac “Ike” Heller; Celebrate the 25th Anniversary of John Kenney Child Care Center

EDISON, NJ – (June 25, 2012) – This past Saturday, over 170 current and past students, families and staff of the John Kenney Child Care Center in Edison came out to pay tribute to Isaac “Ike” Heller, founder of Heller Industrial Parks, who built and subsidizes the school, which was celebrating its 25^th anniversary this June.

To entertain the guests, the festivities included a performance by Yosi, a composer and performer of children’s songs, a balloon artist, face painting, a snow cone machine and other assorted treats. On display was 25 years of class photos, including past staff and high-school volunteers.

“Child care is an even-more significant issue for families than it was 25 years ago so there is a continuing need for this center, which has served as a model for others and was considered an ‘Impossible Dream’ at that time,” said Heller, Chairman of the Board of Heller Industrial Parks, Inc. “We have always believed in the importance of investing in the community and in our employees. It’s amazing to see the vital role this center has played to enrich the lives of so many over the years. To this end I am establishing a trust to ensure that this center will have our financial support for generations to come.”

The center provides a safe, healthy and educational environment for area children through subsidized care for Heller Park employees, Edison residents, Edison Township School and municipal employees. The center was named for the late John Kenney, an active Edison resident who teamed with Heller to defeat the construction of a garbage incinerator slated for the site.

The 9,000-square-foot facility provides a secure learning environment with a library, resource room with computer, conference room, a fully equipped gymnasium with programs geared toward developing children’s physical capabilities, and even a kitchen where children can learn cooking skills. A variety of programs are held year-round to encourage parental involvement in the center.

Heller’s community involvement earned him a Humanitarian Award from The National Conference of the State of New Jersey and he is also a major contributor to the John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Edison, NJ, St. Peter’s Medical Center in New Brunswick, NJ, and the Public Library in South Brunswick, NJ. He also established and funded a foundation that solicits private corporate contributions and distributes grants to community-based groups such as the new Franklin Township Community Center. Heller’s granddaughter carries on this family tradition by running a classroom at the center as well.

“We truly have a reason to celebrate 25 years in child care,” said Donna Lambdin, who was hired as the Director of Education a year after the center began serving the community of Edison. “When people tour the center they are always so complimentary, praising its cleanliness and spaciousness. They are amazed with all the ‘extras,’ such as the indoor gym, indoor recreation room, playground with Danish playground equipment not seen elsewhere, and the vegetable and flower gardens.”

Lambdin said the center is not only a great place for children and parents, but a great place to work as well.

“The staff members have use of a conference room filled with resources for lesson planning and a lunch room for meals and breaks. Visitors frequently tell me, ‘I wish they had a place like this when I was growing up.’”

Founded in 1966, Heller Industrial Parks (HIP) is one of the nation’s largest privately held industrial park owner/developers, specializing in the building, leasing and management of strategically located distributions centers. The company’s success lies in its ability to locate and reposition overlooked development opportunities. HIP owns 12.4 million square feet concentrated in New Jersey’s heavily traveled Northeast corridor, 1.6 million square feet in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, 420,000 square feet in rapidly expanding Houston, and 1.6 million square feet in Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky. While industrial distribution centers are the core of the company’s business, Heller is currently offering “customer-centric” services like energy-efficient lighting, solar power and its Edison Industrial Park has been granted Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) status. For more information, visit www.hellerpark.com