Community Support January 31, 2018

Giving Back to our Communities

2nd Annual Light Up the Holidays Contest

The Green Team’s 2nd Annual Light Up the Holidays Contest and the generosity of our communities made the holidays  brighter for two local charities.   This year, Green Team’s Warwick office selected Warwick Playground Dreams as its designated charity.  And Green Team New Jersey Realty in Vernon raised funds for the Vernon Township Senior Center.  Agents from each office hit the streets, the phones and their email, contacting local professionals and businesses and asking them to become part of this community effort.     Becoming either a Gold, Silver or Bronze Sponsor,  donations were made out directly to the charity, in amounts corresponding to the level of sponsorship.   The 2017 sponsors have a permanent place on our website and you can view them here.

This year the Green Team changed things up a bit.   Instead of one, there were now three ways to participate.  You could enter your home or business yourself.  Or you could enter a business or someone else’s  home.  And this time.  the Green Team “elves”  drove around to take in the holiday decorations and also to take photos of homes they felt expressed the warmth and light of the season!  In each county, there were 1st, 2nd and third place winners, decided upon by committee votes.   Each winner received a framed certificate featuring a photo of their decorated home or business.

 

Presentation to Warwick Playground Dreams

On January 10, members of the Green Team Home Selling System in Warwick were excited to present representatives of Warwick Playground Dreams with donations totaling $3,650.  This non-profit organization is dedicated to making sure that children of all abilities have access to playground components that will allow them to play together in a safe, inclusive environment. The playground, located in Stanley Deming Park, will encourage the free play and creativity necessary for both physical and cognitive development.  A true labor of love, the playground will be community built in the Spring or Fall of 2018.   To donate or volunteer, visit the organization’s website.

Appearing in this photo, from left to right, are:  Donna Roberts, Adrienne Lepre, Geoff Green, Megan Cardenas, Keren Gonen, Jen DiCostanzo, Hannelore Chambers, Steven Lichtenberg, Kerri Fenton Foley, Toni Kreusch, Alan Norberg, Kim Lesley and, in front, Gianna Lepre.

 

 

The Orange County Winners, from 1st to 3rd place…

 

 

 

 

 





Presentation to the Vernon Township Senior Center

 

What better time to present donations to the Senior Center than at their annual holiday party!  There was a full house and joyous atmosphere as the seniors celebrated the holidays … and the donations totaling $2,750.  The money raised will help provide the seniors with new activities, craft supplies and other enhancements to the Center’s programs.  Jane Damstra, Director of the Senior Center (pictured on the left, being presented with donation checks by Green Team New Jersey Realty’s Barbara Tesa), has wonderful plans!  If you’d like to donate or volunteer at the Senior Center, click here for more information.

 

 

 

The Sussex County Winners, from 1st to 3rd place…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The true joy is in the giving…

And perhaps that is the most wonderful thing about this event.  Whether sharing your beautiful corner of the world, decked out in lights to celebrate the season… Or helping to raise money for a worthy cause,  or donating to that cause.  Or perhaps volunteering your time and expertise, maybe by helping to build a playground or teaching tech tricks to a group of seniors…  This is the true meaning of Lighting Up the Holidays!

Community Support December 21, 2017

Light Up the Holidays is Making the Season Brighter for Two Local Charities!

 

Local businesses and individuals have joined forces with the Green Team by becoming sponsors for our Second Annual Light Up the Holidays event.  To date, Orange County sponsors have raised $3,400 for Warwick Playground Dreams, and Sussex County sponsors have raised $2,350 for the Vernon Senior Center.  Sponsorship donations are made directly to the charity, and you’ll find these generous community and business members featured on the Green Team’s website, where they will have a permanent place of honor!  It is not too late to join our sponsors in making a lot of dreams come true.

 

And now the fun begins!  We are looking for photos of homes that reflect the beauty of the season to feature on our website and Facebook page!  Enter your own home, nominate your neighbor, or a business whose decorations you admire!  Also, don’t be surprised if a Green Team member has admired your light display and left you a placard asking you to register on our website!   Visit https://www.greenteamhq.com/luh2017 to register, to see the community members who have donated so generously to these two charities, and to place or see your home in the competition!

Wishing all a joyous holiday season!  

 

Click on the images below to view homes in your area that have been entered into the Light Up The Holidays 2017 contest so far.  Continue to check back as homes will continue to be added through the new year.

Community Support December 4, 2017

The Green Team is proud to Light Up the Holidays for Warwick Playground Dreams

 

Warwick Playground

 

 

The Green Team celebrates the holiday season by recognizing the joy and beauty of homes and businesses whose decorations Light Up the Holidays and our communities.  It celebrates the ideals of giving and sharing that are at its core by raising money for local charities.  And this year, what better way to celebrate the Holidays than by selecting a charity devoted to children!.

Warwick Playground Dreams

Parent volunteers from throughout the Town of Warwick make up this non-profit organization.  Their goal, to raise the funds needed to replace aging equipment in Stanley Deming Park. Working with Play by Design of Ithaca, NY, the new playground will not only be whimsical and fun, but also inclusive, with ADA-accessible playground equipment.   The playground will also be community built.  It is hoped that local artists will decorate it to reflect the culture, history and beauty of Warwick.

 

Working together with the Village, schools,and Play by Design, volunteers are organized and ready, willing and able!  Unfortunately, building a creative, fun and accessible playground is expensive. So being selected as the recipient of donations from Warwick’s Green Team Light up the Holidays event was good news.  And on November 29 there was great news.  The Light Up the Holidays team presented Warwick Playground Dreams with donations of $1,950.  With the continued generosity of Warwick’s businesses, professionals and individuals, there will be more to come.

It Takes a Community to Build a Playground

“We were very excited and grateful when the Green Team reached out to us and offered to help us bring the community together in support of all of Warwick’s children,” said Hannelore Chambers, President of Warwick Playground Dreams. “It is so heartening to see other members of the community reaching out to help us raise awareness and get closer to our $300,000 goal.

As many other towns and cities before us have experienced, building a playground can also build a greater sense of community. How empowering for the children to see what a great thing can be created if everyone works together, and that this playground is being created out of love for them by their parents, grandparents and neighbors. Through our very close collaboration over the last year, many of our committee members have already experienced how strong bonds can be created all across the town between families who might not otherwise have crossed paths due to geography and different school districts.”

You Can Be Part of this Wonderful Project

Light Up the Holidays Sponsors are helping to purchase materials and equipment needed to build the playground.  There will be challenging equipment for older kids, and equipment accessible and useful to children of different abilities.  The organization will soon be entering their second phase of fundraising efforts. Local groups, businesses and families will be able to sponsor specific playground components.  This will range from individual swings and slides to a proposed dual zip line and a wheelchair accessible merry-go-round.  

For more information on the Green Team’s Light Up the Holidays event, visit https://www.greenteamhq.com/luh2017.  For more information on Warwick Playground Dreams, visit their website at http://warwickplaygrounddreams.com/.

Community Support December 4, 2017

The Green Team Lights Up the Holidays… and Faces at the Vernon Township Senior Center

The Green Team celebrates the holiday season by recognizing the joy and beauty of homes and businesses whose decorations Light Up the Holidays and our communities.  And it celebrates the ideals of giving and sharing that are at its core by raising money for local charities.

Meet the Vernon Recipient of Light Up the Holidays 2017 Donations

Keren Gonen of Green Team New Jersey Realty shocked Jane Damstra, Director of the Vernon Township Senior Center, when she told Jane that her organization had been selected as its designated charity. Jane’s shock, however, soon turned to excitement as she started imagining what the sponsorship donations could mean to the approximately 200 seniors who come to the Center annually.  On any given day you can find between 38 and 50 seniors ages 60 and over at the Center.   First of all, some come for the lunch provided by the Senior Services Nutrition Program for a $2 donation.   And many are there to enjoy the activities offered by the Center.  Currently these include Zumba, shuffleboard, line dancing, Wii bowling and pool, cards, watching DVD’s.  Almost all of these activities involve minimal cost, and don’t provide the challenge and creativity that many seniors crave.

And now Keren has shocked Jane once again.  On November 30 she presented Jane with $1,450 in donations.  Furthermore, with the continued generosity of local businesses throughout Sussex County, there will be more to come.  

Local Businesses Can Make a Difference

Aging does not bring an end to creativity, to curiosity, to learning, to enjoyment of life.  Local businesses that sponsor the Green Team’s Second Annual Light Up the Holidays Contest can make a real difference in the lives of Vernon’s seniors. Because, now programs that Jane had only dreamed of can start to become reality.  

One of her top priorities is the purchase of two laptop computers.  They’ll be used as part of a training program with tech-savvy high school volunteers. The volunteers will teach the seniors to use the internet to talk to faraway family members, pay  bills, and more. A group of talented knitters at the Center create items for donation to charitable causes. However, wool can be expensive.  Thus, another priority is crafting supplies, including wool needed for these projects.    Jane would also love to start a watercolor class.   And she’d like to bring in guest speakers and instructors.  Generally,  fees exceed what the program budget will allow.  Furthermore, there are other programs she wants to start – day trips for the many who are no longer able to drive themselves.  Trips to the mall, to see local theatre productions… The list goes on.

Brighten your community through Light Up the Holidays!

Local professionals, businesses and individuals can work with the Green Team to bring exciting new programs to Vernon’s vibrant senior population.  And if what comes around goes around, there will be light and joy enough for all of us!  For more information about the Green Team and its Second Annual Light Up the Holidays Event, visit https://www.greenteamhq.com/luh2017/, and for more information about the Vernon Township Senior Center, visit http://www.vernontwp.com/services/senior_center/,

Community Support January 25, 2017

Green Team Announces the Winners of the Light Up the Holidays Contest

Light Up the Holidays WinnersGreen Team Home Selling System Announces Light Up the Holidays Winners

WARWICK – Geoff Green, broker/principal of the Green Team Home Selling System, with offices at 7 Main St. in Warwick and 200 Route 94 in Vernon, N.J., recently announced the winners of the real estate firm’s first annual “Light up the Holidays” outdoor lighting fund-raising contest.

Homeowners, who pride themselves for creatively decorating their houses during the holiday season, were invited to submit an image of their decorated holiday home which was then displayed on the Green Team’s Facebook page. The three best-decorated homes were determined by a public vote and by the number of likes on Facebook.

The winners received three prizes of $200, $150 and $100 in Warwick Merchant Guild gift certificates and all proceeds from sponsorships went to benefit the Warwick Valley Humane Society and the Vernon Township Animal Shelter.

Winners:

First place went to Diane Nevarez of the Village of Florida, who donated her prize to the shelters.

First place went to Diane Nevarez of the Village of Florida, who donated her prize to the shelters.

Mikey Praino of Warwick took second place and David DiPietro of Vernon, N.J., was the third-place winner.

Sponsors:

Sponsorship donations for the Warwick Valley Humane Society totaled $2,300. The Vernon Animal Shelter received $150.

“We were both honored and excited to be chosen as the recipient of the Green Team’s first annual ‘Light Up the Holidays’ contest whose sponsors donated $2,300,” said Suzyn Barron, president of the Warwick Valley Humane Society. “It was such an opportune time as we were nearing completion of our garage renovation. Our new ‘Zen Den’ is now ready to offer a quiet, respite from the kennel stress that some of our dogs are experiencing, as well as be utilized as a training area.”

The Green Team Home Selling System is a member of the Warwick Valley Chamber of Commerce and has a history of helping support the community and local charitable organizations.

Article Written by Roger Gavan
http://awos.petfinder.com/shelters/NJ399.html