AFS SUPPORTS LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS TO HELP OUR COMMUNITIES

Donations to Caitlin Elizabeth Russell Foundation and Local Food Bank

In the spirit of giving during the holiday season, Alternative Financial Services supported local organizations in lieu of sending holiday gifts.
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“By providing much-needed funds and supplies to outreach programs in our communities, we’re able to spread Christmas cheer and help local needy families,” says AFS founder Lisa Corcoran.

AFS donated a cartful of groceries to an Ocean County church food bank to help fill holiday tables and bring joy and nourishment to the festivities of local families.

AFS also contributed to the Caitlin Elizabeth Russell Foundation. “This wonderful foundation is dedicated to fighting the causes of premature birth and the complications preemies face,” states Corcoran. “It provides the hope, education, and comfort that affected families desperately need in a growing epidemic of premature births.”

Born weighing only 1 pound, 7 ounces, and measuring 12 inches long, Caitlin Elizabeth Russell courageously battled the Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC) that inflicted her intestinal system, until her passing at only 130 days old. Through the foundation, her parents are making a difference by educating and bringing comfort to families and their babies in what is one of the most difficult and stressful times of their lives.

Since its inception in 2006, the foundation has raised nearly $500,000. Their first initiative was funding a modernized, comfortable NICU Family Lounge for families at the Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital NICU at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, along with a brand new computer room where parents and siblings can stay connected to their work and school responsibilities while at the hospital.

Other projects included medical research funding to help fight against NEC which took Caitlin’s life, purchasing an interactive multimedia teaching tool (NICU Knowledge) for use at the Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital to better equip and empower parents to understand the medical conditions their children face, and a petty cash fund to help support the short-term needs of families during their difficult stay, including necessary comfort items and public transportation assistance to and from the hospital.

To learn more, visit www.CaitlinRussellFoundation.org