Dear Friends, Clients and Colleagues, In this season of giving and in lieu of sending out holiday gifts, we continued our wreath donations and support of Wreaths Across America. We are honored to participate in this national wreath-laying ceremony, celebrating the memory and sacrifice that our veterans made. On December 15, 2018, Wreaths Across America hosted wreath-laying ceremonies at more than 1,600 locations across the country, at sea, and abroad. There is no better time to express our appreciation than during the hustle and bustle of the holiday season to show our veterans and their families that we will never forget. We laid our wreaths at Greenwood Cemetery in Brielle where 1501 veterans are buried. Each year, I am deeply moved by the manner in which the wreaths are placed. As each veteran’s grave is honored, his or her name is spoken aloud because “A person dies twice: once when they take their final breath, and later, the last time their name is spoken”. This wonderful organization REMEMBERS our fallen U.S. veterans, HONORS those who serve and TEACHES your children the value of freedom. Visit WreathsAcrossAmerica.org to read more about this nationwide event or donate to their wreath-laying efforts. Wishing you and your families a joyous holiday season and a New Year blessed with good health and opportunities for success.
Warm wishes from Lisa, Kathy, Scott, Dina, and Andrew.
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AFS Supports Local Families in Need and Honors Our TroopsDear Friends, Clients and Colleagues, In lieu of sending holiday gifts, and in the spirit that defines this season of giving, we again supported organizations in your honor to help our communities.
We also supported The Backpack Crew whose mission is to provide children with food on the weekends when they do not have their school lunch to rely on. This completely private program sends home a backpack of nutritious food customized for each family in need using the same backpack every week. The empty backpack is returned to the school nurse to be sent home again the following Friday. This awesome group is affiliated with The United Methodist Church of Red Bank. To think that families in our communities do not have food to nourish them on the weekends is heartbreaking. For more information or to support The Backpack Crew, visit www.backpackcrew.com. We wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and peace and good health in the New Year, and we thank you for the pleasure of doing business with you. Lisa, Kathy, Scott, Dina, and Andrew Alternative Financial Services contributed to local organizations in support of those in need through inspirational outreach programs. With a donation of toys to a local church, AFS helped spread Christmas cheer to local needy families and their children. And, with the purchase a dozen wreaths, they supported Wreaths Across America whose mission it is to REMEMBER our fallen U.S. veterans, HONOR those who serve, and TEACH our children the value of freedom. “This wonderful organization was especially helpful during this difficult and divisive year,” says AFS founder Lisa Corcoran. “It’s so important to honor those men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of preserving our freedom.” On December 17, 2016, AFS and 40 others gathered at Greenwood Cemetery in Brielle, NJ. Final resting place of 1501 veterans, it was just one of 1100 cemeteries nationwide that participated in the laying of Remembrance wreaths. After a brief welcoming ceremony, commemorative wreaths were placed for each branch of the military, POWs, and MIAs, then at veteran’s headstones. “I was particularly moved by the manner in which the wreaths are laid,” notes Corcoran. “Volunteers carefully searched for the gravesites of veterans, respectfully clearing headstones of snow and slush from the previous night’s storm, then spoke the veteran’s names aloud as a wreath was laid to honor them and keep their memory alive.” Wreaths Across America teaches that “A person dies twice: once when they take their final breath, and later, the last time their name is spoken.” This ceremony is not intended to decorate the veteran’s graves, nor to remember their deaths, but rather to commemorate the lives they lived. For more information on honoring fallen veterans through the national wreath-laying program, visit WreathsAcrossAmerica.org. Donations to Caitlin Elizabeth Russell Foundation and Local Food BankIn the spirit of giving during the holiday season, Alternative Financial Services supported local organizations in lieu of sending holiday gifts.
“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 "Losing a dear member of our AFS team has been painful and difficult, but remembering him, and who he was, is easy. Marty Aronow was much more than my business advisor, he was my friend and truly one of the good guys. He treated everyone with respect. Even in his final days, Marty worried more about the welfare of those around him than what he, himself, was facing. This is a terrible loss for all who knew and loved him. Though he was a quiet man, he was a rock, but a rock with a glint of mischief. Marty was someone I depended on for the unvarnished truth, and for support as I grew my business over the years. He made a genuine and lasting impression on everyone he touched. Marty's legacy of strong family and an impeccable work ethic live on in the lives of his children, colleagues, clients, and friends. Marty, you will remain forever in my heart, always." — Lisa Corcoran Donations can be made in Marty's name to the organizations below.
The New Jersey Commission on Recreation for Individuals with Disabilities (NJCRID) P.O. Box 26 Kendall Park, NJ 08824 CAREing for Children P.O. Box 1291 Toms River, NJ 08754-1291 |
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