In her own words.
I started working at the Community FoodBank of New Jersey in March of 1994. I was hired as the first Director of Development, responsible for fundraising and volunteers. It was a bit like the Wild West at that time. The FoodBank had moved into the warehouse in Hillside about a year earlier, and there was a lot to do.
Within days of my arrival, Kathleen and I discussed an event she was thinking about called the Blue Jean Ball. She had attended a charity event in Summit with a denim and diamonds theme, and she wanted to recreate that theme for CFBNJ. We arranged a meeting at Hoffman La Roche with Kelly Marx and Richard Brody, which we came away from with a rough plan for the Blue Jean Ball. I was put in charge of the planning. I hired an assistant, and together, we planned the BJB. We recruited some volunteers and created a committee. I rented tables, chairs and linens and got everyone we could think of to help with the décor. Kathleen told us we could paint the walls and paint a dance floor. We decided on the theme “Age of Aquarius” for the first ever Blue Jean Ball, created a mailing list, had invitations printed, hired a band, and gathered some items for a small silent auction. Planning was well underway!
There had been some initial hesitation at that first meeting that we might have difficulty getting people to come to an event on a Saturday night in Hillside, but on the evening of the event in October of 1994 we had between 400 and 500 guests show up! Everyone ate, drank, danced, and had a great time. We raised about $50,000. We were thrilled with every aspect. When we got to work the next Monday, calls began coming in from guests who said they wanted to participate in a bigger way the next year. It was thrilling!
Creating that event from square one was a huge undertaking. We had Kathleen’s backing, and she continued to be enthusiastic about other ideas I had. And when she had ideas, or was approached with them, she trusted I would make them happen.
Around the same time, our small development group was also sending out mail, running Check-Out Hunger®, and putting together an overall development plan. COH was a giant, innovative fundraising activity that required a great time commitment from everyone involved. Our supermarket partners were exceptional.
In my second year I hired Althia Comer to be our volunteer coordinator. Several of us attended a Second Harvest Conference in Chicago and came back with the idea for the Turkey Drive. I had listened to a development officer from a food bank in California talk about their success with that program, and I knew we could replicate it in New Jersey. Kitty was on board, and so we added another project to our fall fundraising plan. Althia, Nancy and I carried out successful events year after year.
In its second year, the Blue Jean Ball theme was Under the Big Top, and the food donors were very enthusiastic. They served popcorn chicken, caramel corn, and The WindMill had joined the lineup, so hot dogs were on the menu. We created our own big top tent indoors and decorated in crazy, bold colors. The committee had grown, as had the attendance. I commissioned a design for a commemorative t-shirt from our resident artist, Carl Baggaley, and he made that happen. We sold them for $10 each. The BJB grew every year, and our partners continued to join us for our fundraising events.
As part of the first capital campaign, the goal of which was $5 million dollars, we held a huge event in the warehouse honoring Wakefern Food Corporation. The event was catered, professionally designed, and we had valet parking. We raised close to a million that night alone! Sometime later, Senator Bill Bradley’s staff came to us when he was retiring and wanted to have an event with CFBNJ as the beneficiary.
When the first capital campaign ended, we had raised the $5 million. I began to feel it was time for me to move on. When I told my mother I planned to leave, she asked me why. I really didn’t have an answer. I loved the FoodBank and the work we were doing, and together with our incredible partners we had accomplished so much. Many of my co-workers had become my friends. I also knew we had built a foundation that would allow the fundraising and events to continue.
I left the foodbank to start my own event business. I live in Philadelphia now with my 18-year-old son, Elijah. I haven’t been to CFBNJ in ages but I’m always glad to see that the events and programs started by our first, small group are still thriving. And writing about these successes made me remember how much fun we had.