Category: News

Another wonderful Children’s Event, one of the best things we do at Shine and Inspire!

96 children and their families were our guests for a day of fun, music, crafting, games, lunch and hot chocolate station, haircuts and family portrait. They went home with winter clothing for the cold months ahead, a present from their wish list, pajamas, books and a homemade blanket. Each family went home with a bag filled with hygiene and household items to help stretch their budgets. So many people to thank:

• The amazing Shine & Inspire board who made it all happen – Donna Powell, Mary Jane Rossi, Sharon Evanko, Nawaz Merchant, Carol Stolow, Karen McLaughlin and Patrick Jones.
• People and businesses who donated their money and time by sponsoring, donating and shopping for the children with a special shout out to super shoppers Karen Jacko, Margaret Conrad, Karen McLaughlin, Renee Hogan and Ann Marie Potts who shopped for so many of the children!
• Bristol Myers Squibb who sponsored 8 children for the event!
• Pam Trapp, Mary Theresa Weil and fellow realtors at Coldwell Banker Princeton for also sponsoring several of the children!
• The fantastic volunteers, both new and those who keep coming back we appreciate you!
• The Civil Air Patrol who did a drone demonstration and had air simulator games and cardboard paper plane tables!
• Our amazing stylists Carlee and Haley who cut children’s hair all day!
• Jenny who kept the games and the dancing going all afternoon!
• Doe’Rain Deane, the wonderful photographer who took family portraits (and is always there to help us)!
• Book Smiles for all the wonderful books!
• New Jersey Weddings and Events for all the wonderful food and Beth and Joann and team who are the best!!!
• The amazing Kari who made balloon characters for the children while up on stilts!
• Lala & Mimi’s Pajama Project that gave pajamas to every child!
• Project Linus who donated handmade blankets for the children!
• Rebecca Zegas, our Belle and Snow White volunteers!
• The young men from the Hamilton A’s baseball organization for helping to unload everything (there was a lot!) and set up the hall!

Another wonderful Children’s Event, one of the best things we do at Shine and Inspire!
96 children from families needing a little help were our guests for an afternoon of food, fun, entertainment and crafts. They went home with a backpack filled with school supplies, clothing, and shoes so they can start the school year off right! They also received a special surprise from their wish list. Each family went home with a bag filled with hygiene and household items to help stretch their budgets.
So many people to thank:

• The amazing Shine & Inspire board who made it all happen!
• People and businesses who donated their money and time by sponsoring and shopping for the children with a special shout out to super shoppers Karen Jacko, Karen Mclaughlin, Lynda Petrocelli and Ann Marie Potts who shopped for so many of the children!
• The fantastic volunteers, both new and those who keep coming back we appreciate you!
• Our amazing stylists Carlee and Haley who cut children’s hair all day!
• Jenny who kept the games and the dancing going all afternoon!
• Book Smiles for all the wonderful books!
• Happy Smiles for donating ice pops!
• New Jersey Weddings and Events for all the wonderful food and Beth and Joann who are the best!!!
• The amazing Kari who made balloon characters for the children while up on stilts!
• Danielle from Outside the Lines Art Studia for her wonderful craft table (she is also one of our Community Partners)!
• Lala & Mimi’s Pajama Project that gave pajamas to every child!
• Project Linus who donated handmade blankets for the children!
• Kelly Rick, who was our princess for the day (because her daughter couldn’t make it) she’s so amazing (and to her mom who was our baby whisperer)!
• The young men from the Hamilton A’s baseball organization for helping to unload everything (there was a lot!) and set up the hall!
• Creative Juices by Kari Ann Palmieri Janisse!

Thank you Constellation Energy!

Mercer County #nonprofit @ShineandInspire has been awarded a $500 Community Champions #grant from @ConstellationEG for our School Closets project which helps indigent #kids with toiletries and school supplies.

#constellationcommunitychampions! #shineandinspire

We really appreciate support from #consumerproducts companies in #NJ to help fill the closets in 30 #MercerCounty#NJSchools!

Many thanks to Danielle Ingeri from Outside the Lines Art Studio in Hamilton. She hosted a fundraiser benefitting Shine and Inspire at her studio and presented us with a check for $600! This will provide many children with much needed hygiene items, school supplies and non-perishable foods.

It’s a wonderful studio — check it out if you’ve never been there!

Outside the Lines Art Studio is also a collection site where you can drop off donation items for our Shine closets (over 30 closets in Mercer County schools)

What a fabulous night as we walked the red carpet and were transported to the lights on broadway. Everyone looked fantastic dressed as their favorite character from a broadway play, both present and past. It was hard to choose the Tony Awards for Best in Costumes!

The Broadway Balladeers wowed everyone with their amazing voices as they sung broadway songs from everyone’s favorite broadway shows. We were mesmerized.

Special thanks to our Red Carpet sponsor, The Arc of Mercer, and Showtime sponsors, A.W. Martin Construction and the Olsen Foundation. We also want to thank the people and businesses that contributed baskets and items for our famous Tricky Tray.

All of these beautiful photographs, by DoeRain Deane, captured the magic of the evening. We can’t thank her enough for all the support she continues to give Shine and Inspire!

Thanks to the support of everyone, we are able to make a difference in our community. Make a difference in someone’s life and it will make a difference in yours!

Our thanks to Andrea Stock and the Central/South Jersey affiliate of “I Support The Girls” for their generous donation of hygiene products and undergarments for our Shine closets.

Check them out at https://isupportthegirls.org/

Another successful fundraiser this time at Louie’s by Chef Jason (and celebrating Valentine’s day as people wore pink, red and of course, purple)! Everyone enjoyed an afternoon of Conversation, Connection and Cuisine while raising money to support our cause. If you haven’t tried Louie’s yet this is a must stop – the food was delicious and we appreciated them decorating the restaurant early for Valentine’s Day with flowers and balloons to make the event more festive.

Shine and Inspire was honored to tell our story at the Women’s Empowerment Fair hosted by the Rotary Club at the RWJ Fitness & Wellness center on January 20th! Carol Feldman, Carole Bursac and June Mahon at the Shine and Inspire booth.

In early December, Shine and Inspire held its Children’s Winter Wonderland Event for disadvantaged children and their families in Mercer County – over 100 children across 42 families!  Children from various agencies were invited, along with their parents/guardians, to enjoy an afternoon of pure fun and creative activities along with musical entertainment and a delicious lunch. There were crafts galore including making slime, decorating cookies, and making holiday ornaments, door hangars and cards.  There was also amazing temporary tattoos and face painting!

Each child went home with a winter jacket, hat, gloves, scarf, boots and clothing, plus a holiday present from their wish list.  Each children’s bag also included donations from other non-profits and organizations.  It was an amazing day with smiles abound from the families and the volunteers – truly the favorite thing that we do!

There are so many people to thank for this incredible event:

• People or organizations that sponsored/donated or shopped!  We are so grateful – you made this day possible
• Volunteers who managed craft tables, helped set up, and lent a helping hand where it was needed (with over 100 children it was needed a lot!)
• The Civil Air Patrol with their flight simulators, drone demonstration, and how to make gliders and rubber band rockets – and helping these children to dream about a future in flying
• DJ Jenny Bean who kept the children busy with dancing and games
• Buxton’s Boxes for donating a truck to transport everything (we filled a truck and numerous cars there was so much)
• Hairdressers Carlee and Crystal who gave free haircuts
• Cinderella and Spiderman who brought so many smiles to the children’s faces
• Stark and Stark for bringing an army of volunteers
• Sherri and Booksmiles, who donated books for each child
• Lala and Mimi’s Pajama Project for donating pajamas
• Christine’s Hope for Kids who donated goodie bags
• Project Linus for donating handmade blankets
• The makers of Throglo that donated their game for each family
• Kari who was on stilts for three hours while making balloon figures
• Doe-rain Deane Photography who donates her time and talents to all our events
• Angie’s cupcakes for donating her tasty creations
• Trina and Dre for transporting families who needed rides to and from the event
• New Jersey Wedding and Events who always prepares a fabulous meal (and are just wonderful to work with)
• Verizon employees who donated toys – thank you Erika Karp

We always say that it takes a village to raise a child, and our community was so generous in making a difference for these children and their families.  We are so humbled and grateful.

Make a difference in someone’s life, and it will make a difference in yours …

We are so grateful to have been one of the charities chosen for Brother’s 33 50th anniversary! Their goal was to donate $50,000 to charity by the end of the year, and as their nonprofit for the month of November, raised $4,337 for Shine and Inspire! This is an amazing family who is so community minded, and so supportive of us for many years. Our humblest thanks to the Carannante family and Brother’s 33!