The Community Chest Celebrates 85th Anniversary with Spring Events

Northern New Jersey Events

The Community Chest will hold a series of Northern New Jersey Events in celebration of its 85th anniversary.

For 85 years, The Community Chest has carried out its mission to lead initiatives and support nonprofits that make communities stronger and benefit people in need in eastern Bergen County.  Throughout 2018, The Chest reflects upon its history and impact helping people in need in the community and celebrates its 85th anniversary with several special Bergen County events open to the public.

During the Great Depression in 1933, when unemployment, homelessness, and hunger were at all time highs, caring members of the community came together in eastern Bergen County and started The Community Chest.  “The Community Chest is a miracle only in the sense that the human spirit rising above difficulties is always a miracle,” said humanitarian and philanthropist Elizabeth Cutter Morrow, the organization’s founding board chair, at a board meeting on November 9, 1933.

In the first year, 3,350 donors responded and contributed $116,686, the equivalent of over $2,000,000 today.  “These individuals were worried about their neighbors and the organizations providing social services for the neediest.  The basic idea was to allow these institutions to focus their efforts on their work and not to worry about funding,” said Richard Kennedy, president, The Community Chest’s board of managers.

“While many Community Chests evolved into different organizations or dissolved, caring people in the area worked to develop The Chest as an even better partner to the community.  During this time, The Community Chest has remained true to the original mission — ‘Neighbors Helping Neighbors’ — laid out by its founders 85 years ago.”

Among the first agencies to receive funds were Englewood Hospital and Social Service Federation (now Bergen Family Center).  Since 1933, from its headquarters in Englewood, New Jersey, The Chest has raised $11 million, equaling $62 million when adjusted for inflation.  These funds have supported over 100 agencies with grant awards that make communities stronger and benefit people in eastern Bergen County.

The nonprofit, tax-exempt organization continues the vision to fill a chest with individuals’ and businesses’ generous contributions and to empty its contents by awarding grants to support worthy projects led by area nonprofits.  In 2017, grants totaling $200,000 were awarded to 23 nonprofits serving eastern Bergen County.  Over 50,000 residents in the area benefit annually from services supported by The Community Chest.

“The Chest’s motto, ‘Neighbors helping Neighbors’, has been passed from one generation to the next.  “Beginning in the late 1800’s, my whole family, starting with my grandparents and followed by my mother and father, were great supporters of Englewood’s community institutions.  I grew up with this strong sense of commitment to Englewood and joined my parents in devoting my time to many local causes,” said past president Joan Van Alstyne Johnson, whose father, David Van Alstyne, served on The Chest’s board of managers and as president in the 1960’s.

The Community Chest 85th Anniversary Celebration Northern New Jersey Events

Spring Gala: The first event scheduled for The Community Chest 85th Anniversary Celebration is the annual spring gala to be held on Wednesday, April 18, 2018 at 6:30 p.m at the Montammy Golf Club, 7 Montammy Drive in Alpine, New Jersey.  The gala includes cocktails, a buffet dinner, and a benefit auction.  The following individuals and organizations will be recognized for their contributions to the community:  Richard Engel and Swati Rao Engel, Connect One Bank, and The Rotary Club of Englewood.  The net proceeds will provide competitive grants to nonprofit agencies to meet the pressing issues of people in need in the area.  Tickets: $185 per person, $250 per patron, and $1,500 for a table of 10.  Registration, tickets, sponsorship levels, and advertising information are available at www.501auctions.com/communitychestgala.

The Complex Business of Health Care: Issues and Areas of Agreement and Disagreement Lecture: This event, which was originally scheduled for Monday, May 14, has been postponed.

Women’s Leadership Luncheon and Scholarship Ceremony: This event, Celebrating the Elizabeths: A Tribute to Historical and Future Women Leaders in Eastern Bergen County will be held on Thursday, May 17, 2018 from 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm at the Elisabeth Morrow School, 480 Next Hill Drive, Englewood, New Jersey.  The luncheon will honor Elizabeth Cutter Morrow, founding board chair, The Community Chest; Elisabeth Morrow Morgan, founder, Elisabeth Morrow School; and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, suffragette and a Tenafly resident.  The event is sponsored in partnership with The Elisabeth Morrow School.  Tickets: $65 per person or $85 per patron.  To RSVP, call 201-568-7474.  Checks may be made out to The Community Chest and sent to 122 South Van Brunt Street, Englewood, New Jersey 07631.

Visit www.thecommunitychestofenglewood.org, or call 201-568-7474 for more information about The Community Chest 85th Anniversary Celebration events.

Founded in 1933, The Community Chest, a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization, has supported local not-for-profit agencies for 85 years.  The Chest leads initiatives and supports nonprofits that make our communities stronger and benefit people in need in eastern Bergen County.  Each year, The Chest raises funds and allocates them to agencies demonstrating the capacity to provide services to local citizens.  The organization also provides coordinating and planning services in its communities, serving as a bridge between agencies and organizations and investing in the stability and quality of the service network.

For further information about The Chest, visit www.communitychestofenglewood.org or call 201-568-7474.  Stay updated about the organization’s activities on Facebook and Twitter.

Read more about The Community Chest 85th Anniversary Gala.