Opportunities From: Volunteer Opportunities at United Way of Northern New Jersey

As part of Women United's focus on supporting ALICE families in our community, Women United volunteers are encouraged to take part in the Book Buddies project, sharing your love of reading with young children from ALICE families.

United Way of Northern New Jersey is building an online library of stories being read by people of all ages and backgrounds in our community.  We need volunteers like YOU to be a virtual reader and a virtual Book Buddy! 

When you register to share your time, a much-loved children's story and your love of reading with early readers in our area, you will use the Book Buddies Toolkit to assist you in recording yourself reading young children's books.  

Participating is easy!  The time needed is about an hour to 90 minutes to plan and record yourself reading one children's story, depending on how much you choose to rehearse the reading.  You will submit your recording via WeTransfer, which make it easy to upload your video and send to us.  

Book Buddies is an ongoing project, so feel free to sign up and submit as many recordings of reading children's books as you wish. 

We are also encouraging people to read stories in other languages, especially in Spanish (the books themselves do not need to be Spanish-language books).  Please contact us for more information about submitting a recording in a language other than English.

Please make sure you also submit the project waiver, which allows us to post your recording on our online Book Buddies Library.

Thank you for helping to promote early reading and the love of reading with new readers!

Foodstock with Women United

Even before the pandemic hit, food security was a significant issue for ALICE®  (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) families and those in poverty. ALICE was already navigating life without a safety net and was one crisis away from financial despair. That crisis is here, bringing a continued increase in food insecurity while pantries experience shortages.

Year-round, Women United is taking action, collecting needed items for local food pantries. Due to the success of this summer initiative and the ongoing need, Women United has adopted food insecurity as its year-long mission. Foodstock with Women United will help ensure ALICE and poverty-level households have enough food to get through the day. 

How to Help

Join in helping our neighbors in need in the northern New Jersey region by registering for Foodstock - Powered by Women United.

To sign up, respond as an individual or as a team using the buttons to your right. Submit your name and email address—all other requested information is optional—and that’s it!

Once you’ve registered, Women United will send you a Foodstock toolkit, which contains all you need to get started such as a list of participating pantries in our five-county region, needed pantry items, and ideas for getting others involved in this effort.

As some pantries welcome homemade masks and food-collection bags, our toolkit also includes instructions on how to make these items.

Thank you for making a difference in the lives of struggling northern New Jersey residents!