Foundation News

Ditto Needs You!

May, 2012

A little over 20 months ago we opened the doors of our new upscale resale store known as ditto of North Jersey LLC in North Haledon. To be sure, we did so with some apprehension, as the sheer size of the location was far larger than we had been used to in Hawthorne. We were also concerned whether or not people would support this venture with good quality used goods and would there be enough buyers out there to support the operation? After all, we took on a sizable amount of debt to convert the space into the attractive store that it is today, and we had other overhead such as rent and utilities to be concerned with.

As I recall from memory and fact, each time an obstacle was placed in our way, a way was opened for us to proceed. Many times during the months of planning we were reminded of God's faithfulness and of His provisions for us in so many ways. Time and again we were encouraged to proceed---if not in faith, than based on the enthusiasm of all concerned.

Early on we were led to our wonderful Director, Eric Hawn who became the "go to" person on a daily basis for operational questions, display ideas, pricing suggestions as well as being the "answer man" for the hundreds of questions that come up on a daily basis from customers and volunteers alike. Early on Eric determined that each day at ditto would begin with devotions with the early morning volunteers so that we never lost sight of the fact that God's blessing on ditto was not only appreciated but needed on a daily basis.

When we opened our doors for business in mid September 2010, we were amazed at the outpouring of support with donations of goods but also of the number of people who stopped to look around and shop for bargains. Since that day, we have never looked back. We have witnessed unprecedented support from the broader community as well as Eastern Christian School supporters. To my knowledge, no one who shops or donates at ditto has ever expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that the profits of ditto are for the benefit of Eastern Christian School.

In order to operate a store such as ditto, you need help, lots of help each and every day. We asked Helen Joustra and Barbara Joustra Gorter to be our Volunteer Coordinators and to gather a group of volunteers who would help with the sorting and processing of donations, some who would be customer service representatives, some who would do minor repairs and refinishing, some who would do the bookkeeping and others who would help with the cleaning of the store. Since volunteers typically are available only on specific days and for a specific time period, we needed a large number of dedicated people to step forward and help out during the 6 days per week that the store is open for business. Currently we have over 130 volunteers registered to help us run this operation with about 30 of the volunteers being regular and consistent volunteers.

Among the many reasons for opening ditto, was to develop a steady stream of income for the benefit of Eastern Christian School. Stepping out in faith, the organizers of ditto determined that in addition to paying the monthly current operating expenses of the store, they challenged themselves to donate at least $75,000 of the profits to ECSA at the conclusion of the first year of operation. Not only were we able to do that, but we also were able to donate an additional $4000 to several local non profits that provide much needed services to the local community.

The store continuous to grow in popularity both in the community and general North Jersey area. Donations of goods are at an all time high and profits after current expenses and reduction of long term debt will permit us to donate $100,000 to Eastern Christian this current year. Gross sales for the current year are expected to reach $500,000 which is incredible for an operation selling thousands of items under $10.00 each.

While there are many reasons to be very optimistic about the future of ditto, we have to be aware of the fact that we cannot continue to operate at this level without adding to the dedicated core of volunteers at ditto. Some of our volunteers have been supporting Eastern Christian in one way or another for many, many years and some are just not able to keep up the pace any longer at an active organization such as ditto. They need to know that a new and younger generation will follow in their footsteps and continue the mission of faithfully supporting the school that they love and serve.

This is an urgent appeal to all parents, grandparents and supporters to prayerfully consider how you can help us with a few hours per week of your time. The work is not difficult and the friendships that you will foster will change your life. If this is something that the Lord has laid on your heart, please call us today with your availability. We need volunteers every day, at all hours of the day between 10:00AM and 6:00PM for time periods convenient to your schedule. Please help us to sustain this ministry of Eastern Christian----it will not only benefit you if you are a parent, but it will benefit ECSA by remaining that beacon of light on a hill where Christ centered education is paramount!

Please call ditto today at 973-423-4886 and find out how you can help.

G. Nieuwenhuis, Executive Director, Foundation for ECSA

Have you been to ditto recently?

If you have, great, but if you haven't, you are missing out on fabulous deals on all kinds of items from housewares to clothing and from furniture to books. We have completed eight months of operations and have seen very exciting results both in sales and in profits. We think we can do more and we want you to be a part of this wonderful new venture.

Why ditto? ditto was started as a means of providing new funding for Eastern Christian School. For too long, the school's funds came primarily from tuition paid by the parents, which under the current economic environment could not be sustained. The school board, realizing this dilemma, authorized the formation of a business to be operated for the benefit of Eastern Christian so that the parents would not have to carry the entire financial burden of their children's education.

How can you get involved with ditto? There are a number of ways in which you, as an EC parent or student, can help.

Offer to volunteer at the store. We have volunteer opportunities for moms, dads, and students -- with no experience required! Prayerfully consider volunteering at ditto at times that will work for you. We need help with assisting customers, cashiers, wrapping, setting up merchandise, receiving, sorting and pricing as well as testing electrical items and making minor repairs to some items. Student volunteers can receive in-school or out-of-school Faith in Action hours (including summer hours).

It's easy to sign up. Go to the "volunteer" tab on ditto's website at www.dittonj.com to fill out the volunteer application and drop off at ditto. You may also email ditto at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to let our volunteer coordinator know that you are interested.
Shop at ditto. Make regular stop when you do your shopping for school clothes, toys, furniture, books, and many other useful items. Each day we receive new inventory for you to check out.
Donate your good, clean items to ditto for resale. You will be satisfied that you have donated the items for others to enjoy while at the same time you will be helping Eastern Christian's financial needs. As of May 2011 we have sold over 58,000 pieces of clothing so far--did that include anything that you may have donated? We need you to be a part of the ditto success story!
Tell all your friends and neighbors about ditto. We have learned very early on that word of mouth advertising is not only the most cost effective, but also the most productive way to promote ditto. Be a spokesperson for ditto; we really would appreciate that!

Why do we need your support? Eastern Christian School is vitally important to many of us. By supporting ditto you are also supporting Eastern Christian School. The next time you are in the area of 965 Belmont Ave, North Haledon, stop in and say hello to Eric Hawn, the ditto director, and see for yourself what the buzz is about. We think you will be impressed and become a part of the ditto family. We look forward to your visit and support!

Why an Annual Fund for Eastern Christian School?

Each year as we plan for the launch of the Annual Fund, questions come up, such as, "Is it really necessary to have an Annual Fund each year?" or "Where does the money go and who contributes to the Annual Fund?" These are good questions and deserve to be addressed in order to fully understand why we have chosen to hold an Annual Fund drive again for the 2011-2012 school year.

The approved budget for the new school year will be slightly in excess of $8,700,000 of which 74%, or $6,500,000, is expected to be raised from tuition and fees. The remaining 26%, or $2,235,000, must come from a variety of income sources, such as Endowment Fund earnings, Annual Fund appeal, transportation income, facility rentals, athletic boosters, grants, retail store (ditto), Eagle solar, and summer camp fees, as well as a few smaller areas of income. By far the largest part of this income group is the Annual Fund, which this year requires us to raise $645,000 from various fund-raising events and appeals. Our total non-tuition income represents approximately $2,980 per student, based on an enrollment of 750 full time students. In other words, if we did not have an Annual Fund appeal as well as the other fundraisers throughout the year, our per student tuition would increase almost $3000. 0

Accordingly, the Annual Fund is a means of keeping tuition affordable for our parents by not passing on the ever-increasing costs of Christian education entirely to them. The funds raised through the Annual Fund are placed in a Scholarship Fund and used to assist those families who are unable to pay their full tuition obligation. Approximately 20% of our families requested some level of tuition assistance this past year. Eastern Christian responded by granting nearly $1,000,000 in scholarship awards to these families so that their children could remain in our Christian school. As you can see, the Annual Fund plays a significant role in the lives of many families with children attending Eastern Christian School.

Consider a letter that the Scholarship Committee recently received from a parent whose child began EC in Pre-School, and now that he is in high school, the family's financial situation has changed so that they can no longer pay the full amount of the required tuition. Although they preferred not to apply for financial aid, they are most grateful to a supporting EC community that provided the funds so that their son could continue his education at Eastern Christian. The mother goes on to say that she did not know who to thank for this gift and wants all those who played a part to know how deeply she appreciates the help she received.

These are the kind of letters that encourage us to continue to seek the necessary resources so that parents such as the one referenced in this letter will not have to make the difficult decision of whether or not to take their child out of Eastern Christian for financial reasons.

For these reasons and many others, we plan to continue to seek all the financial resources available to us to support the parents with a bona fide financial need. Shortly you will be receiving our Annual Fund appeal for the 2011-2012 school year. Please prayerfully consider how you can participate in this year's Annual Fund so that all parents faced with special financial needs may be assured that others care and every effort will be made to help as many families as possible.

Thank you for your steadfast support!

Garret G. Nieuwenhuis,

2011 Scholarship Dinner Update

(L. - R. Tom Dykhouse, Bret Schundler, Nick Kuiken, Garry Nieuwenhuis)

On Friday evening, March 11th, sixty three Eastern Christian Alumni, parents, grandparents and business associates gathered at the Brick House in Wyckoff, New Jersey to support the 2011 Eastern Christian School Scholarship Fund.

The donations received from this event will be used to assist families of current students in need of scholarship assistance to meet their tuition obligation. For the past four years, approximately twenty percent of families with children enrolled in Eastern Christian have relied on the generous financial support of the broader Christian school community to assist them. Total scholarships provided over the past four years were nearly $850,000.00 per year or an average of $3,700.00 per qualifying student each year.

The dinner attendees enjoyed listening to the personal message from high school junior, Alexis Arruti, who shared her experience of leaving her former school and transferring to Eastern Christian: a move that she said has positively transformed her life!

scholarshipdinnerphoto2 The keynote speaker of the evening was Bret Schundler, former Mayor of Jersey City, former New Jersey Commissioner of Education, and former candidate for both governor of New Jersey and New Jersey Senate. Mr. Schundler, a strong advocate for charter schools and faith based schools, encouraged the audience to be diligent in their quest to support Eastern Christian. He encouraged Eastern Christian to continue to educate students to become the moral and ethical leaders of tomorrow, both locally and throughout the country and the world.

To close out the evening, Mark Reitsma, Vice-President of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation for E.C.S.A., challenged the audience to respond to the call to support those who want to provide a Christian education for their children but are unable to pay the full cost of a Christian education. Eastern Christian's faithful supporters once again gave out of their abundance and provided over $65,000 for this cause.

To God be the glory, great things He has done!

Ready, Get Set----Go!

I think all of us remember times when, as children, we said that very familiar phrase when we were playing outside with our friends. Normally it was used when a race of one kind or another was part of our activity and where it was important that all involved had an equally fair chance at the start of the race. In the end, someone who was faster or older usually won, but we all started from the same place at the same time.

As we approach a new school year, I think of this phrase once in a while as I'm preparing my plans for the 2010-2011 school year. The summer is almost over, vacations are coming to an end and the reality that September is just around the corner makes us think about being "ready": ready to resume the work that is assigned to us whether it be teaching our children or working in a support role to provide for the financial needs of the school. The last school year is over, it is history and we must move on. Are we ready for the challenge to resume teaching, cleaning, mentoring, coaching, fundraising, bussing, administering and guiding the school, and so many other things that we do on a day to day basis?

In a few weeks the principals and teachers will be challenging the students at Eastern Christian to "get set"; to prepare for the race of the new school year and to work hard to achieve the reward of a job well done. Difficult as it may be for some, it is time to get set, to prepare to begin the educational process all over again with renewed enthusiasm and determination. The summer is almost over and classroom learning will be taking its place once again.

For all of us at Eastern Christian, September 1st will be the "Go" day, the first day of the new school year, first day of classes and the first day of the school's fiscal year. It will be a time to close the books on the old year, to meet new students and faculty and to enjoy the improvements made to the buildings and grounds during the summer months. It will be an exciting time for all and a time to renew our commitments to learn, to teach and to support our school with our time, our talents and our treasures.

The favorable financial results of the 2009-2010 school year encourage us to work even harder to duplicate that effort in the new school year. Our financial needs beyond tuition continue to require us to plan significant events that will produce not only the much needed revenues, but also opportunities for all of us to gather and benefit from the camaraderie of each other. There are many events being planned which will give us opportunities to support EC in the coming year. Many of these events will be announced as the school year progresses; however we want to single out one new venture which all of us should support one way or the other.
We have completed the renovations to the location for the new Eastern Christian resale store known as ditto, and we are ready for you to help us in a number of ways. First, we want you to donate your good used items for resale in this state of the art facility. Second, we want you to shop at ditto and tell all your friends and neighbors about this beautiful store at 965 Belmont Ave, North Haledon and finally, we need you to volunteer some of your time to help us with sorting the donations, being sales persons and helping us in many other ways. We need both men and women, so please contact us as soon as possible and let us know how you can help. Call us at 973-427=9294 and we will do the rest. It is "Go" time for ditto, and we sincerely hope that you can help us makes it successful.