Plans for the New Year

Plans for the New Year

Friday, 25 September 2009 10:54

From the desk of Garret G. Nieuwenhuis
Executive Director
Foundation for Eastern Christian School Association

The Foundation Staff is excited about beginning a new school year which also coincides with a new financial reporting period. Last year was a very challenging year for us, trying to raise the much needed revenues for the school in a time of severe economic uncertainty. In preparing the budget for the current 2009-2010 year, we again challenged ourselves to raise $ 650,000 in order to balance the Association budget as well as to provide the revenues necessary to keep a Christian education affordable at Eastern Christian.

In order to meet this new challenge we have embarked on an aggressive fund raising program covering a wide range of events and programs. For the month of October we will feature the following:

1. 2009-2010 Annual Fund: The appeal for the Annual Fund will once again be included as an insert in the current issue of the Herald. We will be mailing 8700 copies of the Herald to our mailing list which includes alumni & friends in New Jersey and beyond. Last year was our first attempt at handling the Annual Fund in this manner and we were very pleased with the results, not to mention the savings in postage for not having a separate mailing. We hope you will respond to our current appeal in a timely manner and in amounts as you have been blessed. The need for your participation this year cannot be over emphasized, as many parents are finding it very difficult to support both their family’s daily needs as well as funding a Christian Education for their children.
2. Business Drive: As a component of the Annual Fund, we will once again appeal to our local business community in the month of October for support of the educational initiatives at Eastern Christian. We value our long standing and excellent relationships with our business partners. We are also pleased to announce the publication of a new Eastern Christian Business Directory. This handy reference guide will be distributed in mid September to all of our parents, encouraging them to patronize our advertisers and business partners.
3. During the week of October 12-16 we will be visited by Steven Baker, a planned giving representative of the Barnabas Foundation. Steve will be part of the Small Business Seminar on the 13th. of October and will be available during the week to meet with members of our community to discuss their planned giving options, estate planning etc. This is a free service to our constituency, and is a very beneficial activity to consider now regardless of age or status in life.
4. Small Business Seminar: As part of our initiative to build strong relationships with our business community, we are hosting a breakfast seminar on Tuesday, October 13th at the Brownstone in Paterson. The seminar will be presented by our auditor, Todd Polyniak CPA of the Sax Macy Fromm firm in Clifton and by Steven Baker from the Barnabas Foundation. The meeting will focus on succession planning, legislative updates, tax saving strategies and other relevant topics for small and family owned businesses. We are grateful to Atlantic Stewardship Bank for sponsoring this informative seminar.
5. On Thursday evening, October 15th Eastern Christian School will co host a Harvestfest program with the Christian Health Care Center. This annual event will be held in a large tent on the Mc Bride Field in Franklin Lakes and will feature a bountiful feast prepared by the Market Basket as well as an outstanding musical program titled “ Broadway and Beyond” presented by the McVey family and friends ( including EC parent Laurie Caliguire). Proceeds of this dinner will support the EC Scholarship Fund and the Health Care Center’s Samaritan Fund
6. On Saturday, October 17th, Eastern Christian will present the 2nd annual Fashion Show and Silent Auction at the Bethwood Restaurant in Totowa. We are looking forward to another wonderful time with good food, good entertainment and fellowship.

The fall issue of the Eastern Christian Herald will be in the mail the week of September 7th. Look for this first rate publication in your mailbox and read about the events surrounding the school and its alumni. The next issue will be mailed in March 2010. If you have items of interest that you would like us to consider for the next issue, please contact us as soon as possible.

During the school year the high school journalism class will once again publish the EC Times on a regular basis. This is a very informative newspaper and an excellent training tool for aspiring journalist. You may want to view this newspaper on line at www.ectimes.org.

We are also regularly updating our Alumni information. In the 90 year existence of Eastern Christian High School, over 7000 students have graduated and taken their place in society and the business world and we don’t want to lose contact with those who are still living. It is a tribute to our wonderful school and the excellent faculty over the years that so many graduates of Eastern Christian have distinguished themselves in the fields of medicine, religion, academics, science and business over this time span. It can be said without a doubt that our graduates have done or are doing their part to “Transform the World”.

Eastern Christian School is working very hard to provide the highest quality Christian education to those students entrusted to our care. Our goal is to promote our school in very specific ways so that we can educate even more students from families desirous of obtaining a Christian education. We have produced new marketing material, scheduled speaking engagements in various local churches and sent our students into the community to perform their musical or athletic talents. All of this plus an aggressive fund raising program makes us optimistic about the new school year. Eastern Christian has been blessed beyond measure during the 117 years of its existence, and we pray that God will continue to look on us with His favor and sustain this part of His kingdom for future generations.

For further details regarding the events mentioned above, please contact the Foundation for Eastern Christian @ 973-427-9294 or email us at events@ easternchristian.org