Kicking off the special fundraising efforts at NJ Manufacturers Insurance for the new HomeFront Family Campus are (left to right) Mike Van Wagner NJM Vice President of Public Affairs, Sheila Addison Director of HomeFront’s Family Preservation Center, Connie Mercer Executive Director and Founder of HomeFront, Patricia Hartpence Assistant Vice President of Corporate Giving at NJM and Bernie Flynn President and CEO of NJM.
New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Group (NJM) employees are watching their donated dollars for the new HomeFront Family Campus grow exponentially thanks to the generosity of NJM and the David Tepper Charitable Foundation.
For the last year, HomeFront has worked to raise the $6 million needed to renovate the 8.5-acre decommissioned naval base in Ewing into a new Family Campus, described by founder and CEO Connie Mercer as a “village of healing and hope” for homeless and low-income families. A few months ago, as HomeFront worked to raise the remaining $1.5 million to reach its goal, the David Tepper Charitable Foundation made a dramatic pledge to match every dollar raised with $2, up to $1 million, effectively lowering HomeFront’s fundraising burden from $1.5 million to $500,000 to finish the project.
NJM, which already has an employee matching gift program, now has launched a special Family Campus initiative through June. A table has been set up in the company cafeteria and an article about the initiative is running on the employee intranet site, announcing that they will match employees’ gifts, and that in turn, will be matched by the Tepper gift. So, if an employee donates $25, NJM will turn that gift into $50, which becomes $150, thanks to the Tepper Foundation.
