Date: January 24, 2019
Published Jan 24, 2019
While many employees chose “a day on” in celebration of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., here’s a feel-good story of one Comcaster who has chosen, not a day, but a life of service to meet the need of those less fortunate.
Freedom Region’s Senior Director of Information Technology, Reggie Anderson and his wife Yvette established a nonprofit organization, Meet The Need (MTN), that seeks to live up to its name, providing essential tools and resources for those in need. Earlier this month, the organization and its community of friends, including many Comcasters, beat the streets to clothe and feed hundreds of vulnerable men and women.
On January 11, when temperatures fell below freezing, Comcast volunteers bundled up and dispersed to multiple locations to offer compassion and care to those living in the woods and cold streets of New Jersey. The initiative, entitled Friends Feed the Homeless by MTN, invited volunteers to distribute care packages that included a bagged lunch, toiletries, blankets, hats, gloves and socks (and even some winter coats). MTN was intentional about meeting the homeless where they are – at train stations and Tent Cities – and providing what they need to survive the winter months.
To provide a more dignified experience, MTN placed the donated selections of clothing on racks for individuals to choose their items, as though they were shopping. “Thanks for not forgetting about us,” is the phrase that penetrated the heart of Yvette Anderson when serving those in need. While the Anderson’s coordinated this volunteer effort, they received donations from several community businesses as well as several volunteers from Comcast.
“I am overwhelmed with the support we continue to receive from my Comcast colleagues,” said Anderson. “Brian Cope drove 3 hours from Central division just to serve with us.” Anderson also shared how impressed he was with the youth’s contribution toward this mission. Jake Lawler, eleven-year-old son of Freedom Region’s Vice President of Financial and Accounting, Chris Lawler, took up his own collection and brought bins full of toiletries and non-perishable food to donate. He and his father also helped distribute items at the Asbury train station and a Tent City in Neptune, NJ.
Anderson thanks Comcast Business Services for donating care package bags and the following Comcasters (and future Comcasters) for volunteering and helping meet the need: Brian Cope, Erik Rogers, Jesus Santiago, Eddie Rivera, Dylan Tkaczyszyn, Yury Tkaczyszyn, Mike Azenha, Ethan Azenha, Donnie Worthington, Noel Torres, Jake Lawler and Chris Lawler.
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