Spring is just around the corner and United Community Corporation is ready to celebrate. The non-profit organization will be hosting two events in March to hopefully welcome the coming warm weather.
On Thursday, March 17, UCC will be hosting a St. Patrick's Day distribution event, and on Saturday, March 26, UCC will be hosting a Spring Cleaning distribution event.
Both events will take place at the West Side Park football field - located on the corner of 18th Avenue and South 13th Street in Newark.
Both events will be sponsored by Amerigroup RealSolutions.
Leading up to the March 26 event, UCC will be hosting a cleaning supply and face masks donation drive.
UCC is requesting donations of laundry detergent, dish detergent, dryer sheets, multi-purpose cleaners, disinfectant wipes, gloves, face masks, and garbage bags.
Donations will be accepted through Friday, March 25. Donations can be dropped off at UCC's Champion House location (933 South 18th Street, Newark NJ 07108) during business hours Monday - Friday or can be picked up by appointment.
To schedule a pickup or drop-off outside of business hours, contact UCC's Assistant Director of Community Engagement Alena Minatee at alena.minatee@uccnewark.org.
"It's wonderful when we are blessed with an abundance of donations and are able to give them to the community," Minatee said.
"Providing people with items such as cleaning supplies is so important because people may have had to choose between toilet paper or toilet cleaners. Our goal is to help eliminate those choices from our community's residents."
The St. Patrick's Day distribution and outreach event will run from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. on March 17.
Coats, toiletries, groceries, backpacks, books, at-home COVID-19 tests, and many other essentials will be given out.
Groceries are courtesy of UCC's Champion House Food Pantry and its various generous donating partners, including the Community FoodBank of New Jersey and MEND Hunger Relief.
Backpacks were provided by Partners In Health and COVID-19 tests by Saint James Health.
In addition to the giveaways, UCC will have staff providing on-site service to help clients begin applications for rental assistance and energy bill payment assistance.
This event is being run in partnership with the County of Essex, Amerigroup, Franciscan Charities, Essex County College, NJCRI, and Saint James Health.
"It's crucial for us to continue having these resourceful events to continue to meet the needs of the community," Housing Assistance Program Manager Tabatha Perez said.
"Our department has seen a big need in housing assistance, energy assistance, etc., as the moratoriums put in place are ending."
The Spring Cleaning distribution event will run from 1 p.m. - 4 p.m. on March 26. Groceries, cleaning and sanitizing supplies, and service information will highlight this event.
Last year, UCC's Spring Cleaning Event provided cleaning supplies to 750 people.
This year's event is being run in partnership with Amerigroup, Saydah's Community Action, Beauty for Ashes, Outrageous Outreach, Unstoppable Girls, City of Newark Homeless Coalition, and Hope with N.
"This event is very important as UCC's mission is to help others step into self-sufficiency," Director of Youth, Family, and Senior Services Yucleidis Melendez said.
"Every service or event that we do is part of bringing the people that we serve to where they need to be. Giving our community essential items is part of understanding their needs and being able to provide items that bring not just a clean environment to their homes but an open door to hope."