Did you attend Miles for Matheny 2022? If so, did you stop by for a picture in our special 25th Anniversary picture frame?

Find your photo here, and be on the lookout for even more snapshots from this awesome event next week. Thank you for being there, supporting us, and helping us capture these beautiful moments.

Saturday, June 4th was the 25th Annual Miles for Matheny!

We couldn’t have asked for a better day. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to everyone who showed up this weekend to show love and support to our amazing students, patients, and families! For this special Faces of Matheny feature, we are showing you some of our favorite moments from this beautiful Miles celebration. More photos to come later this week.

Special thanks to the Bernardsville News for their coverage, and to CBS 2 News New York and meteorologist John Elliott for their live broadcast from Miles at the Far Hills Fairgrounds! Check out the videos below.

We at Matheny are heartbroken by the recent tragedies in Uvalde, Texas; Buffalo, New York; and Laguna Woods, California. We send our heartfelt condolences and support to all who have lost loved ones and all who are suffering. Safety and security are so important, across all communities. Here at Matheny, as always, we will continue to work each and every day to protect our wonderful students, residents, patients and clients, as well as our extraordinary colleagues who work so tirelessly to provide them with compassionate and safe care and education.

Bill Kent, President & CEO, Matheny

Less than a month until our 25th Annual Miles for Matheny!

This exciting event wouldn’t be possible without sponsorships from families, supporters, and businesses in our community. Please join us in thanking:

• The Lavine and Gordon Families, one of our devoted and enthusiastic Matheny families.
• The Poses Family Foundation, which is dedicated to bringing about significant positive impact in five focus areas, the largest being learning disabilities, through a combination of business disciplines, nonprofit expertise, funding and passion.
• Pfizer, one of the world’s premier biopharmaceutical companies who pursues breakthroughs that change patients’ lives.

Thank you to these incredible people and organizations for supporting us as we work to enrich the lives and nurture the unique abilities of our students and patients.

There’s still time to register! Join us on Saturday, June 4th!

This week, for the first time in over two years, day students returned to The Matheny School! While some precautions remain in place for the safety of our students and staff, we are thrilled to welcome these students back! We are incredibly thankful to everyone who helped get us through two years of distanced and virtual learning, and all who made this return possible.

This week also happens to be Teacher Appreciation Week, with Special Education Week following next week. We are endlessly grateful for our Matheny teachers, who notice and nurture each and every student’s unique skills, talents, and aspirations. Without them, our work would be impossible. So, for this edition of The Faces of Matheny, we wanted to highlight the voices of two of our essential Matheny School educators. Why did they become teachers? What do they love about working at the Matheny School?

Tomorrow, April 9th, 2022, marks the 110th anniversary of the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants (NJCPA)’s first female member, Dora Roworth. To commemorate her achievements, NJCPA dedicated an episode of their IssuesWatch Podcast to speak with five female members about their personal career stories, how to support women in the accounting profession, and their advice to the next generation. And we’re thrilled to share that Kathy Powers, Matheny’s Chief Financial Officer and President-Elect of NJCPA, was one of the women on the panel!

Matheny is lucky and grateful for Kathy’s expertise, leadership, and passion for both her work and Matheny’s mission. We encourage you to watch the video below to hear her stories, insight, and advice.

In the spirit of excitement and optimism, you are invited to join us on Saturday, June 4th for the 25th annual Miles for Matheny event.

Miles is an uplifting day that allows our residents to interact with, and be celebrated by, the surrounding community. Especially on this milestone anniversary, this year’s event is sure to be a joyful day for our patients, students, residents, families, and friends. At Miles, absolutely everyone is welcome to participate and free to be themselves.

In 2022, we are planning to hold all events in person and everything will be done with the health and safety of the people we serve in mind. We are hopeful and excited to bring back the Lu Huggins Wheelchair Walk to the park. The day’s events include 12.5, 25, 35, and 50-mile, and “Hills of Attrition” cycle rides, a 5K Run, Kids Fun Run, and of course the beloved Wheelchair Walk.**

We’re thrilled that this year’s Miles for Matheny will be held at the J. Malcolm Belcher Fairgrounds in Far Hills. It is only fitting that we celebrate our 75th anniversary in the same town where it all began when Matheny was known as the Burnt Mills School for Paralysis Correction. Walter and Marguerite only had a dream and a GI loan of $3,000 to create this amazing organization. Today, Matheny is a comprehensive non-profit organization offering life-saving and life-enriching services that touch the lives of hundreds of people with special needs every day.

Learn more and register today!

In-person exhibit at Somerset County Admin Building

PEAPACK, NJ – February 24, 2022 — Aimee Hunnewell recently joined Matheny as Chief Development Officer (CDO).

Matheny’s board of trustees conducted a nationwide search for the role of CDO. William Krais, Esq., board chairperson, stated, “After interviewing several excellent candidates, it was clear that Aimee was the best person for this position. Her breadth and depth of experience will help us take our fundraising and development capabilities to the next level. We are planning to grow as an organization to meet the emergent needs of people with disabilities.”

As CDO, Aimee will oversee all philanthropic efforts and create a long-term fundraising and development plan for the organization. In a recent communication to all Matheny employees, Bill Kent, President and CEO, said, “Our ‘One Matheny’ Strategic Plan calls for a comprehensive and creative development strategy. Aimee’s role is critical to making sure that we fully support the valuable work you do every day. As you get to know Aimee, you will see that she has a great sense of collaboration, a warm demeanor, and a great sense of humor. Thank you for welcoming Aimee to the Matheny family.”

Aimee has more than 25 years of professional experience including her most recent position as CDO for the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation. Previously, she worked in fundraising and development for other prominent organizations such as the Girl Scouts Heart of NJ, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, and others. She is a native of South Orange and currently resides in Peapack with her husband and three children.

Matheny is celebrating its 75^th anniversary. It is the only non-profit in the state to have a fully accredited hospital, a special education school, an award-winning fine arts program, an adult day center, an outpatient clinic, and several independent living group homes under the umbrella of one organization serving people with medically complex developmental disabilities.

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About Matheny – Matheny’s mission is to provide exceptional care and an optimal quality of life for children and adults with special needs and medically complex developmental disabilities. Matheny is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and is headquartered in Somerset County. It was founded in 1946 after Walter and Marguerite Matheny’s son, Chuck, was born with cerebral palsy (CP) into a world ill-equipped to care for children with special needs. Matheny is comprised of a fully accredited special hospital, five community group homes, an adult day center, a non-profit private special school, a fine arts program, and outpatient clinics serving the community. Matheny patients have a diverse range of medical conditions such as Cerebral Palsy, Spina Bifida, Lesch-Nyhan Disease (LND) and a wide range of rare diseases. To learn more about Matheny, visit us at http://www.matheny.org or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram: @mathenymedical.

Matheny residents have enjoyed several celebrations this month!

First there was A Night to Shine, a prom event for people with special needs sponsored by the Tim Tebow Foundation. The event was a virtual celebration filled with music, positive messages, and appearances by celebrities. The residents had a great time viewing the event and participating with their peers and staff. A special thanks to Bridget Rainville of Bethany Church and Andrea Szott for all of their support in making this event happen.

Matheny also held Valentine’s Day celebrations on our Peapack campus. Residents loved posing for pictures!

We’re so grateful for our Matheny community, and we love events that allow us to spend time together and make great memories.

Matheny is dedicating 2022 to celebrating an important milestone – our 75^th anniversary! 75 years of enriching lives and growing abilities for children and adults with developmental disabilities. This institution has an incredibly inspiring story that began with one family’s vision and devotion. We are proud to continue the work each and every day to help ensure that our students, patients, and residents have the medical care, education, and other services that allow them to live the active and fulfilling lives they deserve.

As part of our celebrations throughout the year, we want to highlight Matheny community members – the people who have made Matheny the place we all know and love over the last 75 years. What initially drew them to Matheny? What makes them stick around, through both the joyful and the challenging periods? What are their favorite memories and stories? What’s the first thing that comes to mind when they think of Matheny?

We hope you enjoy this new series – The Faces of Matheny!

And who better to start this story sharing than a community member who found his way back to Matheny after a period away? Meet Matheny’s new chaplain, Fr. Paul!

Fr. Paul Varchola West, more commonly known around the halls of Matheny as Paul, received a B.M. in Music Theory and completed an MFA in Music Composition in 2010. After completing his degree, he began working at Matheny as a Recreation Therapy Assistant. Paul later worked in the Education Department as a 1:1 Aide, and then as the school’s Music Teacher until 2016 when he began his seminary studies. Fr. Paul completed his M.Div. in May of 2020 and was ordained a Byzantine Catholic Priest on July 18^th of that year, at which point he was assigned as the pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Byzantine Catholic Church in Levittown, PA. During seminary formation, Fr. Paul completed his Chaplaincy Internship (CPE) at UPMC Shadyside Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA. Recently, Fr. Paul caught wind of an open Chaplaincy position at Matheny and jumped at the opportunity to return to the “Matheny Family” as he always found great joy within those halls. And it’s not just him – Paul’s wife Alissa was a Music Therapist at Matheny from 2005-2009, and again from 2010-2016. Their two children have many fond memories of Matheny and are looking forward to making many more. Truly a family affair!

When asked about his favorite Matheny memory, Fr. Paul had this to say:

“Back in 2013 when I was working as the school’s music teacher, an album I had performed on years prior while living in Los Angeles was picked up for a Grammy Nomination. To my surprise, there was a rather large uproar at Matheny, which honestly rivaled the Red Carpet! Anyway, there was so much excitement that, in all honesty, I wanted to “bring home the Grammy” more for the folks at Matheny than for myself. So, my wife and I got to travel back to LA, go to several fancy parties, walk the Red Carpet, and even watch the Grammys performances from AMAZING seats! After all that…we didn’t win the Grammy. When I returned to Matheny, a whole group of students presented me with a Grammy Award they made with their art teacher, Felicia. It said “Paul West – Our Every Day Grammy Winner” on it. It was made out of a tissue box, a Styrofoam coffee cup, and some gold paint. That award still sits on a shelf in my office. My Grammy Nominee medal from the Recording Academy is in a box somewhere…I have no idea where. What Matheny (the staff and students/residents) did was demonstrate how true the phrase “the Matheny Family” really is. The unity, the love, the care, the devotion, dedication, support, pride in one another’s achievements – that’s what I will remember, always.

We’re so grateful to have Fr. Paul back at Matheny! Thanks for the wonderful story. Here’s to the many more stories we’ll create here – over the next 75 years and beyond!

Do you have any favorite Matheny stories that you would like to share? Would you like to be featured in this series (or know someone you’d like to see featured)? Get in touch at marketing@matheny.org or on social media @mathenymedical.

Please join us in congratulating Matheny’s Chief Financial Officer Kathleen Powers for her recent appointment as President on the 2022/23 Board of Trustees for the New Jersey Society of CPAs!

The New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants (NJCPA) is the largest professional organization (membership of more than 14,000) serving the needs of current and aspiring CPAs in New Jersey.

We are so lucky to have Kathy’s leadership and expertise here at Matheny. Thank you for all that you do!