Posted on March 9, 2012 by Matheny
Susan Casarez arranges items in a toy display while Josephson Badger looks on.
Josephine Badger and Susan Casarez couldn’t have led more different lives. Badger retired 10 years ago from the Peapack, NJ, Post Office. Casarez spent three years in the CIA and 20 years in the US Marine Corps. Badger has lived in Gladstone, NJ, for several years. Casarez grew up in Peapack-Gladstone but just moved back to Peapack this past September, after an absence of 33 1⁄2 years, to be closer to her mother.
They do, however, share one common commitment: volunteering at the Second Chance Shop, the thrift shop in Gladstone managed by The Friends of Matheny to raise funds for Matheny. Badger has been working at Second Chance for about seven years, mostly on Friday mornings, although she substitutes when needed. Casarez works every Monday and every fourth and fifth Friday. Badger “enjoys the camaraderie and talking to the people who come in to shop.” Casarez says working at the shop, “just makes me feel good. It’s all for a good cause.”
Through the week of March 3, 2012, the Second Chance Shop had earned more than $79,604 since opening after Labor Day. For the entire 2010-2011 season the shop had earned $88,000. The Friends of Matheny has raised more than $3 million for Matheny since its inception in 1983.
Posted on February 22, 2012 by Matheny
Fred Okun helps unload donations brought by Gloria Radlmann of Tewksbury.
When Fred and Nancy Okun of Basking Ridge, NJ, attended Full Circle, the annual celebration of Matheny’s Arts Access Program, this past November, they didn’t know they were going to be recruited as volunteers at the Second Chance Shop, a thrift shop run by Matheny’s auxiliary group, The Friends of Matheny. But they happened to bump into Linda Horton, a friend from Peapack who is on Matheny’s Board of Trustees and also manages the shop. The rest is history.
Nancy Okun now volunteers as a salesperson one Thursday a month, and, since Monday is the only day of the week that the shop accepts merchandise donations, Fred Okun comes to the shop every Monday to help collect and unload the clothing, books and knicknacks that local residents drop off.
Nancy Okun is a retired pharmacist, “but my repressed desire,” she admits, “was always to have an antiques store. So, maybe this is good training.” Fred Okun is also retired, from a career at GE Healthcare. Helping out at the shop, he says, “gives you a good feeling.”
The Friends of Matheny has raised more than $3 million since its formation in 1983. Last year, the Second Chance Shop earned more than $88,000.
Nancy Okun is ready to welcome her first customer.
Posted on February 21, 2012 by Matheny
Five-year-old student Jack Harter hits a switch in response to a question from speech-language pathologist Christine Mayercik.
Speech-language pathologists search tirelessly for ways in which non-verbal children can communicate. Thanks to a donation from The Friends of Matheny, Matheny’s auxiliary group, the Matheny School has been provided with a brand new supply of augmentative communication switches, which can be used by younger students to express themselves.
In a recent classroom session, senior speech-language pathologist Christine Mayercik showed how they work. She combined images on a DynaVox speech-generating device with the preschool game Uno Moo to help students match animal figures and colors and answer questions about both. “If we put a blue sheep on a blue farmer, what are we matching, animals or colors?” she asked. The students would hit one switch for animals and another switch for colors.
The additional switches have had a positive impact on the students’ ability to communicate, and the hope is that this ability will continue to improve and expand. The inability to communicate is particularly frustrating for those students who understand what is going on around them but lack the ability to express themselves.
As part of a collaborative team, speech-language pathologists such as Mayercik provide complete assessments of speech and language and develop and implement programs to meet each student’s individual needs.
Posted on November 7, 2011 by Matheny
Halloween was more than just candy and costumes for students and patients at Matheny. Holidays such as Halloween provide students and patients with recreational opportunities that improve their physical, emotional, cognitive and social well-being. And they have a great time!
On Friday, October 28, they braved a haunted house created and inhabited by members of the recreation therapy department and marched, in costume, in a special Halloween parade.
Volunteers from the community and family members joined in the festivities, and members of The Friends of Matheny, an auxiliary group that raises funds for Matheny, served refreshments afterwards. It was indeed a Happy Halloween!
Above, Geri Brewer and her daughter, Rasheedah Mahali, an adult patient.
Below left, Jeanne May with her 19-year-old son, Mason Walsh, a residential student.
Below right, Jim and Ruby Yedloutschnig with their daughter, Alicia, an adult patient.
