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Back in 2014, then President Joe Mindak recognized that after all of the post-Sandy rebuild efforts, the American Legion was still in need of help. Joe, through the Hoboken Rotary, organized a block party and raised $1200.00 for the veterans. More importantly, he started a city-wide movement that has resulted in the creation of six housing units for homeless veterans.
On April 8th, the club, again led by the efforts of Joe Mindak, hosted a fundraiser at the Elks and raised over $10,000.00 for the post! This event was the culmination of three plus years of hard work by Past President Joe. The event was bittersweet for the Hoboken Rotary club, since it was also Joe's farewell event. Joe is leaving Hoboken and will no longer be active with the club. Please congratulate Joe for the incredibly successful event, as well as a tremendous tenure as a Hoboken Rotarian. Joe is a great representation of what Rotarians should strive for in their daily lives. He certainly knows what it means to live service above self!
In 2012, the Hoboken Rotary Club and the Hoboken Fire Department, co-sponsored a trip to Boca Chica, Dominican Republic to provide desperately needed firefighting equipment and training to the impoverished area's bravest. Five years later Ralph Eusebio, the founder of these efforts, is venturing back to the DR, this time to honor his father, Rafael, who passed away last year. Due to increased social media presence, a lot has changed in the past five years. There are now donations coming in from all over the country and multiple fire departments are participating.
On April 4th, the Rotary Clubs of Hoboken and Jersey City held a fundraiser for the Boca Chica efforts. T-shirts were created to commemorate the trip, with one shirt being donated to a firefighter in Boca Chica, for each one sold. Through the suggested donation and t-shirt sales, over $5000.00 was raised at the event, all of which will go directly to the Boca Chica FD, as well as departments in the surrounding area.
The club was asked to help the Hoboken High School Rockin’ Redwings Marching Band raise money for their trip to Washington D.C. to participate in the National Memorial Day parade. The Rockin’ Redwings are one of four bands chosen from the state of New Jersey, and one of only 36 throughout the entire country. A happy hour fundraiser was held on March 15th, the day after a blizzard left our area covered in over two feet of snow.
Despite a lower turnout than expected, with the help of Hoboken Fire Department Locals 1076 and 1078 (respectively), Hoboken Police Department PBA Local #2, BCB Bank, and Investor's Bank, the club presented the band a check for $1,300.00! Dave Stasiak, the band’s Marching Director, has reported to us that with our donation, they have raised enough money to cover the cost of the trip for the approximate 50 students attending. We look forward to seeing the band march during the national television broadcast!
