Tag Archives: thanksgiving

jennifer olawski
#HipNJ Cares, Charity, Community, Fundraiser, Garden State Living, Holiday

Reason for the Season Fundraiser

Hey #HipNJ, we hope you had an enjoyable and relaxing Thanksgiving yesterday! Recently, I had the chance to speak with Jennifer Olawski, Founder of the Reason for the Season Fundraiser!
 
This fundraiser was started two years ago in Paterson where Jennifer was an elementary school teacher. She was talking to one of her first-graders and asked if she was excited for the holidays. Her student told her that she wasn’t because she has never received a gift on Christmas. Jennifer was crushed to hear this. To make it up to her student, she started this fund to give all 500 students a gift for Christmas.
 
Her first year was a success as she raised $3000 and was able to give each student an arts and crafts set. Her second year she raised $6000 and was able to gift each child a winter hat, gloves, and either an arts and crafts set or a slime kit!
 
Now entering her third year at a new location at Lincoln Elementary in New Brunswick, Jennifer is continuing the tradition and is doing better than ever! As of today, she has raised $8,830!! With this much raised, she is aiming to give her students winter accessories and a toy! 
 
This fund was started because of the little girl who was sad about the upcoming holiday. Jennifer hopes that this fund shows her students and the rest of the world that acts of kindness still exist. She also hopes that people will pay it forward and continue to treat others with generosity!
 
To learn more about the fundraiser and how to donate, click here!
Holiday

Support Your Community This Small Business Saturday!

Thanksgiving might be over and there may be plenty of sales at plenty of chain stores around the country, but this year support your local community in the best way you can – support small business! Small businesses are the backbone of many communities, providing their unique services just for their town. If they’re lucky, word spreads and people will travel far and wide to check out their products, but at the very least the locals should support when they can! We’ve compiled a list of some great towns in New Jersey with plenty of small businesses for you to check out this Small Business Saturday!

  1. Asbury Park
    Tons of boutiques, a tree-lighting ceremony, and free live musical performances – definitely worth the trip to the boardwalk!
  2. Flemington
     Flemington’s “Big Week to Shop Small” runs through December 1 and will feature special discounts at participating businesses. A great town to spend the day in this Saturday!
  3. Haddonfield
    The streets are lined with beautiful lights beginning Friday at 6 p.m., with the tree lighting at 6:30 p.m. at Library Point, not to mention shopping specials, gift certificate discounts, and horse-drawn carriage rides through Sunday. 
  4. Montclair
    Montclair has tons of great local businesses to check out for food, fashion, and way more! Click the link for a list of all participating businesses!
  5. Morristown
     Morristown is having a scavenger hunt starting at b.jones Organic Spa, where grab  a passport to unlock specials at certain businesses (salons, galleries and cafes, oh my!) Collect stamps from the shops and return to the spa for a swag bag.
  6. Somerville
    Downtown Somerville is one of the coolest places to check out on a regular day, so Small Business Saturday you definitely can’t miss! Check out the “Shop Small” stickers outside of participating store, and stick around for a visit from Santa, the tree lighting, and horse-drawn carriage rides!
  7. Ridgewood
    Ridgewood is known for some lovely jewelry and home decor local shops, and this year Small Business Saturday matches up with the sixth annual Winterfest at Memorial Park at Van Neste Square. The event feautures ice sculptures, performances by the Orpheus Club Men’s Chorus, hot chocolate, a trackless train ride and horse-drawn hayrides. 

While these are only a few towns to check out for their fun events and wonderful local businesses, if you can’t make it to any of these you can always shop around your own town. After Saturday, try shopping local more often; it makes a positive difference for your community!

Holiday

Black Friday Shopping – Where To Go?

It’s that time of year again! The time to gather around with your family for a delicious meal, give thanks for all you have, and rush to your nearest mall and/or outlet store for the best deals on Black Friday. Fortunately for you, a lot of stores are actually starting their black friday sales online through Friday (with in store deals beginning Thanksgiving evening), so before you make plans to wait outside in the cold for hours, research must be done!

We at #HipNJ don’t want you to get cold after having a warm meal with your family, so we’re here to help with some of that research – whether you decide to stick it out and get in line for certain deals, or shop from the coziness of your home. Here are some of our favorite stores with some great deals!

  1. Kohl’s
    Kohls is one of those stores having sales online already! Home appliances, sweaters, and lots more. You can get them in store Thursday, but why wait for your deals? Get the sales done with and enjoy your Thanksgiving with family!
  2. Macy’s
    Macy’s has sales going on now to the 25th? Whaaat! A quick look on the website show you they’re having crazy deals on designer winter coats, at least 50% off! We think that’s reason enough to check them out, it is getting colder by the day!
  3. H&M
    H&M has great prices for super chic clothes already, but right now they’re taking an additional 20% off of sale items and orders $60+! Get your presents together for the holidays (mostly for yourself, let’s be real here…)
  4. Walmart
    Walmart is known for having some sort of crazy Black Friday horror story with impatient and angry shoppers storming the aisles and getting into fist fights over electronics…BUT shoppers know that there are some of the best deals at Walmart, which is why many take the risk even going. They’ve got some deals going on right now, and more online on Cyber Monday (we’ll get to that in another post!). If you’re tough enough to evade the nutty shoppers, Walmart is definitely a place for a successful day of Black Friday shopping.
  5. Bloomingdales
    If you love good sales and love Bloomingdales, you’ll be pleased to  see there are great sales on handbags, cashmere, outerwear and more at Bloomingdales!
  6. Sephora
    For the makeup lover in your life, rejoice! Sephora is having sales counting down to Black Friday! Today’s sales for example are up to 50% off various brands including Anastasia Beverly Hills and Marc Jacobs – hurry and get your glam on!
  7. Toys R Us
    What’s the holiday season without toy shopping? While we all love clothing and electronics and the like, you’ve gotta buy kids toys for the upcoming holidays! Toys R Us is having some crazy sales on items – 50% and more? The kids in your life will be ecstatic (and so will your wallet!)

Happy shopping!