Volunteering
Volunteering
Volunteering and community engagement opportunities for Fortnightly Club members. If you’d like to volunteer and make friends, consider joining The Fortnightly Club. We’re always welcoming new members at www.fortnightlyclub.org/join-us
​
Please contact Jen Costello, our Community Engagement chairperson, if you have any questions.​
​​​
Past Volunteer Events
​Help4All: Mother's Day Collection
April 2026
​
We are collecting Mother's Day gifts for Help4All. Please bring donations to our April General Meeting or in the collection box before April 30. Thank you!
Help4All is partnering with shelters, early intervention preschools & a public school in Plainfield to host Mother's Day boutiques where children will be able to pick a gift item to give to their mother/ grandmother/ guardian. These moms are often alone and raising their children without any help from a partner or other family member. They have very little and are always sacrificing for their children. We want the moms to be able to receive a gift from their child.
Help4All is looking to collect the following NEW or like-NEW items for their boutique:
-
jewelry
-
Purses & wallets
-
Scarves/ head wraps
-
Belts
-
New cosmetics, lotion, perfume
-
Candles
-
Unused Gift cards
-
NEW blankets or towels
-
whatever is in your "regift" closet you think a
-
mom might like
-
NEW (with tags) clothes
​
​GRACE: Food Distribution
Thursday Apr 30 at 9am, 11am or 3pm.
GRACE - Giving & Receiving Assistance for our Community's Essentials needs our help on Thursday, April 30 for their weekly food distribution. They are located at 100 Morris Avenue in Summit and are asking for volunteers. Please sign up here if you would like to help!​
​
​Bunny Bags for Help4All
March 2026​
​
For our March Community Engagement activity, we will be collecting items to assemble 24 "Bunny Bags" that will be distributed to an inner city classroom of 24 kids that we have adopted. Help4All will be distributing the bags for the kids' spring/ Easter celebration.
You can contribute the items listed on the Signup Genius. An Amazon wishlist is available too, but if you order from Amazon, please also notate your items on the Signup Genius so we don't get double. We will assemble the bags after our General Meeting on March 18. ​​​​​
​
​Bingo with SAGE Eldercare
​February 2026
​​​​​
We are partnering with SAGE Eldercare for our February community engagement activities.
1. Bingo: We will be playing bingo with the daycare clientele on Wednesday, February 18 from 11am to 12pm. There are five available slots to attend on this sign up genius.
2. Prizes: We are collecting bingo prizes appropriate for men and women seniors. Many have dementia. If you have anything laying around that you would like to donate, please bring to the February general meeting or let us know.
3. Puzzles: We are collecting jigsaw puzzles (100 pieces or less) and large print word search puzzle gifts. You may help by bringing a puzzle to the February general meeting or you can purchase one from this Amazon wish list.​​​​​
​
​Birthday Cake Kits
​January 2026
​​​​
For our January Community Service activity, we will be providing 25 birthday cake kits to the local food pantry in New Providence, LINC - Linking Initiative for Neighborhood Change. These pre-packaged shelf-stable sets contain everything a family needs to celebrate a birthday when they are experiencing food insecurity.
If you would like to contribute some ingredients, please sign up here. You can bring it to the general meeting (Battle of the Bubblies) on Jan. 14 or some items may be purchased on Amazon and shipped directly to Jen Costello. We will assemble kits at the meeting. Thank you!!
​​​​​
​Mitten Tree
​December 2025
​​​​
We are collecting cold weather accessories for the "Mitten Tree". Please help decorate the Mitten Tree with a donation of new mittens, gloves, scarves, hats, or socks.
Women’s and children’s items will be donated to Jersey Battered Women’s Service. Men’s items will be donated to GRACE. Thank you for helping keep our neighbors warm!
​​​​
​SAGE Eldercare: Meals-On-Wheels Food Drive
​November 12, 2025
​​
We are partnering with SAGE Eldercare to support their Meals-On-Wheels program. You may help out by bringing a food item to our upcoming General Meeting on November 12. Thank you for your generosity!
​
Many thanks to the theater group for donating $600 towards the SAGE Meals-On-Wheels collection!
​​
​GRACE: Food Distribution & Meals On Wheels
​October 30th, 2025
​
GRACE (Giving & Receiving Assistance for our Community's Essentials) asked for our help with food restocking/ distribution and Meals On Wheels food delivery. We would like to make this a monthly collaboration so please sign up if you are able!
We have two volunteer opportunities to volunteer on Thursday October 30 at the Summit Community Center located at 100 Morris Avenue in Summit.
​
-
Food restocking & distribution at 3:00pm
-
Restock produce baskets on the choice tables and serve community members for the afternoon distribution
-
-
Meals on Wheels food delivery at 10:30am
-
Must have car & driver's license. All routes in Summit and involve dropping off bag of food to about 10 residences taking about 45 minutes. Fun to do with friend or family member! If cannot pick up during time frame, you may pick up between 3:00-4:00 also
-
​
To sign up: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C084FABA72FA0F49-59582315-grace#/
GRACE provides emergency food assistance and other services (like access to vaccine clinics and legal counsel) to those who live, work, worship, or receive care in Summit - no questions asked. For more information about GRACE, please visit https://www.gracegivingreceiving.org ​
​GRACE: Halloween Costume Donations
​October 2025
​
We are partnering with GRACE to collect and donate new and gently used Halloween Costumes for teenagers at our October 22 Ghost Hunt Meeting from 7-9pm at Twin Maples.
GRACE is launching their first ever Summit High School Halloween Boo-tique on October 29 during the high school lunch hour. They need costumes and accessories that would fit high school students and that they would want to wear.
Gently used costumes should be clean and in excellent condition with all parts bagged together and clearly labeled.
New costumes may be purchased from GRACE's Amazon wishlist. If you are able to bring the costume to the October 22 meeting in person, please change the default delivery address to your own address. If you are unable to bring the costume to the meeting in person, you may drop it off at Twin Maples before the meeting or have the costume delivered directly to GRACE.
Thank you so much for helping make Halloween fun and accessible for kids of all ages!​​
​
​Community Service Recap!
June 2025
​
Over the past club season, our members volunteered and gave back to our community:
-
Supported 8 local organizations with hands-on volunteer work
-
Participated in 17 volunteer opportunities across 10 months
-
Contributed 300+ volunteer hours to causes that matter
-
Engaged the community through upcycling donation drives, heartfelt letters to veterans and first responders, and so much more!​​
​​​
​Operation Gratitude: Summit's Letters to Veterans
​May 2025
Throughout May, we will facilitate a city-wide effort to send letters of gratitude to veterans and active service members. We will then collect all the letters and send them to Operation Gratitude for distribution.
We are looking for volunteers to visit participating businesses in downtown Summit once or twice per week to pick up letters that have been dropped off - timing is flexible and you can set the schedule that works for you. If interested, please contact: Jaclyn Lasaracina at jlasaracina@gmail.com or 908 240 9822.
​
For more information about this project, see the Tap Into Summit article:
​
​Volunteer with Fortnightly Friends at GRACE
Volunteering with GRACE was our most popular volunteer opportunity this year, so we're doing it again! GRACE provides emergency food assistance and other services (like access to vaccine clinics and legal counsel) to those who live, work, worship, or receive care in Summit - no questions asked.
We have two volunteer opportunities to sort, pack, and distribute food in March. Both are hosted at the Summit Community Center located at 100 Morris Avenue in Summit.
​
-
March 20th - 9am to 11am - food sorting and distribution set-up
-
March 27th - 11am to 1pm - food distribution (includes opportunity to interact with GRACE clients)
​
To sign up, please email Jaclyn Lasaracina jlasaracina@gmail.com.
For more information about GRACE, please visit https://www.gracegivingreceiving.org ​
​​​
​Volunteer with Fortnightly Friends at Bridges
Wed, Apr 23 | 9 AM - 11 AM
​
This month, we are highlighting the work of Bridges. Bridges works to end homelessness through street outreach and intensive case management focusing on health, housing, and independence. We are volunteering at the Summit drop-in center. We will welcome and host Bridges' clients, serving food and connecting them with hospitality items.
​
If you're not able to join us but would like to support the effort, you can sign up to prepare breakfast and/or lunch for 10-15 people for us to serve at the drop-in center.
WHEN: Wednesday, April 23 from 9am to 11am
WHERE: 120 Morris Ave, Summit
HOW: To sign up, please email Jaclyn Lasaracina at jlasaracina@gmail.com
​
Learn more about Bridges at https://www.bridgesoutreach.org/​​​
​Volunteer with Fortnightly Friends at GRACE
For February, we are happy to highlight GRACE as our featured community organization. GRACE provides emergency food assistance and other goods and services to those who live, work, worship, or receive care in Summit. We have two volunteer opportunities to sort, pack, and distribute food in February. Both are hosted at the Summit Community Center located at 100 Morris Avenue in Summit.
​
Thu, Feb 13 | 11 AM - 1 PM
Thu, Feb 20 | 9 AM - 11 AM
​
To sign up, please email Jaclyn Lasaracina jlasaracina@gmail.com.
For more information about GRACE, please visit https://www.gracegivingreceiving.org ​
​​​
Room to Grow
​
For January, we are proud to highlight Room to Grow as our featured community organization. Room to Grow works to break the cycle of poverty by providing wraparound support, including individual coaching with a clinician, to low-income families from third trimester through age 3.
The Fortnightly Club is hosting a community donation drive at Jackie's house on Saturday, January 11 from 9am to 1pm. Any amount of time you're able to volunteer is appreciated and please drop by if you have anything to donate. After the holidays is an ideal time to reevaluate possessions and donate. Please see button below for list of accepted donation items.
In brief, we will be collecting books, toys, and clothing for children ages 0 - 3 y.o. We will also be collecting pull-ups for Christ Child.
To sign up, please email Jackie Lasaracina at jlasaracina@gmail.com.
To learn more about Room to Grow, please visit https://www.roomtogrow.org.
​
​​