Camden County Pride - Fall 2015 by Camden County Board of Commissioners

Keeping Camden County Residents Informed

Fall 2015

Sustainable Camden County Opens Several New Programs for the Public in Gloucester Township A practical and exciting new resource will become available this summer for residents – the Camden County Tool Library. Modeled after the successful West Philly Tool Library, the county plans to offer residents the opportunity to “borrow” required, but often single-use, tools essential for residents to complete home projects. The West Philly Tool Library has seen significant program growth in the community. It has 1500 members and lends 1200 tools to members every month, a 35% increase in tools lent since last year. Over 3000 tools are in its library inventory, everything from screwdrivers and weed whackers to a cement mixer. You might never need a certain tool a second time. The Tool Library gives people the opportunity to borrow a tool for a specific project. Why buy when you can borrow?

The tool library is one of the many programs planned for the Environmental Center at Lakeland. It will be managed by the Office of Sustainability and Shared Services and is in keeping with the county’s commitment to a Sustainable Camden County. The tool library will provide residents another opportunity to “Go Green” and re-use tools, instead of purchasing new ones, which might not see significant use. The Camden County Tool Library is scheduled to open at the end of October and will be housed in Gloucester Township at 508 Lakeland Road. If you have an interest in donating tools to the library, please contact Chris Waldron at sustainable@camdencounty.com. Forms for becoming a member of the Tool Library are available at Sustainable Camden County’s website, www.sustainablecamdencounty.org

In addition to the Tool Library, Camden County will be working with Gloucester Township to launch a BikeShare program from this same location. Camden County’s BikeShare program has been in existence for four years and has hundreds of bikes available for use in Camden and Pennsauken already. For more information on donating bikes or your time to repair them, please call (856) 858-5241 or email us at ccbikeshare@camdencounty.com.

BikeShare volunteers learn about fixing donated bikes.

IN THIS ISSUE: Back by Popular Demand - Winterfest Ice Skating Returns to Cooper River Name Unveiled for New Restaurant at Cooper River Park Caregivers Conference County Library Offers Literacy Programs to Change Lives Students Can Get Homework Help Online at Camden County Library Rutgers and Camden County College… A Partnership for the Future Calendar of Events

Back by Popular Demand - Winterfest Ice Skating Returns to Cooper River Last year the Camden County Board of Freeholders debuted Winterfest Ice Skating at Cooper River for the month of December. Due to the overwhelming popularity, the county is once again hosting ice skating at Cooper River Park. Grand opening festivities will begin on Black Friday, November 27th with a weekend-long event featuring professional ice skating performances by Ice Creative Entertainment LLC, horse and carriage rides, carousel rides as well as a tree lighting and ribbon ‘crushing’ ceremony. “We are very excited to bring this winter tradition back to the beautiful Cooper River again this year,” said Freeholder McDonnell, liaison to the Department of Events. “This year the rink and facilities will be even bigger and better and we look forward to hosting this family fun amenity throughout the winter.” The park will be transformed into a winter wonderland with twinkling lights in the trees, and vendors selling soft pretzels, hot chocolate and other tasty treats.

Skaters from Ice Creative Entertainment put on a special performance during last year’s opening weekend. This year, they will perform three times a week throughout Winterfest.

After the three day opening event, the Winterfest Ice Skating Rink at Cooper River Park will be open through Valentine’s Day. New this year, we will be offering group and private lessons, birthday parties as well as three weekly figure skating performances throughout the winter. The rink this year will be larger in size (60’ x 120’) and will be located in the center of the park’s Jack Curtis Stadium on North Park Drive in Pennsauken.

The newly renovated Cooper House will take full advantage of the spectacular Cooper River views.

Name unveiled for new restaurant at Cooper River Park Cooper House Restaurant was selected as the name for the new restaurant scheduled to open this winter. The Freeholder Board congratulates Amber Christine Staffa for winning a contest to name the new eatery coming to the former Lobster Trap Restaurant in Cooper River Park. Her entry, the Cooper House Restaurant, was selected by a committee of county officials, restaurant operators and the architect. For submitting the winning name, she will receive dinner for two every month for a year. The new operators, the KTMK Group, are led by restaurateur Kevin Meeker, current owner of Haddon Township’s Keg and Kitchen and previous owner of the acclaimed Philadelphia Fish Company. At the helm in the kitchen will be celebrated Chef and Culinary Institute of America graduate Tony Clark who has showcased his gastronomic

talents at The Four Seasons, The Old Grange and the Valley Forge Casino, to name a few. Clark is also the featured Chef on Comcast’s syndicated TV show Rock Star Kitchen. The 6,572-square-foot restaurant has been reimagined by R2A Architects of Voorhees to take full advantage of the spectacular river views from the dining room. The Cooper House Restaurant is located at 5300 North Park Drive in Pennsauken Township. The restaurant group is working diligently on developing the menu in the coming weeks and promises customers will be wowed at the culinary skills of chef Tony Clark. “This will be the perfect place to enjoy a meal along the river, or to have a relaxing dinner with an incredible sunset as a backdrop,” said Freeholder Director Cappelli. “We are excited to have Kevin Meeker and Tony Clark associated with this project. Their track record combined with our waterfront location is a win-win.”

BOARD OF FREEHOLDERS 2015: INFLUENZA IMMUNIZATION SCHEDULE 10/7 Bellmawr Fire Hall • 29 Lewis Ave. Bellmawr 08031 | 3:30PM - 6:30PM 10/8 Camden County College • 200 N. Broadway– College Hall Com. Rm. Camden 08102 | 10AM - 1PM 10/9

Cherry Hill Township Municipal Building • 820 Mercer St. Cherry Hill 08002 | 9AM - 12 PM

10/13 Cold Springs School Gymnasium • 1194 Market St. Gloucester City 08030 | 5PM - 7:30PM 10/16 Collingswood Senior Center • 30 West Collings Ave. Collingswood 08108 | 11AM - 1PM

Protect Yourself and Your Family From the Flu

1020 Katz Jewish Community Center • 1301 Springdale Rd. Cherry Hill 08003 | 9:30AM - 11:30AM

The flu is a contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses that infect the nose, throat, and lungs. It can cause mild to severe illness, and at times can lead to death. The best way to prevent the flu is by getting a flu vaccine each year.

10/21

Bud Duble Senior Center • 33 Cooper Folly Rd. (off RT 73) Winslow Twp. 08004 | 2PM - 4PM

10/23

Gloucester Township Municipal Building • 1261 Chews Landing Rd. Blackwood 08012 | 9:30AM - 12PM

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends an annual flu vaccine for everyone 6 months of age and older. Flu activity is low across the United States now, but usually begins to increase in October and most commonly peaks between January and March. Make plans to get your flu vaccine this fall.

10/26

Magnolia Community Center • 425 Brook Ave. Magnolia 08049 | 4PM - 7PM

10/27

Harry Williams Community Center • Broadway & Black Horse Pike Runnemede 08078 | 11AM - 1PM

10/28

City Hall – Council Chambers, 2nd Floor • 520 Market St. Camden 08101 | 9:30AM - 11:30AM

For more information, contact: Camden County Department of Health & Human Services toll free at (800) 999-9045 or visit cdc.gov/flu.

10/29

Camden County College – Blackwood • Connector Atrium Blackwood 08012 | 10AM - 1PM

11/02 Voorhees Town Center • 2400 Voorhees Town Center Voorhees 08043 | 3:30PM - 6:30PM

Caregivers Conference The Camden County Division of Senior and Disabled Services will host its annual Caregivers’ Conference on October 20th at the Camden County Boathouse in Cooper River Park. The evening begins at 5:30PM with a light dinner, followed by a panel discussion with experts in caregiving, social services, living wills, finances and other issues, with time for questions and one-on-one assistance. Space is limited, so please call the Division of Senior and Disabled Services at (856) 858-3220 to register. Freeholder Carmen Rodriguez speaks to attendees at a Caregivers Conference. 3

County Library Offers Literacy Programs to Change Lives Camden County government is changing the lives of residents through two new programs offered by the County Library System. Faced with serving communities such as Camden, where only 64% of residents over the age of 25 have a high school diploma, the County is offering innovative solutions. Last year, the Library System launched Career Online High School, an accredited online, career-based high school completion program. The program, made possible by a grant awarded to the New Jersey State Library from the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, has been offered to six New Jersey libraries through a competitive application process. Response to the program has been overwhelmingly positive. Thirty-five County residents are now enrolled in Career Online High School. To date, three have graduated. Students cited serving as a role model for younger siblings or their children as their greatest incentive for earning their diploma. Other reasons include gaining economic stability, finding a better job or starting a path to higher education. All of the students feel that the ability to complete course work from home, online, and when convenient is key in what makes Career Online High School accessible and achievable. As a means to connect with the community and combat illiteracy, the Library System began offering free reading classes for adults at its Nilsa Cruz-Perez Downtown Camden Branch in November. After only a few months, the program is thriving and serves twenty-two English as a second language (ESL) students and six basic literacy students. Four classes are held each week at the branch and are taught by experienced teachers.

Students Can Get Homework Help Online at Camden County Library Did you know that the Camden County Library System has online homework help for students of all ages? The library offers free access to Tutor.com, on-site tutoring at some branches, downloadable e-books and programs that encourage early literacy even before children start school. Kid’s Zone and Teen Space are special sections on the library’s website that include homework help in a variety of forms. Resources organized by different subjects and multisubject sources can be accessed from these pages. Go to camdencountylibrary.org and click on Using the Library at the top where visitors will find the Kids Zone and Teen Space menus that include links to Homework Help pages. For more specific help on a homework assignment or problem, card members can get free live, one-on-one help through Tutor.com at camdencountylibrary.org/tutor. The Nilsa I. CruzPerez Downtown and Riletta L. Cream Ferry Ave. branches also offer homework clubs during the regular school year.

The students in the program have courageous stories. A father in the ESL class, a first generation immigrant from Mexico, wants to be able to effectively advocate for his two sons in their Camden elementary school, one of whom is on the autism spectrum. One of the basic reading students works at a pet food store and wants to be better able to do things like inventory. To make up for not being able to read, he studies dictionaries and has created his own system for using sight words -- memorizing a picture of what each word represents along with what the word looks like. In the future, the reading classes will take on a “whole family” approach to literacy. Children of the students will be able to attend along with their parents or caregivers and be treated to story times and books to take home with them. Ultimately, programs such as these will help to break the cycle of illiteracy and unemployment and offer a brighter future for communities like Camden. “It is imperative that anyone who wants to learn how to read be given the opportunity and help to do so,” explains Freeholder Ian Leonard. “This service is invaluable and can be a matter of raising the standard of living for residents, providing them access to new opportunities.” For more information about these and other great programs the library has to offer, go to camdencountylibrary.org.

Rutgers and Camden County College … A Partnership for the Future By John Hanson and Ed McDonnell There’s one thing we’ve all learned about the cost of Higher Education. It’s expensive and getting more expensive every year. Recession, recovery, high unemployment, low unemployment? None of the economic factors which influence every other part of the economy seem to influence the strangling tuition and fees which keep college out of reach for too many high school grads. Numerous plots have been hatched by wellmeaning policymakers to make college more affordable. One interesting idea is to allow students to attend college at no cost. Yes, free college degrees. Under this plan, only after graduation and successful entry into the workforce would graduates begin to pay tuition back to the colleges which awarded their degrees. Attend now, pay later. Great idea, but lots of devils in those details. President Obama has suggested that, not four years, but at least two years at a community college should be free, just like elementary and high school. His theory is that, to be successful in the workforce, a two-year Associates Degree, or at least some community college training, is as basic now as a high school diploma once was. Therefore, his logic goes, since it is the new minimum credential for entering the workforce, a community college education should be free, just like high school. Whatever the merits of such ideas, none of them are likely to be in place any time soon.

So, what do desperate parents do in the meantime to give their kids a chance at college, without destroying the family’s economic future, or crushing the college graduate with loans they’ll still be paying 15 years after graduation? Rutgers University and Camden County College to the rescue. Together they have created a model that doesn’t make college free, but has the potential to put a prestigious fouryear Rutgers degree within the financial reach of most high school grads. The idea is not unique to Camden County College and Rutgers, but it’s as simple as it is smart. A student applies to the newly named Rutgers University at Camden County College. If the goal is a four-year degree, the student will apply to and be simultaneously accepted at both Camden County College and Rutgers University. The student who successfully completes all the requirements for a two-year Associates Degree, and maintains a 2.0 grade point average at Camden County College, is guaranteed that she will transfer directly to Rutgers-Camden. In this scenario, fully half of the bachelor’s degree requirements will have been accomplished at community college tuition rates, a savings of almost $20,000 compared to attending Rutgers for all four years.

College is a great place to start earning a Rutgers degree. The new name for Camden County College – Rutgers University at Camden County College – will take a little getting used to. The part families will have no trouble getting used to is the reduced cost of a four-year degree, and the reduced debt from student loans. Welcome to Rutgers University at Camden County College.

John Hanson is Chairman of the Camden County College Board of Trustees. Ed McDonnell is Deputy Director of the Camden County Board of Freeholders and Freeholder Liaison to Camden County College.

That’s by no means a free college education, but while we’re waiting for that, the new Rutgers University at Camden County

Voting Made Easy With

Vote By Mail!

If you haven’t heard already, the Office of the County Clerk has a new voting program available to all registered voters in Camden County called the Vote by Mail Program. Vote by Mail (VBM) makes voting easier than ever as it replaces the old Absentee Ballot Program. With VBM, it’s no longer necessary to provide an excuse or reason to request your official election ballot through the mail in the event you plan to be out of town, get sick or are confined to your home. In fact, under the new guidelines you can sign up for VBM just so you don’t forget to vote. The process is quick, easy and best of all, it’s free of charge. Voting is our civic duty, and here in Camden County we strive to make the process as easy as possible in order to encourage voters to vote in every election. If you or someone in your household would like further information about Voting by Mail (VBM) call (856) 225-7219 and speak with an Election Division representative or visit www.camdencounty.com/vbm.

EVENT CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS For full event schedule and details go to Camdencounty.com

Nature and Green Events OCT

17 OCT

23 OCT

OCT

• Autumn Nature Walk • Household Hazardous Waste Collection Event

Peter Frampton will be performing his acoustic tour on October 12th at the Scottish Rite Theatre in Collingswood.

Music & Entertainment OCT

12 OCT

• The Haunting Hayride

24 OCT

• The Haunting Hayride • Bark in the Park • Fall Hunter’s Moonlit Walk • Identity Theft Protection Event - Paper Shredding • Kiddie Pumpkin Patch

30 NOV

NOV

• Young Explorers Fall Nature Programs

NOV

NOV OCT

• A Free Day of Billiards and Bowling

OCT

• Caregivers Conference

OCT

21 OCT

27 OCT

29 DEC

• Masquerade Ball Senior Dance • A Salute to Sinatra VIP Concert

DEC

11 FEB

• 50th Anniversary Luncheon Celebration of the Implementation of the Older Americans Act

MAR

• Senior Dance Series

10 APR

A Very Special Thank You to Our Sponsors Without these partners these events would not be possible. 6

• Peter Frampton Raw • Boz Scaggs • Loreena McKennitt • Blue Oyster Cult • The Olate Dogs • Ani DiFranco • Buddy Guy • Steve Hackett • Will Downing • The Wizards of Winter • Squeeze • America • The Beach Boys • Pink Martini • Tower of Power with Average White Band

Last year’s Pledge a Paw Dog Walk raised over $41,000 to care for homeless shelter pets.

Freeholder Director Lou Cappelli, Jr. speaks at the 2014 Overdose Awareness Remembrance Vigil.

Charity Walks

Special Events & Celebrations OCT

10 OCT

28 OCT

29 NOV

NOV

27 DEC

• International Day • Overdose Remembrance Candlelight Vigil

OCT

10 OCT

• Fall Job Fair

• 2015 Sports Hall of Fame

OCT

• Veterans Medal Ceremony at Kennedy Center at Voorhees

17 OCT

18 OCT

• Veterans Day Ceremony

• 11th Annual Veterans Thanksgiving Holiday Meal

OCT

• Winterfest Opening Weekend Kick-Off • Camden County and Gloucester County Pearl Harbor Day Commemoration

Freeholder Deputy Director Ed McDonnell speaks to veterans at a medal ceremony at Kennedy Health.

25 OCT

31 NOV

• Genesis Counseling Centers “Walk the Talk” Christopher Schultes 5K Run/Walk • 2015 Pledge a Paw Dog Walk • Build Jake’s Place 2nd Annual Jake’s Run4Play 4-Mile Run & 1-Mile Fun Walk • Philadelphia Area FARE Walk for Food Allergy • Southern New Jersey Fall Heart Walk • American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk • Breathe Deep South Jersey Walk • Cooper Norcross Run the Bridge

Thousands of runners and walkers come out to take part in the annual Cooper Norcross Run the Bridge, the largest and most picturesque 10K in the tri-state region.

RETROSPECT 7

BOARD OF FREEHOLDERS

PRST STD U.S. POSTAGE

Louis Cappelli, Jr. Director Edward T. McDonnell Deputy Director Michelle A. Gentek-Mayer

Board of Freeholders 520 Market Street Camden, NJ 08102-1375

Ian K. Leonard

PAID

Bellmawr, NJ Permit No. 1523

ECRWSS

Jeffrey L. Nash Carmen G. Rodriguez Jonathan L. Young, Sr CAMDEN COUNTY OFFICIALS Joseph Ripa County Clerk Charles H. Billingham County Sheriff

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Department Spotlight! Children’s Services

The Department of Children’s Services has been assisting Camden County families with child care needs for more than 40 years. Since its inception in 1971, the department has had as its core mission the promotion of quality, affordable, and accessible child care for all families. Throughout their tenure, tens of thousands of children have benefited from their services and the demand for child care continues to increase. In the last year, the department responded to more than 20,000 requests either by phone, email, or in-person. The Department of Children’s Services works closely with hundreds of child care providers throughout Camden County to improve the standards of care for the healthy development of children. The office offers referrals to child care and also helps by providing subsidies for those who qualify for childcare assistance. The department has also developed close working relationships and has been actively

involved with numerous agencies and advocacy groups, both locally and statewide, that are concerned with the wellbeing of children and families. “We continue to work cooperatively and collaboratively with schools, community agencies, businesses, and government organizations to enhance and expand child care services in Camden County and we are actively involved in a number of statewide organizations that address child care issues,” said Freeholder Carmen Rodriguez, liaison to the department. Camden County residents who are interested in providing child care for a minimum of five children as a small business in their home should contact the Department of Children’s Services Family Child Care Unit at children@camdencounty.com. To find a child care provider or to get more information regarding programs or services, visit camdencounty.com/children or contact the Children’s Services resource hotline at (856) 374-6376.