Good Grief is 100+ Women Who Care of Mercer County’s Donor Recipient

Good Grief is proud to be selected by 100+ Women Who Care of Mercer County as their winter, 2017 donor recipient. 100+ Women Who Care is a nation-wide philanthropic organization. Their Mercer County chapter is dedicated to making a positive impact for families and philanthropic organizations in Mercer County. This group of thoughtful, generous people meet four times a year and pool their donations to have a maximum impact on individual organizations.

Debbie Blakely is a Good Grief participant and a member of 100+ Women Who Care of Mercer County who nominated Good Grief for consideration. “Hearing about the different organizations that were nominated and the excitement when we learned about what our donations were doing to help others, made me certain that I wanted to share how special Good Grief was, in the hope that it too would be nominated.” Debbie was surprised to learn how many members of her group were unaware of Good Grief’s presence in the community and their mission to provide unlimited and free support to children, teens, young adults, and families after the death of a mother, father, sister, or brother through our peer support programs, education, and advocacy. Said Debbie of her ongoing connection and experience with Good Grief, “My daughters and I started coming to Good Grief in September 2016. The girls and I immediately felt a connection with the families attending. It was a place, where we could talk, cry, laugh and vent about what we were experiencing, and others actually understood what we are going through. My girls feel comfortable talking about their father and their grief because the children in their group are walking the same path they are. I feel like Good Grief has given the girls a voice.”

Other members of 100+ Women Who Care were deeply moved after Debbie’s presentation, especially when she offered up her own experiences with Good Grief and showed the group a short video summarizing the impact the organization has on so many grieving families in Mercer County. Ellen Fahey, founder of 100+ WWC of Mercer County, was especially moved by Good Grief’s mission and programs, as well as the supportive community it represents to grieving families. “The compassionate love that is shared and experienced at Good Grief is a great gift. I was so moved to see how much time, effort, resources, and love go into creating and supporting such a charity.”

Donations from organization such as 100+ Women Who Care of Mercer County have a dual impact on Good Grief. Good Grief remains committed to providing their services to grieving families free of charge and for as long as a family is in need of their service. Good Grief relies on private donors, foundations and corporate sponsorship for 100% of their funding each year, so a gifts from organization such as 100+ Women make a significant difference. The other impact is to help raise awareness of the need for an organization such as Good Grief in our community. The New York Life Foundation estimates 1 in 7 Americans will lose a parent or sibling before the age of 20. Good Grief estimates there are approximately 280,000 grieving children under the age of 18 in New Jersey, and Mercer County has the second highest population of grieving children in the state.

“We are so grateful to 100+ Women Who Care”, expressed Good Grief’s CEO Joe Primo. “Their support of Good Grief and families like the Blakelys helps provide opportunities for children and families to become more resilient, better equipped to endure their daily challenges, and ultimately more hopeful and healthy. Caring for grieving families is a community effort and we can’t thank 100+ Woman Who Care enough.”

(From left to right) Ellen Fahey, Courtney Hodock, Debbie Blakely and her two daughters

To view the Good Grief video Debbie shared with 100+ Women Who Care of Mercer County, or to learn more about Good Grief, please visit our website: www.good-grief.org and click on the “Watch Our Video” button.

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Good Grief’s mission is to provide unlimited and free support to children, teens, young adults, and families after the death of a mother, father, sister, or brother through our peer support programs, education, and advocacy. Strategic initiatives include expansion throughout New Jersey to ensure no child ever has to grieve alone.

Good Grief was founded in 2004 and opened their Morristown, New Jersey, center in 2011. The organization expanded their services to include the Princeton, New Jersey, area, and in 2015, opened their Princeton center. Today the Morristown and Princeton centers provide support to over 750 participants each month in the more than 21,000 square feet of dynamic, interactive, and creative space. Good Grief is a registered 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit organization. For more information about Good Grief, please visit our web site www.good-grief.org.

Contacts:
Joseph Primo, CEO : 609-498-6674 x 8011

Courtney Hodock, Director of Development : 609-498-6674 x 8010