No, Vincent Virga, president of Partnership Financial Services, doesn’t at all look like Jimmy Stewart, who played George Bailey in the classic holiday film, “It’s a wonderful life,” but he seems to have the same feeling about the community, and for the third year in a row hopes to generate donations for a local charity organization through a program named after yet another classic Christmas film, “Miracle on 34th Street.”
Virga has organized a food and toy drive at his offices on Broadway near 34th Street as a way of generating interest in a part of town often overlooked, as well as generating funds for a good cause. This year, the drive is dedicated to raising food and toys for Windmill Alliance’s H.I.G.H.W.A.Y.S. program.
“We are grateful for HIGHWAYS being the recipients of donations from “Miracle on 34th Street,” said Rev. Rose Cohen Hassan, Director of Social Services, H.I.G.H.W.A.Y.S. “Right now we have 125 families on our list who are in need, 103 of them with children. Receiving these donations will help us care for everyone on our list, so that no children go without presents this Christmas.”
The Rev. Gregory Perez, President of The Windmill Alliance said, “As always, we are grateful to the residents of Bayonne and community and business leaders who enable us to help those most in need in our community through their generosity.”
Recently installed as the president of the Bayonne Chamber of Commerce, Virga said his goal is to promote business throughout the city.
Although this drives comes during the holiday season, Virga said he is trying to raise awareness throughout the city and to get people to think and act as a community and to begin to come together not only around the holidays, but year round.
He believes that if businesses and others can work together to find food and toys for the needy, they can also work together for the common good as a business community later as well.
In conjunction with that effort, PFS will offer photos with Santa on Saturday, Dec. 17, from noon to 3 p.m. with any toy or food item dropped off.
Third Ward Councilman Ray Greaves was involved with the program last year and said he helped Virga last year and will help against this year.
“It is through Vinnie’s drive that this has been a success every year and I hope this year we can see a lot of happy faces and a lot of big smiles on Christmas,” Greaves said.
Partnership Financial Services is located 766 Broadway, on the corner of 34th Street. For additional information, please call 201.339.7300.
The Windmill Alliance, Inc. began in 1985 as an interfaith collaboration of all the churches and synagogues in the community. Today, the Windmill Center serves nearly 50 developmentally disabled adults each day. The Windmill Center offers industry, activities of daily living, arts and crafts, counseling, and life planning to its participants. Other programs of the Windmill Alliance are the Supervised Apartments, which care for fourteen developmentally challenged residents 24/7, and H.I.G.H.W.A.Y.S., the crisis intervention, counseling, emergency food pantry and thrift store program. For additional information on the programs of the Windmill Alliance, please call 201.858.4460, visit www.windmillalliance.org or their Facebook page, Windmill Alliance Inc.