Passaic Chaverim has recently completed its first year of operation. With that in mind, we felt it would be nice to update the community on our operations, finances, goals, etc.

We started in late June 09 and started out by doing very basic roadside assistance on cars. We started by receiving one or two calls every couple of days, and our response time varied, anywhere from under 5 to 15-20 minutes, depending on the type and time of call.

Baruch Hashem, we have seen remarkable improvements in our response time and in how we can help the community. We have recently taken on quite a few new members who are available during the day, and our avg. response time is well under 10 minutes, well within remarkable for Chaverim organizations, and we now receive an average of 2-3 calls per day.

We have also increased the types of calls we respond to. We received training from Monsey Chaverim, and we routinely perform lockouts, both on cars and on homes. We recently purchased electronic tools to make changing flats simpler and faster and we have a vacuum available for minor basement floods. Weve helped out Hatzolah when needed, and we recently had a table at the Health and Safety Fair, showcasing some of our equipment.

It costs us around $250 to outfit each new member, and there are many members who are not fully outfitted due to lack of funds. We are trying to play it smart with the money, for example: while a battery pack for each unit would be nice, the fact is that if we are going to give a boost to someone, our members car is running, so a cable would suffice and the money would be better spent elsewhere, such as a jack or other tools.

Our expenses are not that high. Our monthly fixed expenses usually does not exceed $25. Every so often we have government (type) expenses that needs to be paid, but that is usually under $100. A good estimate would be that well over 80% of expenses have gone to purchasing equipment as opposed to operating costs. Our fund raising expenses consists of an ad in the YKP directory and a one time ad in the local newsletter. The keychains that were given out by the fair were privately funded.

The more money we have, the more equipment we can buy and the more services we can provide to the community. We are working on getting our 501(c)3 status, but as of now we operate as if we are a 501(c)3 status, and your donations should be tax deductible, but please consult your accountant.

If you have any questions or wish to speak with someone from Chaverim, please call Yossie Abramson at 718-619-8107 or email at [email protected], if you wish to mail in a donation to help us out, you may send it to Passaic Chaverim PO Box 5319 Passaic, NJ 07055. And should you ever be in need of our assistance, our hotline number is 973-447-4811.

(YWN Desk – NYC)