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Hudson Gives: from Our Virtual Home to Our Physical Home

One year ago when Jersey City Writers (JCW) participated in the fundraising campaign, Hudson Gives, we surpassed our goal of $5,000 to build our beautiful new website.

This year, we’re setting an ambitious new goal of $6,000 to build our new physical space, and to make it a home for our community. The site is now a crucial meeting place for our members and has increased our outreach and volunteering capabilities.

As vaccines become more widely available and we get used to masked life, JCW is preparing for a post-COVID future of in-person workshops, performances, and other programming. But we can’t do it without your help.

Hudson Gives is a 24-hour online fundraising campaign taking place on Thursday, May 13. It gives Hudson County nonprofits the chance to band together and ask for support from the community we strive to serve. It’s a chance for donors to show their support to their favorite nonprofits.

The Hudson County Chamber Foundation is hosting and offering various prizes throughout the day. They have devoted two minutes at 5:13 pm and 8:21 pm to match donations, up to $25, for each one made within those sixty seconds. They are also offering prize money to the organization with the most unique donors, so please share this link with your friends and family.
This is the third year that JCW will be participating in Hudson Gives and it is rapidly becoming our biggest fundraising effort since we stopped asking for donations at our weekly meetings in early 2020. Last year, the money we raised helped us build a virtual home; this year, it’s helping us build a physical one.

Hudson Gives broadens the scope and outreach of JCW, and none of it would be possible without the incredible work of our treasurer, Joe Kowalski. Joe has helped fund our organization by hunting down grants, leading donation drives, and running campaigns for Hudson Gives and Giving Tuesday. We sat down with Joe to ask about his journey with JCW…

Sara: How and when did you first get into writing?

Joe: I started writing later in life when a few guys on my beer league hockey team thought of a funny comic book idea. I came in the next week with the first issue and kept going from there, just to have something fun to laugh at before games. This blossomed into a love of writing and transitioned into larger, novel-length, literary fiction pieces with the help of Jersey City Writers.

Sara: How did you get involved as a member of JCW?

Joe: I found JCW when looking for a writing group in the area on Meetup, and absolutely loved this group from my first meeting. I have a B.A. in geology and an M.A. in environmental management, so creative writing wasn’t something I was very well versed in. But everyone was so welcoming and helpful. I found myself coming back every week to Thursday night prompts and workshops. JCW introduced me to the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) in my second meeting in October, and by the end of November I had written a novel.

Sara: What made you want to join the JCW board/get more involved?

Joe: In June of 2019, the board approached me about applying for their treasurer position and I jumped at the opportunity to help an organization that’s helped me so much.

You can help with the JCW Hudson Gives fundraising efforts by sharing our campaign on your social media and sending it to friends, family, and anyone who you think may want to help support our organization. For more info on how to help, reach out to Joe Kowalski at treasurer@jerseycitywriters.org.

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Jersey City Writers  is a (JCW) 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in Hudson County, NJ

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