The Friendship Journey
ORFJ has partnered with the Friendship Journey on multiple occasions. Jaime was a volunteer for this beautiful organization, which is dedicated to creating long-lasting friendships without boundaries. ORFJ participated in their “Dance Party Friends”, a program that honors Jaime by giving attendees a chance to participate in an inclusive dance party, have fun, and enjoy themselves in a nurturing environment. We donated $1000 to purchase brand new shirts for the participants of the program along with the volunteers. We also hosted “Firefighters, Friendships, and Fun” for the participants to be able to get an interactive experience at Deerfield Station #102. There was food, fun activities, and lots of smiles! And in honor of Jaime’s Birthday, the Guttenbergs donated ORFJ water bottles to ALL 75 campers of Camp Wings of Friendship, so campers could stay cool and hydrated! In 2022, we donated $1000 to be a sponsor for their camp boxes.
Ballet and Books
ORFJ collected gently used leotards and books from the community and donated these to Ballet & Books, a wonderful organization that through dance, builds literacy skills and an excitement for reading! We also donated orange ribbons and our drawstring bags for each of their campers to use for dance, and made an additional $1,000 contribution.
Humane Society of Broward County
Jaime loved animals- she attended camp two summers in a row at the Humane Society of Broward County and her first dog was adopted from there. Because this was such an important place to her, we donated $2,000 to support their Canines for Community Resilience Animal Assisted Therapy Program, which provides therapy dogs in response to tragic situations such as the one at Jaime’s high school. As a community effort, we also collected toys and supplies for the shelter, and Jaime’s dance team donated additional supplies during the holidays last year! In February 2022, we donated ORFJ goodie bags to go home with more than 50 families that adopted pets during their Adopt A Sweetheart event.
World Central Kitchen
In response to the Coronavirus pandemic, ORFJ took proceeds raised from our Comedy Night Fundraiser to benefit Chef Jose Andrés to help feed those in need through his nonprofit World Central Kitchen.
In 2022, following the tragedies in Buffalo & Uvalde, Orange Ribbons raised funds to directly help World Central Kitchen in their efforts to provide meals to these families affected by gun violence. In the end, we were able to make a contribution of $25,000.
Jacob’s Pillow
We were honored to be able to present a $5,000 donation to sponsor one young dancer to be able to attend Jacob’s Pillow summer program in hopes of becoming a professional dancer! Jacob’s Pillow is home to America’s longest-running dance festival, and each year thousands of people from across the U.S. and around the globe visit to experience the Festival with more than 50 dance companies and 200 free performances, talks, and events. We were thrilled to have our sponsored dancer come and perform “Uptown Funk” at our Dance-A-Thon in Parkland!
Paley Institute
We are happy to have had the opportunity to sponsor the Paley Institute’s “Starfish Picnic”. We brought together student volunteers to participate in activities with all of the kids, including water play, arts and crafts, and hair braiding. We also had a face painter, provided lunch for the families and staff, as well as donated books for the children to use. We did this in honor of Jaime who planned to become a pediatric physical therapist and work at the Paley Institute someday. The funds from the Paley Institute are used in a variety of ways to further Dr. Paley’s commitment to “Saving Limbs, Changing Lives.” Jaime’s dance team also did a toy drive on behalf of the organization for their holiday party in 2018 and again in 2020!
Supporting Frontline Workers
ORFJ & our community partner Pasquale’s Pizza teamed up to provide 180 meals to our frontline workers who are the real superheroes putting themselves before others, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. We provided meals for lunch and dinner to the medical staff at Coral Springs Medical Center in recognition of National Nurses Week.
Newtown Action Alliance
A yearly donation is made on behalf of Orange Ribbons For Jaime directly to Newtown Action Alliance in support of their National Gun Violence Vigil. This helps provide the resources needed in support of the several hundred attendees at this vigil. Fred has been a frequent attendee and speaker at this event over the last 6 years.
