- We are pleased to be joined by Idana Goldberg who's CEO of the Russell Berrie Foundation.

Idana, good to see you.

- Good to be here with you, Steve.

- I was remiss, that is Dr. Idana Goldberg, my apologies.

- No problem.

- Idana, we're putting up the website for the foundation.

We have been longtime partners with the Russell Berrie Foundation.

I've been honored for well over two decades, 27 years I think hosting, emceeing the Making a Difference the Russell Berrie Making a Difference Awards.

Tell everyone what the foundation is and what the awards are.

- So the Russell Berrie Foundation comes out of the vision of our founder Russell Berrie and his passions and interests.

I don't think we have enough time to go into all of the many things that we fund which often is common when you're based on the passions of an individual.

But we invest in visionary people and visionary ideas around the interests of our founder.

And that includes health, it includes the Jewish community it involves supporting a strong and secure Israel.

But most importantly we really love to invest in the people of New Jersey.

And that has led to the Making A Difference Awards which for the last 27 years has identified and honored over 400 heroes across the state of New Jersey.

- And we have featured many of I apologize, Idana we've featured many of those.

Actually we're taping today two leaders who received the Russell Berrie Making A Difference Award in the area of fighting gun violence.

That's just an example.

But can I throw a couple at you and tell me a little bit about this?

There was a grant provided to SciTech Scity.

- Yes.

- Tell us about that.

- Sure.

So the foundation has been a longtime supporter of Sheba Medical Center.

In particular the medical simulation work that the hospital does.

We learned of the visionary work that Paul Hoffman at Liberty Science Center is doing to expand into Jersey City and build SciTech Scity.

And we connected Paul with Sheba Medical Center and we've been really pleased to make a grant to bring Sheba together with Liberty Science Center to bring medical innovation from Israel into real life healthcare issues facing our modern world.

So hopefully with our support Sheba will be bringing examples of Israeli technology to address the challenges of today.

And what we're really excited about is the ways in which New Jersey hospitals, New Jersey companies New Jersey School children will be able when this building is completed in a few years and the SciTech Scity campus to experience the medical innovation that comes out of Israel brought into our backyard here in New Jersey.

- You know, I'm about to ask you about the Greater Bergen Community Action Grant that the folks there received from the Russell Berrie Foundation, but also as disclosed the Russell Berrie Foundation supports our programming around making a difference honorees to recognize, to honor, to feature those leaders for one simple reason, because we are trying to promote the idea of making a difference in your community.

And you go on the website of the Russell Berrie Foundation to find out more when that portal opens to potentially nominate someone in your community making a difference.

Let's go back to this the Greater Bergen Community Action acronym, excuse me, GBCA.

What is this $750,000 grant intended to accomplish at Bergen County?

- Sure, this is another grant we just recently made that we're very excited about.

This is a grant to something called the Unity Health Partnership.

Greater Bergen has brought together five organizations the Bergen Volunteer Medical Initiative, community Food Bank, CBH Care which brings mental health together into one space to provide social services and medical care to those at risk in Central and Southern Bergen.

What we love about this is the way in which this is gonna provide holistic care to those most in need.

And once again it's an opportunity to leverage groups' expertise in new ways.

And in this case we've actually offered this grant as a leveraging opportunity.

Greater Bergen has already received tremendous support from city, state and even national funding opportunities.

But we'd really like to help them bring in additional funding from local philanthropy other funders to match our grant to enable them to complete the capital needs for this project because we know it's gonna bring needed healthcare, needed mental health services, meet the food insecurity needs of those in our backyard who really need this at this moment.

And it's again, something that we see because for us giving back to the community in which we live and which we operate is really important.

- Idana, let's bring it even closer to home.

There are people that have been recognized over the years with Making A Difference Awards and one of them is Pino Rodriguez.

I went down to Camden to meet Pino.

And I know that Pamela Johnson over in Jersey City involved in Anti-Violence Coalition Hudson County is someone you're very aware of as well.

But I remember going down and seeing Pino on the streets of Camden making a difference in his community, cleaning up the community with volunteers and others, improving the community.

People like Pino are real leaders, aren't they?

- They are and I think Pino was awarded the Making A Difference Award my first year at the foundation.

And he just really stuck out for me because it was such an example of the way an individual took his own situation, he was somebody who if I remember it correctly, actually he had been told he wasn't able to have visitation rights with his own children, because the community in which he lived was deemed too dangerous by a judge.

- Too dangerous.

There were gunshots he heard every hour.

- Exactly.

- And he started the Block Supporter Initiative.

I'm sorry.

- Exactly.

No, he created this Block Supporter Initiative in which he mobilized the people in his neighborhood to take responsibility.

And they beautified their neighborhood.

They planted gardens, they cleaned up their houses.

They cleaned up the garbage from the streets.

And they were able to turn around their own streets.

And that then led not only to their own neighborhood but to him that getting a job with Camden and expanding the initiative across the state.

And I think it's such a great example the kind of heroes that we love to honor through the Making A Difference Award.

Those who see something in their own lives say, "this isn't okay," take action and then from that we see the ripple effects across their communities and then across the state.

- Angelica Berrie, the president of the foundation talks about that ripple effect.

And so whether it's Pino Rodriguez or Pamela Johnson in Jersey City, the Anti-Violence Coalition which by the way, check out the website the Russell Berrie Foundation website to find out more.

Dr. Idana Goldberg, the CEO of the Russell Berrie Foundation thank you so much for joining us, really appreciate it.

- And thank you, Steve, for all you do to partner with us on the Making A Difference Awards.

- We're doing the easy part.

Stay with us, we'll be right back.

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