Company Message: We’re shining a ‘Ray of Hope’
Next week, on Monday, Aug. 4 to be precise, our company is celebrating its 10-year anniversary. Ten years ago on that date, we published the first newspaper in the company’s history — The Haddonfield Sun.
Ten years later, we publish 10 newspapers each week, covering the towns of Haddonfield, Moorestown, Cherry Hill, Voorhees, Marlton, Medford, Mt. Laurel, Tabernacle, Shamong and Princeton. We’ve grown a lot over the last 10 years, but we haven’t lost sight of our roots.
On Monday, when we turn the “Big One Zero,” we’ll be hosting a group of our employees, customers, business partners and community leaders who helped make these 10 years so special for us. Jack Tarditi, a leader in the local community, will be the keynote speaker.
The celebration at the Woodcrest Country Club in Cherry Hill will include all the great things that every party needs — good food, good drinks, a good atmosphere, a good speaker, good conversation and good, classic silent auction.
But what will make it extra special — and what we’re most excited about — is the good that our 10-year anniversary celebration will help kick off.
As part of the celebration, we are proud to announce the start of the Sun newspapers’ “Ray of Hope” foundation. Under the umbrella of the South Jersey Foundation, the Ray of Hope will raise money to give back to the local communities we cover.
Back in the day, when we were a much smaller company, we ran an annual contest called the Ray of Hope. Readers would submit short essays nominating a local group, organization, Little League team, PTA, Girl Scout troop and others who were most deserving of a monetary award. We published all these essays, and let our readers vote to select the winner. And we gave that winner $500.
The Ray of Hope foundation we are starting will help us get back to our roots of giving back in a tangible way to the communities that have supported us and helped us grow over these last 10 years. And this time, we’re looking to make a bigger impact than just $500 to one group each year.
Our party on Monday will be the first fundraiser in our ongoing effort to give back. We’ll have other ways that we’ll raise money — with your help — in the coming months.
At the end of the day, though, where we’ll need your help the most is telling us which local groups deserve the financial aid. As we start to build a bigger and bigger fund, we’ll run similar contests to our original Ray of Hope to help decide which organizations are most deserving. And then we’ll make a contribution.
We can’t wait to start, and we’re hoping you’ll help us help those who do the most in our communities.
