GiveMoore is an online organization for neighbors helping neighbors, and something that co-founders Karen Reiner and Laurie LaMonica hope will strengthen bonds in the community.
“I think we’re a community that has tremendous spirit and caring for one another, and I think if we’re aware of where there are needs, I trust that people will step up,” Reiner said. “I know they will because I’ve seen it happen before.”
“It’s special for me because everybody is getting something out of this,” LaMonica said. “Not only the person that’s getting the need met, but also the person that’s giving.”
GiveMoore, sponsored by nonprofit MooreUnity, is a Facebook group that provides a space for those in need to ask for help and for others to provide it.
Reiner explained how one idea that inspired GiveMoore was It Takes a Village New Jersey, founded by late Moorestown residents Trudi and Irwin Herman. It is a community of volunteers who helped people of all ages in need of assistance.
Although GiveMoore is a new group, several hundred people have signed up to help their neighbors. The group is limited to those who live in, work in or have an affiliation to Moorestown, and Reiner also mentioned that any students who become a member and help will receive high school service hours.
“I think potentially the largest population of folks that needs the help might be older people who aren’t using social media regularly,” Reiner noted, “and so I want to give them a window in if they don’t use social media, that they still have a way of requesting help.”
Anyone who is not on Facebook can still request for help through mooreunitynj@gmail.com by describing what they need, and a member of the nonprofit will create the post for them on GiveMoore. People can also email MooreUnity and have a post created for them that’s anonymous if they choose to do so.
“A lot of times people are reluctant to ask for help because we feel like we’re (a burden) but my perspective on it is that when a friend asks me for help, I see that as a gift,” Reiner explained. “It means that they trust me enough to let me into their world.
“It gives me a chance to show how much I care about them, and I always feel better after I’ve done something for someone else.”
Reiner and LaMonica would love for GiveMoore to show people how much of a difference helping others can make, especially when lending a hand to someone they don’t know.
“I want people to feel that sense of, ‘Wow, I really just made a difference to somebody that I don’t know,’ and that the person feels like, ‘That was really nice of somebody to come over and I can get help,’” Reiner said.
“I’m just hoping that this provides a forum to spread that caring and that love among the people in our town who need support.”
