Paying It Forward To Friends And Families

Friends Helping Friends of New Jersey started up three years ago by a group in Ocean County, led by Chairman John Townsend. They aim to help people in a time of need.

"Basically two friends of ours were battling cancer," he said, "and we were just sitting around and trying to figure out how we can help them."

The idea hatched was to hold a golf outing to raise money for the cancer victims and their families. The immediate feedback was overwhelming, and in addition to the golf out, they made it a full fledged event with a dinner and auction.

"We didn't really know what to expect because we were jsut getting into it," Townsend said, "we wound up with 160 golfers and over 300 people for dinner."

Townsend says that in just two years of holding these events for Friends Helping Friends, the group has raised around $100,000. They are on target with their fundraising for this year's event, which will be held at Eagle Ridge Golf Club in Lakewood on October 28th.

The event this year will raise money for two families, as well as the Wounded Warrior Project.

The goal of the group lies very much in the name of the charity.

"We believe in helping friends, we believe in helping family," he said, "that whatever we can do to help everybody."

In addition to fundraising, Friends Helping Friends also helps out with services during the tough time, such as cooking food, lawn services, and cleaning.

"We like to pay it forward," Townsend explained, "we want to pay it forward to people that are in need."

Get more information on the fundraiser and the organization by checking out their website.