Lancer HCHY Seeks New Members to Help Expand Support of Livingston Community in Second Year

LIVINGSTON, NJ — After hosting a series of highly successful fundraising events in their first year to benefit Livingston Neighbors Helping Neighbors (LNHN), members of Lancer HCHY — the student arm of Livingston’s Healthy Community, Health Youth (HCHY) initiative — are seeking new members to join their organization.

Lancer HCHY will be hosting a booth at Tuesday’s Clubs and Activities Fair for incoming freshmen at Livingston High School (LHS) in hopes of expanding its membership, which is currently made up primarily of athletes and sports enthusiasts who recently paired their passions for physical activity and community service to host a Wiffle ball tournament, yoga fundraiser and other initiatives in support of LNHN.

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Heading into the club’s second year, rising junior Jack Silberman said he looks forward to finding new and exciting ways to support LNHN, which provides short-term financial assistance to Livingston families in need and manages the township’s Communty Hunger Outreach Warehouse (CHOW) food pantry.

Although LNHN is only one of six organizations that HCHY works with, Silberman said he selected LNHN as the student arm’s primary beneficiary because it directly supports families in the immediate community.

“These are people in your own community, from the Livingston community, so what could be a better cause?” he said. “These are people who could be your neighbors, who are living in the same community as you, so I think it's very personal, and I think it’s a great way to support and connect with others.”

As the grandson of longtime resident Walter Joyce — whose recent accolades in recognition of his own community service efforts include being named Grand Marshal for the 2023 Livingston Memorial Day Parade and Livingston UNICO’s 2019 Citizen of the Year — Silberman’s community-minded spirit was formed at a young age. In recent years, he and his sister Natalie have followed in the charitable footsteps of their grandfather as well as their mother, Jeanne, who was honored at the first annual Inspiring Women of Livingston awards ceremon y for helping hundreds of senior citizens, teachers and others obtain vaccination appointments during the pandemic.

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Upon his sister’s graduation from LHS in 2022, Silberman picked up the torch as the student representative at HCHY and soon enlisted friends to help organize fundraisers, food drives and more for LNHN.

“My grandfather has always encouraged me to volunteer in Livingston," said Silberman. "Thanks to my older sister Natalie — who was really involved in high school and helping HCHY — I was asked to be the student board member of the organization my freshman year of high school...

"The experience has been eye-opening and rewarding…I am lucky to have a close-knit group of friends who are all Lancer athletes and have been friends since kindergarten at Hillside Elementary School. They all happily joined the club, participating and leading all events and many taking on leadership positions."

Silberman explained that his friends were quickly inspired to join him after HCHY and LNHN board member Martha Ackermann gave them a tour of the CHOW food pantry located at Livingston Town Hall.

Since then, Lancer HCHY has hosted four successful events and fundraising initiatives that have included the following highlights:

• Fall Wiffle Ball Tournament — Lancer HCHY raised approximately $500 toward the local food pantry with its inaugural Field of Dreams Wiffle Ball Tournament, which was open to seventh and eighth graders as part of Livingston’s 2023 Youth Appreciation Week. In addition to providing monetary donations, participants also contributed non-perishable food items on the day of the event.
  
• Holiday Baking Party — Prior to the winter holidays, LHS athletes baked more than 100 cookies for the families supported by LNHN as part of Lancer HCHY’s inaugural Holiday Baking Party.
  
• Spring Paper Products Collection — In the spring, Lancer HCHY organized a collection of paper products during an LHS baseball game in an effort to fill a crucial gap for LNHN, whose vouchers do not cover these items.
  
• Spring Yoga Fundraiser — Most recently, Lancer HCHY recruited Heritage Middle School teacher Melissa Giordano — a Livingston mom and an active member of the Big L Club — to lead a yoga session that raised approximately $400 for the purchase of additional paper products and other much-needed pantry items.

Throughout the spring, the group also collected canned foods or monetary donations during LHS baseball and softball games to help stock the shelves at the CHOW food pantry.

Ahead of Lancer HCHY’s second season, Silberman noted that these events would not have been possible without “tremendous support from local businesses” such as Powerflow Yoga, which sponsored and hosted the yoga fundraiser; Bagel Nosh, which provided bagels and refreshments; and Dr. Douglas Harte and Dr. Larry Harte of Livingston’s Harte Orthodontics, who sponsored the inaugural Wiffle ball tournament.

Silberman also expressed gratitude toward Ackermann — who now serves as faculty advisor to Lancer HCHY as a member of the support staff at LHS — for helping club members to “truly feel the impact of [their] efforts” through her continued guidance and support.

“Martha has been great at setting the example for us on how to be a good leader,” said Silberman. “For this club and in general, everyday life, she understands how to lead and how to create an environment where people are willing to listen to you because of how you carry yourself. I think she does a great job passing that on to us so that we can become leaders ourselves, whether that's within the Livingston community or beyond.”

In addition to continuing his position as student board member at HCHY, Silberman currently serves as Lancer HCHY co-president along with Nate Vays.

Both Silberman and Vays are members of the LHS baseball team along with club secretary Jimmy Bonardi, who is also a member of the LHS wrestling team, and social media representative Sean Mullen, who also plays football for LHS. Sophie Rotheld, a member of the LHS softball team, serves as the club's vice president.

According to Silberman, the current board members and other Lancer HCHY volunteers bonded over a mutual interest to "combine their love of sports with the mission to support the Livingston food pantry.”

As the board continues to organize upcoming events such as the second annual fall Wiffle ball tournament and brainstorm new and exciting ways to support LNHN over the next year, Lancer HCHY encourages LHS students in all grades to consider getting involved with the growing service organization.

“We organize a lot of engaging and fun activities, and it's all going towards the Livingston food pantry. Everything we do is for a good cause that’s specifically for Livingston, so you would be helping out people in your own community, and you get to do these super fun things through it. I think those things combined makes it really appealing.”

The Clubs and Activities Fair for incoming freshmen will be held in the LHS Fitness and Wellness Center at 12 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 17.

LHS students can also join Lancer HCHY throughout the year. To learn more or to become a member of Lancer HCHY, contact Silberman at jack.silberman@lps-students.org .

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