MORRIS COUNTY —  April is Child Abuse Awareness Month and for the second year, Deirdre’s House, the Center for Morris County’s child victims of abuse and or neglect, will be holding its Wine and Whiskey Tasting to raise funds to provide services to child victims of abuse and/or neglect and for children that have witnessed violence. The event will be held on Friday, April 5 at the Morristown Hyatt, 3 Speedwell Avenue, Morristown.

For the second year, Wine and Whiskey Country is the co-sponsor of the event, which will feature a wide variety Wine and Whiskies available for tasting, as well as a Wine and Spirit Pull, Silent Auction, and Buffet. Just some of the whiskies that will be available for tasting are Tommy Rotter Triple Barrel, Featherbone Bourbon, Slane Irish Whiskey, High West, Whistle Pig 12-Year-Old, Buffalo Trace, Eagle Rare, Four Roses Yellow Label, Old Forester 1870. There will also be a variety of gins and vodkas.  Attendees will also have the chance to participate in the SHINE campaign, a national initiative with the goal of transforming the conversation around the issue of child sexual abuse.  Event attendees will be able to have their photograph taken with special signs that feature encouraging messages for survivors of child sexual assault.

Sponsors, attendees, and silent auction donors are still needed to help raise funds to ensure that critical services provided by Deirdre’s House will continue to be available to child abuse victims and their families. In addition to Wine and Whiskey Country, lead sponsors already include Bressler, Amery and Ross, Peapack-Gladstone Bank, Charles Schwab Morristown Office, and several private donors.  For more information and to purchase tickets click here.

Founded in 1994, Deirdre’s House, is the leading resource for children in Morris County who have suffered abuse, neglect or witnessed domestic violence.  It is the only site in Morris County where a child victim can be interviewed and digitally recorded by law enforcement, medically examined and treated, and clinically counseled in English and Spanish, all free-of-charge and all under one roof.

Proceeds from the Wine and Whiskey event will be used to fund the Deirdre’s House Advocacy and Clinical Counseling Programs.  Deirdre’s House Executive Director Maria Vinci Savettiere, Esq. explained, “By attending or sponsoring this event, members of our community can raise funds and awareness to ensure that though a child’s life may be altered by abuse, it does not have to be defined by that abuse.”

For more information on Deirdre’s House call (973) 631-5000, or click here.

MORRIS COUNTY — Casey (Kaushik) Parikh, Parsippany, was appointed to Morris County Open Space Trust Fund Committee for a term of two years, expiring on December 31, 2020.

The Morris County Open Space Committee reviews, prioritizes and makes recommendations to the Morris County Board of Chosen Freeholders on the funding or projects which fall into the municipal/qualified charitable conservancy category.

This fifteen (15) member Committee consists of one representative from each of the eight municipal regions in the county, plus representatives from the County Planning Board, County Agriculture Development Board, County Park Commission, County Municipal Utilities Authority, County Historic Preservation Trust Fund Review Board, and two members at-large. The Committee members are appointed by the Morris County Board of Chosen Freeholders pursuant to the Rules and Regulations of the Morris County Preservation Trust Fund.

All meetings are held at 30 Schuyler Place (2nd Floor Conference Room), Morristown.

He is an active volunteer and provides selfless service to the Parsippany community. He mentors the younger generation and works with seniors to improve their quality of life. He always looks for the opportunity to serve the community. Casey has been a resident of Parsippany for over 30 years. He lives with his wife Rita. His daughter Coral lives with her husband Krishna in New York. His son Emil, also in NY, is an IT professional.

Casey graduated as an Electrical Engineer from the University of Bombay, India. He earned his Masters and MBA from the Florida Institute of Technology.

Casey worked at Kennedy Space Center, FL for NASA as a launch team member of the Space Shuttle. At Tyco International he served as Director and recently retired to dedicate his full attention to community service.

Casey served as chairman of the Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Planning Board for 24 years. He was a member of the Rotary Club and currently is a member of the Kiwanis Club of Greater Parsippany.

Parikh is one of the founders of the Parsippany Indian Association. He has served on the Board of Education demographics committee; as board member of the Parsippany Child Day Care; and the Attorney Ethics Committee and as an advisor to Morris county seniors. He is always looking for opportunities to help others.

MORRIS COUNTY — The Morris County Office of Planning and Preservation has announced that the 2019 grant application for funding of open space projects under the Morris County Preservation Trust are now available online by clicking here.

Any of Morris County’s 39 municipalities and qualified charitable conservancies are eligible to apply for grant funding, said Barbara Murray, open space program coordinator. The deadline to apply is Friday, June 14.

Program rules recently were amended to include costs for demolition and restoration of a property (up to a maximum of 10 percent of the eligible land cost, or $50,000 whichever is less) as allowable costs under the program.

A workshop will be held on March 28from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Morris County Cultural Center to review program changes and answer questions regarding project eligibility.

Funding for the grants comes from the county’s Preservation Trust Fund, which generates revenues through a voter-approved special county tax.

The tax, set at 3/4 of a cent per $100 of tax assessment, should generate about $7.2 million this year. Of that money, the county allocates 1/4 of a cent to the Park Improvement Trust used by the Park Commission to restore facilities and 1/2 of a cent is allocated to the other Preservation Trust Programs.

In addition to open space projects, the county’s preservation fund also helps finance farmland and historic preservation, county parkland acquisition, recreational trails project, and the purchase of residential properties prone to flooding.

“The smart preservation of open space in Morris County is one of the keys to sustained economic development and the high quality of life that is enjoyed by residents in Morris County,’’ said Freeholder Stephen Shaw, who is the county governing board’s liaison to the Department of Planning and Preservation.

“Our parks and green open space, interconnected by a growing countywide trail system, offer a wide variety of recreational opportunities for our residents, making Morris County a special place to live, work and play,’’ he added.

The freeholders in 2018 approved funding for five preservation projects at a cost $1.93 million and totaling 47 acres in five Morris County towns. Included were projects in Boonton, Denville, Mendham Township, Morris Plains, and Roxbury.

They ranged from a 1.42-acre tract next to a new housing development in Morris Plains to a nearly 18-acre expansion of Lewis Morris County Park in Mendham Township.

About 14,400 acres of open space have been preserved with the assistance of grant funding from the county program since its inception in 1993, according to Murray.

The deadline for submitting 2019 open space applications and appraisals is Friday, June 14.

The Morris County Open Space Trust Fund Committee will visit proposed sites in September, with final presentations made in October, and recommendations made to the freeholder board in early November. You can obtain additional information by contacting the Morris County Office of Planning and Preservation at (973) 829-8120.

For detailed information on the 2018 projects and grants click here.