Do1Thing co-founder Najlah Feanny Hicks watches Do1Thing videos with son Mikey, 7, and a full house of Do1Thingers at Covenant House in Newark. More than 500 people showed up at Covenant House to drop off donations of food and toiletries, to take tours, meet the kids and get educated about homeless teens in America.
Alex Daley-Clark, Do1Thing Director of Photography flew in from her home in Maine to direct, edit and blog from Covenant House in Newark. Daley-Clark has spent the past three months lining up photographers in 20 different cities for today’s Do1Thing Homeless Youth campaign. Without those photographers we wouldn’t have photos. But without Alex we wouldn’t have had all those photographers.
Alex operates her own freelance photography business from Maine.
The cars started lining up outside Covenant House in Newark at 10 am, the lobby was so full with people that you couldn’t get through. Girl scouts, boy scouts and moms and dads with boxes and bags full of donated goods. All doing their 1 thing. Hours later Newark Covenant House outreach and volunteer coordinator Janette Scrozzo surveyed the room where everything was stored.
We’re sitting at the front desk of Covenant House — a madhouse of activity as donations and volunteers pour in to participate in Do 1 Thing. As you enter, the first thing, you are given a big hug by Momma Gwen, aka Gwendolyn Ross, 
a Covenant House 8-year veteran career development specialist. Momma Gwen is overwhelmed by the number of homeless teens in Newark and hopes that they could one day build more shelters for them. But today BIg Momma’s feeling good because she’s got a good cup of coffee and she can face the day when the kids are going to get very special attention from the community and the nation.
To the right, one entire room is beginning to pile high with donations as trucks and cars arrive with bags of clothes, food, TV sets, furniture and myriad other items. There’s a line of girls in their cheerleading outfits from St. Phillips School in Clifton, NJ.
They’ve collected toiletries at all their basketball games throughout the county. Other kids from area schools are passing out blue wristbands to signify the Do 1 Thing cause for homeless teens.
David Hall is a tall happy man wearing a gold cross. He’s the site director of Covenant House Newark and is keeping an eye on all the donations as they roll in.
Ingrid Hayward is manning the front desk on this cold day with the front door open to the elements. She’s a volunteer with the Newark Coalition Against Human Trafficking, another huge and underreported problem in itself. Ingrid says she’s glad to get out of bed this Saturday AM, even though she usually prefers to drink her coffee in bed on Saturdays. “My husband was going to come pick me up an hour ago, but he’s never going to get me out of here now!”
Christa Embrett of Westfield adjusts the table settings for the prom.
At Covenant House in Newark they’re working feverishly to get ready for the prom. The residents at Covenant House picked the theme of “One Night Only. “ Girl scouts, their friends and parents are setting tables and putting up decor, including the backdrop from a middle school play. In two hours the prom will begin for 70 kids who never got to go to their prom. All because Kathleen O’Donnell-Pickert, 17, of Westfield decided to make it her 1 thing.
©Mark Peterson/Do1Thing.org
It was a full house for the Program Presentation at The Covenant House in Newark NJ. We heard about the history of The Heart Gallery and how Do1Thing came to be. We saw the amazing videos posted on the site and got to hear the stories from the actual kids themselves. Miss New Jersey herself was here in the flesh signing autographs and supporting the cause. The kids were delighted to meet her. People young and old, from near and far gave their support, even the local girl scouts.
~SM
Kathleen O’Donnell-Pickert, 17, is all blonde ambition – - to help homeless teens in Newark by giving them their prom night, a night that most of these kids never dreamed of having. Kathleen found out about Do 1 Thing because her parents donate to Covenant House and she knows Janette Scrozzo, the Outreach/Volunteer manager at CH. The more Kathleen learned about Covenant House, the more she wanted to help out. Luckily, she could also get her gold star scout award with Covenant House.
So Kathleen put up flyers at her school, Westfield High School in Westfield, NJ and at her church. She got 20 volunteers to help her put together the Covenant House Prom for 75 – 80 young people. She’s been overwhelmed with donations of gowns, tuxes, make up, nail polish, everything your average teen wants to look his or her best on prom night. There will be a dj, a buffet dinner and goodie bags for everyone. Kathleen’s dad will photograph everyone and each prom-goer will get his or her photo in a frame decorated with Valentine hearts.
What the attendees don’t know yet is that the New Jersey Nets have donated 4 tickets to a Nets game to each of the teens. Now that’s sweet!
The kids are certainly showing their Valentine’s Day Spirit in all the beautiful decorations around The Covenant House.
~SM
We had our first tour of The Covenant House in Newark NJ. The building is fairly a new addition. We were led around by the friendly staff who told us about their responsibilities with the kids.
It was not only interesting but extremely enlightening to discover all of the tasks these people have to juggle. They are not only employees of The Covenant House but also mentors, teachers, friends, providers and so much more. Their responsibilities include cooking for the kids, teaching them how to interview, providing them with the appropriate attire, and even extending themselves to connect on a personal level to help the kids discover their potential. The most amazing part is that many of them are volunteers.
~SM
