Grammy's charity work no laughing matter
BY JENNIFER AMATO
Staff Writer

JENNIFER AMATO Floretta Bell, whose granddaughter attends the JCC of North & South Brunswick Nursery School at Congregation B'nai Tikvah, volunteers her time fundraising, dressing as a clown, setting up for prayer services and organizing gift bags despite not being Jewish.

NORTH BRUNSWICK - Floretta Bell may wear a costume, but she sure doesn't clown around when it comes to volunteering.

The 62-year-old East Brunswick resident was drawn to the JCC of North & South Brunswick Nursery School, held at Congregation B'nai Tikvah on Finnegans Lane in North Brunswick, despite not being Jewish. Passing by the center one day, the former social worker felt a connection and decided to observe the facility, ultimately deciding it was the right location for her 3-year-old granddaughter, Dionna Caldwell, to attend school. Enamored by the support staff and educational opportunities, she joined the school's Parent Action Committee and has been volunteering for the past two years.

"I was raised to embrace, not to see, color," she said. "I'm God's child, just like you."

Yet Bell has provided a lot of color to the nursery school. Dressing up as Grammy the Clown for special school events, she figured her former Halloween costume could be put to another use.

"It just keeps blossoming because one of the parents here, their kid said, 'I want Grammy the Clown to come to my birthday party,' and I did go to the birthday party," she said. "I don't want to be paid. I'm blessed because God let me wake up this morning. I don't have to worry about my grandbaby or any other child."

As a result, any profits she makes as Grammy will be donated to the JCC.

She also helped the JCC raise money for the Jewish National Fund's Operation Security Blanket program on April 29, with Bell once again in her clown costume at Wawa on Ryders Lane in East Brunswick. The JNF provides summer camps for children from Northern Israel, security roads to and from work and school, first response vehicles to help victims of attacks, trees and irrigation systems, and housing, education and employment to Israeli residents.

Bell collected $187 in three hours with the help of manager Caroline Rucci, who donated boxes of food to the JCC for the Middlesex County Food Organization.

Then, right after her Wawa stint, she performed at the JCC open house the same day. On her own time, she donates prizes for the open house events, sets up tables for Passover, volunteers during pre-K graduation and does magic tricks.

In addition, Bell has set up two immediate goals she wishes to accomplish this summer. The first is to raise money for a safe playground surface at the school in order to eliminate muddy, unsafe areas.

More important, according to Bell, is acquiring a form of transportation for parents who are unable to bring their children to school. She said she has seen several families walking down Finnegans Lane, which is not equipped with sidewalks, in the sunshine or in the rain. Upset by this observance, she has pledged to reach out to local car dealerships for two vehicles to transport these children, who generally live only one to two miles from the school.

"Somebody's gotta give Grammy the Clown a vehicle. I need a car. It really upsets me when I see these kids walking in the rain," she said. "To deny a child of just the mere thing of socialization skills, how to share, how to play with another child [because they can't come to school], that hurts. That really hurts me. … I was going to enjoy my summer, my 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. [while Dionna is in summer camp], but this is more important."

Bell has drawn from her experience as a social worker in Essex County, where she has seen the dimmer sides of life. She used to bring children home with her on the holidays; she slept on the floor of a hospital room while the pastor's wife at a church in Newark was treated for breast cancer; she helped return money that was withdrawn by a dementia patient; and she spoke in court on behalf of an 89-year-old woman who was on the verge of being evicted, while Bell herself was having a heart attack.

"When you do it right and it comes from your heart, from the marrow of your bones, you get it back," she said. "A lot of times you gotta touch a person. A lot of that verbal stuff isn't good. I'm a woman who believes in actions."

Therefore, Bell said that after Dionna graduates, she will still remain highly active in the nursery school community, saying she will be with the JCC until "heaven."

"JCC is a blessing to me as a grandmother due to the fact that I don't worry about her while she's here. I love the staff and I have nothing but accolades for [Director] Phyllis [Denenberg]. … When you extend yourself you get it back. The 'man upstairs' put JCC in my life because he knew I needed it."

For more information on how to become involved with the JCC, call (732) 297-0295 or visit www.bnaitikvah.org.