Paramus Honors Military, First Responders During Annual Event

For 11 years, Paramus residents and students have honored the memory of September 11, the sacrifices of veterans and current first responders and servicemen and women through Operation Goody Bag (OGB). On Wednesday evening, the borough held its annual Night of Remembrance and Hope Tribute at East Brook Middle School and then filled approximately 5,000 goody bags for Hurricane Sandy first responders.

At the same time, over 50 volunteers will receive Presidential Volunteer Service Awards signed by President Obama, for active participation in  OGB in the last 12 months.

"This year alone our individual volunteer hours topped over 5,000," Paramus Operation Goody Bag founder Jane Cosco said. "We reached a lot of milestones including packing our  when our Navy friends landed in a grand entrance in helicopters on the field."

Additional milestones this past year for OGB include 25,000 children in New Jersey and 12 other states coloring goody bags on Sept. 11 while approximately 63 students from Paramus High School and the two middle schools traveled into Times Square and packed at Viacom headquarters.

"We could not do any of this without all of these volunteers," Cosco said.

Operation Goody Bag is a student-centered, service-learning project dedicated to remembering September 11th. Their mission is to perform tributes remembering those who perished and express appreciation to Military Men and Women, Veterans, and First Responders, through the gift of a Goody Bag. Since 2003, Operation Goody Bag has coordinated the coloring, packing, and shipping of over 250,000 Goody Bags. 

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