FAMILYConnections Has 4000 Reasons to Celebrate

had many reasons to celebrate on Weds. night at the seventh annual International Tasting event, held at Orange Lawn Tennis Club. Honoree Michael R. Griffinger, was feted for his dedication to the organization, and some 280 people turned out to laud him. Roger Manshel, President of the FAMILYConnections Board of Trustees, noted that this number is 60 more people than at any previous event.

In addition, FAMILYConnections celebrated a busy and productive year. The organization ran 34 programs that served some 4000 residents with counseling, and services for infants through senior citizens.

In her welcoming remarks, Executive Director Paula Sabreen said that she’s often asked to define the agency’s mission, which is not easy, she said. “We don’t do just one thing.” When pressed, though, she explains, “We foster resilience,” so local residents who face challenges can meet them and carry on with their lives.

Nigel Greene, a Columbia High School graduate who now works at FAMILYConnections, describes himself as an example of the difference the organization makes. After a challenging childhood, Greene found himself getting into trouble in middle and high school. After a devastating death in his family, he found his way to The Loft, the FAMILYConnections base at Columbia High School.

“When a kid doesn’t care,” said Greene, “and has too much pressure, he needs The Loft. One person can make a difference.” Crediting counselors and staff who helped him, Greene said he has proudly become that “one person” for other local kids. He works as a Youth Development Specialist at The Hub, the FAMILYConnections Maplewood Middle School site, doing as employment work he “would do for free,” as Greene said jokingly. “But don’t tell anyone.”

Honoree Griffinger was introduced by his daughter Kim and grandson Justin. Griffinger is a director at Gibbons P. C. who created the John J. Gibbons Fellowship in Public Interest and Constitutional Law. He has been listed as one of the top 10 lawyer in New Jersey for the last three years by New Jersey Super Lawyers, and is listed in The Best Lawyers in America in five categories.

Family members describe “Griff” as a man who “loves the world” and loves his family. An avid, skier, traveler, and mountain climber, Griffinger climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro for charity in 2008, and has traveled the globe. “Once you’re family, you’re family,” said his daughter, explaining that Griffinger defines family broadly.

Griffinger, who was previously recognized as one of the “50 Most Powerful Nonprofit Board Members” in the state, described himself as a local kid, born in Newark, raised in the Oranges, who believes strongly in the power of family. “It’s all about family,” he said, lauding FAMILYConnections’ “good work, year after year.”

The guests applauded and mingled, sampling more appetizers, entrees, and desserts from restaurants in several local communities. Numbers were drawn, silent auction winners exclaimed, and the evening ended.

And FAMILYConnections work continues.  As Sabreen said earlier in the evening, clapping for the guests, “Thank you. You make it possible.”