Page 10 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • February 6, 2013 as necessary. Your contributions directly help us keep our services available for Austin and all of the other children and families who need ECF. Please consider supporting us with a contribution today! Our annual fundraiser will be held at The Brick House on Friday, March 1. Please call us if you would like to be involved. We could use help in marketing, selling tickets, finding sponsors, etc. This annual fundraiser is very important to us. The proceeds help support our families in northern New Jersey. Tickets are $75 per person or $700 for a table of 10. Please join us for an evening of cocktails and buffet dinner, dancing, and auctions. Leslie, one of our teenage clients, will be our guest speaker. Call (201) 6128118 to help or if you would like to receive an invitation. We rely on the local community to help support our families. Many of them do not have the financial or emotional support to help them get through a major illness like cancer. We do not charge anything for our services. We rely on you! You can help us in a variety of ways. Turn your event into a fundraiser, and collect checks or gift cards for our families. Your efforts help us to help families in many ways, including sending a case worker to visit the families at their home or in the hospital. This support for the kids, their siblings, and parents is crucial. Get your kids involved, too. Some have held sales or events and donated the proceeds to ECF. Is your Cub Scout or Girl Scout Troop looking to earn badges? Call us for some ideas to get creative and have fun while learning about philanthropy! We are also available to speak about our programs at your next event. Consider becoming a volunteer, or just stop by and meet with us, take a look at our pantry, and see what ECF is all about. Call (201) 612-8118 before you stop by. Please do not leave items at the center without checking with us first. Our storage space is limited. The Northern Regional Center is located at 174 Paterson Avenue in Midland Park. Visit us on the web at www.emmanuelcancer.org. As always, thank you for helping the children and their families! town? We don’t have any plan.” Campion responded that there was a meeting to go over the TGP plan and the people affected by it were at that meeting when it was agreed that the use of only pickup trucks and cars would be allowed on that road beginning late in the spring of this year. But Kelly said TGP was told at that meeting that more information was needed in regard to a traffic safety plan and Campion said there would be another meeting with TGP before construction begins. Councilman John Spiech told Kelly TGP must give the township a plan, and if they violate that plan, the police should be called to stop their project. When Bost told the council that cranes are already being brought up that road, Council President Harry Williams emphasized to Kelly that he does not want cranes being brought up Bear Swamp Road. “It’s disturbing,” Williams said, “that it is happening when they agreed not to do it.” Kelly said another meeting with TGP would be scheduled and he would report back to the council on this issue at its next public meeting. Other neighbors, including Richard and Carol Greene, the owners of the Sun Valley Farm on Ramapo Valley Road, have also complained about the potential use of Bear Swamp Road by TGP. The Greenes are opposed to the unrestricted use of that route by TGP for the transport of hazardous materials through their property, the property of their neighbor to the south, and the Boy Scout Camp Yaw Paw property in that area. The two residents are currently the defendants in a case in Federal District Court that was brought by TGP. They claim TGP has “continually skirted a definitive commitment to restrict volume, weight limits less than the upgraded bridge weights to 20 tons, and dangerous cargo and that it poses a physical threat of fire and explosion and a constant daily disturbance to the quiet and bucolic atmosphere that has existed at the Boy Scout camp since 1920. “It is abundantly clear that Tennessee has numerous other existing access routes to its project,” Richard Greene stated in a recent letter to U.S. District Court Judge William J Martini, “but wants, not needs, Bear Swamp Road, especially for its trucks, trailers with equipment up to 20 tons, and dangerous cargo of bulk diesel fuel, explosives, and gases.” Our hat’s off to the members of Abundant Life Reformed Church in Wyckoff for their ongoing support. Several of our families were affected by Hurricane Sandy. They will still have many needs long after the repairs are finished. Please call us to see how you can help. We are looking for new or gently-used clothing for boys ages 10 and up, and new twin and queen-size sheets. Do you have a few hours to spare? We need office volunteers on weekdays from 1 to 4 p.m. who can help fill in when one of our regular volunteers is unable to make it. Please call Laura at (201) 612-8118. We also need a computer hard drive/CPU. Meet Austin: Austin is a very smart boy who loves to read and learn. When he was just three, he was diagnosed with leukemia. His treatment lasted for about three years. To celebrate the end of this process, his family decided to throw him a party at a bowling alley. With the help of ECF, Austin enjoyed a fabulous party with 120 friends and family, food, and a cake. “He was so amazed by all the love, and he is now so happy about getting his strength back and not having to take medication every night,” his mother said. Austin will continue to get MRIs and lab work each month, and in a few years he will be able to get checked annually for the next 10 years. Right now, he is enjoying being healthy and was so thankful to those who donated for his party and for the holiday wishes. Despite the great news, Austin and his family continue to struggle with the anxiety of a recurrence. ECF continues to send a caseworker to meet with this family on a regular basis, and will provide emotional support for as long Bear Swamp Road (continued from page 3) documents that indicate Bear Swamp Road may be condemned, temporarily or permanently, and the weight bearing limit on the bridges on that road would be increased from 6,000 pounds to 20,000 pounds, which would permit heavier trucks to use that road. Bost also expressed the concern that she has been informed by Bergen County that Route 202 is being widened in an area where school children are picked up by bus every morning. She also mentioned that a separate bridge may be constructed over the Ramapo River while the existing bridge from Route 202 to Bear Swamp Road is being repaired, and that separate bridge may become a permanent bridge. “Who is monitoring the TGP safety plan and who determines if it is safe?” Bost asked “I’d like some help from the township and the council.” Michael Kelly, the township’s professional engineer, advised that the bridge and the gas pipeline projects are two separate issues. He said he had not heard anything about the TGP gas pipeline project since a meeting with TGP eight months ago. At that meeting, Kelly said it was agreed that a traffic safety officer would be used during the times trucks are traveling Bear Swamp Road and the TGP traffic safety plan was to be coordinated with the township’s police department. Kelly asked Bost for copies of the documents she received from Bergen County so he could follow up with county officials and report back to her and the township council. Mahwah Township Administrator Brian Campion confirmed that the county has been considering the repair of the bridge across the Ramapo River to Bear Swamp Road for years, and its plan may include the construction of a parallel bridge. He also advised that the widening of Route 202 is not part of the gas pipeline project. Campion advised that TGP has filed a civil action in court to obtain a determination and a declaration of who has the rights to use Bear Swamp Road. Councilwoman Lisa DiGiulio asked Campion, “When they go through a town aren’t they supposed to notify the