Not every kid is glued to the computer or to their cell phone. Many children in our community are going above and beyond to help those in need. One such kid—who is constantly setting the bar higher and higher—is Julia Diamond-Rotman, a third grader at Hillside Elementary School. Julia decided last summer—after hearing in the news about all the people who'd lost their homes to floods and tornadoes—that she had to take action. At the time, Julia's own family was going through a hard time, due to a close family member with cancer, prompting Julia to cut and donate her hair to the non-profit …

  Dakota Cassidy, a 7th grader at Glenfield Middle School, never knew what hit her when she was struck by a car on Valley Road near the A&P at about 6 p.m. on a rainy Feb. 24, 2012. Walking from her home on Wildwood Avenue with two girlfriends to buy snacks at the A&P, as she'd done many times before, Cassidy was the first to enter the crosswalk when, as Cassidy's mother says, a car apparently came out of nowhere. "She was literally knocked out of her sneakers," said her mother, Karen Masson, who added that her glasses also flew off. Chaos ensued, backing up traffic along Valley Road. A …

Infusing the phone room with tremendous energy, 35 members of the Sigma Delta Tau sorority from Montclair State University came out to make fundraising calls for Super Sunday, the annual phonathon and community celebration in support of the United Jewish Appeal Campaign of MetroWest NJ (UJA). The event raised $1.8 million to support the work of United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ (UJC MetroWest) and its 20 local partner agencies, which provide people in need with a comprehensive network of social services throughout Essex, Morris, Sussex, and North Union counties. Held at the Alex …

On Monday, I volunteered at my son’s kindergarten classroom at the Bullock school. Instead of helping the kids with “centers” as I thought, it turned out we were taking a trip to the Pathmark in Lackawanna Plaza to buy boxes of macaroni and cheese for Toni’s Kitchen. The trip is two blocks at the most but requires a cross over Bloomfield Avenue. Just before we got to Bloomfield Avenue, the teacher, Ms. Vascimini, noticed a parked police car. She asked the officer to help us cross the street. Not only did he stop traffic so the 25 kids and five adults could cross safely, but he parked his car …

No doubt there have been many random acts of kindness across New Jersey following the freak Oct. 29 snowstorm that knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of residents. But Montclair Patch would like to share just one random act of kindness that happened right here in Montclair—one that was told to us by Montclair resident Christina O'Neill. "Some of our neighbors on our street have had no power since Saturday. Luckily it hasn't been bitterly cold out but our poor neighbors are still in the dark without heat and it's still cold. We've been fortunate enough to have power most of the time so…

A good deed was spotted by resident Emily Eldridge in Edgemont Park—a sign seeking the owner of an iPod found in the road. According to the sign, anyone who wants details should call (973) 768-2219. In recent weeks, Montclair Patch has received loads of emails listing random acts of kindness—people helping a lady driver in distress was just one of many. I, too, experienced my own random act of kindness—or rather just a good case of customer service. I bought a jacket for my 11-year-old daughter at Hip Chic the other day. After my daughter wore the jacket, a few buttons fell off. I took it …

On Thursday morning, Montclair resident Lorna Giron experienced a random act of kindness that made her day. Here's what she had to say: "This morning as I was carpooling five kids to the high school, my minivan’s transmission died right under the bridge at Watchung Plaza as it was my turn to try to make a left turn, south, onto Park Street. Exasperated drivers in cars behind me were at first honking their horns as traffic backed up across Watchung Avenue and everything was very tense. "Magically a friend pulled up beside me and offered to load everyone from my car into her car. At the same …

Thanks to the efforts of Montclair Kimberley Academy students, hundreds of dollars have been raised to help struggling Bloomfield families make ends meet.  The Neighbor to Neighbor Network, a non-profit in Bloomfield, held a fundraiser on Monday in collaboration with the Montclair Kimberley Academy football team. Members of the team spent four hours of their holiday collecting donations outside the Brookdale ShopRite, ultimately raising $350. According to volunteer coordinator Stephanie De Santi, the funds will go towards utility and rental/mortgage assistance for Bloomfield individuals and …

In this era of negativity, when complaining about every little thing has almost become second nature, a random act of kindness can throw you for a pretty big loop. But, indeed, random acts of kindness do still exist. Out of nowhere, a stranger can do something unexpected—and caring—and change your whole outlook in an instant. Each week, Patch would like to feature a random act of kindness in or near Montclair, something that caught you off guard, something that made you say "wow ... the world isn't so bad after all." This week, Montclair resident Edie Locke had the following story to share—…

In this era of negativity, when complaining about every little thing has almost become second nature, a random act of kindness can throw you for a pretty big loop. But, indeed, random acts of kindness do still exist. Out of nowhere, a stranger can do something unexpected—and caring—and change your whole outlook in an instant. Each week, Patch would like to feature a random act of kindness in Montclair, something that caught you off guard, something that made you say "wow ... the world isn't so bad after all." This week, Montclair resident Emily Eldridge had the following story to share—one …