NJ State Fair Announces Donations to Several local Non-Profit Organizations

PRESS RELEASE

The New Jersey State Fair®/Sussex County Farm & Horse Show Association is proud to announce that despite some of the worst weather on record for our annual Fair, we were able to donate to numerous local charitable organizations, raise awareness of their service to our communities and provide employment to over 200 local residents during the lead up to and during the Fair.

There was a lot of rain during the Fair, nearly 6 ½ total inches falling on 7 days of the 9-day Fair, equaling over 13% of our total annual average rainfall.  This negatively affected attendance, but our volunteers, staff and vendors persevered.  Fairgoers came out strong, though, on the 2 great weather days, setting records for single day attendance.

Our non-profit spotlight each day helped to raise awareness of several local charitable organizations, and we collected donations for them due to the efforts of our admissions staff and the generosity of our fairgoers.  This year’s non-profit spotlights were Family Promise of Sussex County, the Sussex County Food Pantry, Benny’s Bodega, Project Self-Sufficiency, Ginnie’s House, LTC. Ernest Kosa Scholarship, SCARC, the Weekend Bag Program and Maverick’s Legacy.

Local school groups who helped with parking were also rewarded with donations to their organizations.  Helping us this year were the Newton HS Future Farmers of America (FFA), the High Point Regional HS softball and baseball, Jefferson HS baseball, Sussex Tech football and the Wallkill Valley Regional HS marching band.  Additionally, we contribute annually to the Blue Ridge Rescue Squad and the Branchville Fire Department for the services their volunteers render during the Fair.

In total, the Fair contributed $38,755 to these local non-profit organizations!  In addition, several local non-profits have concession booths at the Fairgrounds, and they reported total proceeds of approximately $200,000.  These organizations included the Frankford Fire Department, the Knights of Columbus, the Newton Rotary, the Branchville Rotary, the Montague Grange, the 4-H Teen Council and the Holy Spirit Orthodox Church.  The annual Fair serves as a terrific fundraiser for these organizations who give back to and truly enrich our communities.

Finally, we’re excited to share that we were asked to collaborate with the promotion of Netflix’s new series Blue Ribbon Baking Championship where bakers from state Fairs across the US face off in an epic baking showdown to win top honors and $100,000.  Danielle Lacopo, who helps in our Conservatory and with social media attended the closing bell ceremony at Nasdaq in Times Square NYC this past Friday 9/6 with Sandra Lee, co-host of the show and Marla Calico, the President & CEO at International Association of Fairs & Expositions. 

Sandra Lee’s remarks were quite fitting, stating that “The Blue Ribbon baking championship is the newest must see show on Netflix, it combines the best in America and the long-standing tradition of our annual state, local and county Fairs, all of them, over a 150 million people attend some sort of Fair annually, generating over $5 billion in revenue and another $10 billion in economic impact within their communities. Many Fairs are the economic engine for their communities, generating jobs, creating opportunities and supporting small businesses and philanthropic organizations. So yes, the Fairs are a big business and investing in them and supporting the businesses that support the Fairs is a smart business move. But the most important business of the state Fair business is creating our own lifelong traditions, facilitating the mosaic of fantastic memories and bringing together our families and our friends of all ages, ethnicities and economic backgrounds, Fairs are part of the fabric of our world.”

Mark your calendars - next year’s Fair will be held August 1^st through August 9^th and preparations are already underway!

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Nasdaq video link: https://shorturl.at/S4WL0