NJCDC Holds Its 10th Annual Block Party

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On Saturday, October 5, a picture-perfect early fall day, NJCDC celebrated a decade of Great Falls Neighborhood Block Parties with our 10th annual celebration of the neighborhood — and residents — we serve. Perhaps our largest turnout yet, more than 1,300 neighborhood residents attended the free event throughout the day, where they had the opportunity to play carnival games, climb on inflatables, win raffle prizes, meet with community organizations, and more!

Our annual Block Party isn’t just an event our residents look forward to all year — it’s also a day eagerly anticipated by our staff and volunteers. NJCDC Founder & CEO Bob Guarasci even calls it his favorite day of the year! This special celebration of fun and community engagement brings together thousands of neighborhood residents, including students from our charter school, preschool, and Full Service Community Schools, affordable housing residents, and friends from every corner of the Great Falls Neighborhood.

This year, we held the Block Party in the parking lot of the Community Charter School of Paterson’s elementary school campus, where we set up inflatables for children of all ages to play on, including a giant inflatable slide and two bouncy houses. Guests also enjoyed listening to lively music played by DJ Cito. Near the inflatables, they also got to have fun with hula hoops, temporary tattoos, and arts & crafts!

On the other side of the “block,” children and families got to play carnival games and meet with local community organizations. Several groups, including Greater Bergen Community Action, the Health Coalition of Passaic County, the Partnership for Maternal and Child Health, Paterson Public Schools, and the Paterson Task Force for Community Action, set up tables and shared information about the free services they provide to neighborhood residents. Even Mayor Andre Sayegh came to take part in the fun!

We also had our staff helping at tables where guests could learn more about our many programs, including the Neighborhood Help Center, NJ4S Passaic County, AmeriCorps, the Great Falls Youth Center, the Financial Empowerment Center, and the Paterson Family Center. In between all the learning and fun, guests enjoyed hot dogs, grilled by ShopRite of Passaic, as well as freshly popped popcorn and a variety of other snacks. We ended the day with drawings for several raffle prizes, which everyone who attended was able to enter. Lucky winners received a variety of toys and fun items!

“Our annual neighborhood block party was created to build community among those who live in the Great Falls Neighborhood — and the event once again demonstrated the vibrancy of the neighborhood and its residents,” Bob Guarasci noted. “My thanks to the 1,300 people who turned out to make it a very memorable day.”

None of it would have been possible without the 70 volunteers who helped with everything from setup and cleanup to running carnival games and serving food. Moreover, we saw plenty of new faces, with many for the first time learning about all that NJCDC and the organizations in attendance have to offer. Our Neighborhood Help Center alone saw 125 new residents sign up and join the community network!

In the days since, we have been overwhelmed by all of the positive feedback we’ve received, but all we needed to see were the smiles on everyone’s faces that day to confirm that our 10th Annual Great Falls Block Party was a tremendous community engagement success — and by all accounts, the best one yet!