Relatives of Scott Green are among the hundreds of families who have buried their loved ones on New York City’s Hart Island.
— NYT: Top Stories
Tag: Families
Company earns score of 90 and recognized as a Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion
WHIPPANY, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–For the second consecutive year, Bayer U.S. was recognized as a Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion, earning a score of 90 in the 2020 Disability Equality Index (DEI). Bayer’s DEI score improved from 2019, recognizing the company’s continued growth. DEI is the most comprehensive disability inclusion assessment tool designed and embraced by both business leaders and disability advocates across the United States.
“Improving our policies and benefits for employees with disabilities has always been a priority for us,” said Philip Blake, President of Bayer U.S. “Increasing our score and being recognized as one of the best places to work for disability inclusion is a true honor and testament to Bayer’s commitment to bettering the lives of its employees and their families.”
Bayer is committed to sustaining an inclusive culture with a diverse workforce, which represents the communities it serves. As part of this commitment, the company partnered with Inclusion Works of Disability:IN, the leading nonprofit resource for business disability inclusion worldwide. In addition, the U.S. Bayer Diversity Advisory Inclusion Council (BDAIC) and Business Resource Groups (BRGs) are critical aspects of Bayer’s Inclusion and Diversity (I&D) strategy. ENABLE, one of Bayer’s Resource Groups, is dedicated to the overall wellness and development of employees and their families with disabilities.
“Aligned with our inclusive vision of Health for All and Hunger for None, we embrace and encourage our employees’ uniqueness and continue to work to build a culture where every employee feels a sense of belonging,” said Shakti Harris, Head of Bayer’s Inclusion & Diversity in the U.S. “This DEI recognition represents the hard work, passion, and commitment everyone at Bayer has given to get to this point. Not only is disability inclusion the right thing to do, but it’s naturally aligned with the communities and patients we serve.”
Created six years ago, the DEI guides businesses to impact the unemployment and underemployment of people with disabilities. This year the DEI evaluated inclusion criteria for culture and leadership, enterprise-wide access, employment practices, such as benefits, employment, education and accommodations, in addition to community engagement, and supplier diversity.
“The best way to attract, retain and grow talent with disabilities is to create an accessible, inclusive workplace. This year’s top scoring Disability Equality Index companies are demonstrating their commitment to many of the numerous leading disability inclusion practices featured in the DEI, recognizing that there’s still room for improvement,” said Jill Houghton, President and Chief Executive Officer of Disability:IN. “We are proud to have developed strong partnerships with corporate allies who are committed to advancing disability inclusion and equality across their businesses in the United States and around the world.”
In 2020, 247 corporations, including 143 Fortune 500 and 154 Fortune 1000 utilized the Disability Equality Index (DEI) to benchmark their disability inclusion efforts. Companies that scored an 80% or higher were recognized as a “Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion.”
For more information on the 2020 Disability Equality Index, visit https://disabilityin.org.
About Disability:IN®
Disability:IN, formerly known as the US Business Leadership Network, is the leading nonprofit resource for business disability inclusion worldwide. Partnering with more than 220 corporations, Disability:IN expands opportunities for people with disabilities across enterprises. The organization and 30 affiliates raise a collective voice of positive change for people with disabilities in business. Through its programs and services, Disability:IN empowers businesses to achieve disability inclusion and equality, with the goal of advancing inclusion to the point when the organization is no longer necessary. Learn more at: www.disabilityin.org.
About Bayer
Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of health care and nutrition. Its products and services are designed to benefit people by supporting efforts to overcome the major challenges presented by a growing and aging global population. At the same time, the Group aims to increase its earning power and create value through innovation and growth. Bayer is committed to the principles of sustainable development, and the Bayer brand stands for trust, reliability and quality throughout the world. In fiscal 2019, the Group employed around 104,000 people and had sales of 43.5 billion euros. Capital expenditures amounted to 2.9 billion euros, R&D expenses to 5.3 billion euros. For more information, go to www.bayer.us.
Bayer® and the Bayer Cross® are registered trademarks of Bayer.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer Group or subgroup management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Bayer’s public reports which are available on the Bayer website at www.bayer.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.
Contacts
Carolyn Nagle
Bayer U.S.
Email: carolyn.nagle@bayer.com
Mobile: 201-419-0337
Social Media Channels
– Facebook: BayerUnitedStates
– Twitter: BayerUS
– Instagram: BayerUS
– YouTube: BayerUS
Last week, members of Old Bridge PBA Local 127 offered a gesture of empathy and kindness to their community by delivering hot meals from Texas Roadhouse to nearby residents. 
With the Coronavirus Pandemic affecting just about nearly every family in these communities, the Local just “wanted to give some assistance to those families to make their day a little brighter,” states a Facebook post from the PBA Local 127 Page.
The Local has decided to continue purchasing these meals from Texas Roadhouse and will deliver them to various families in town over the next couple of weeks.
“We want to thank Texas Roadhouse for forming this partnership with us and allowing us to be a part of this special mission,” the post states.
It further explains that Texas Roadhouse has been a loyal support of “our PBA for many years and we are thankful for their continued generosity especially during these unstable times.”
MANTUA, N.J. – At the beginning of this school year, the
— Provided photo
New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) awarded Mantua Township School District $1.6 million for preschool education expansion.
At no cost or tax levy to families, this NJDOE funding will allow Mantua School District to convert their partial-day program into a full-day program starting early winter this year.
Current preschool families will also receive a full refund of their tuition payments for this year, and will get additional information about the potential for transportation services.
“Implementing a tuition-free, full-day pre-k program is a monumental step forward for the students and families of Mantua Township,” says Dr. Robert Fisicaro, superintendent of Mantua Township School District.
The district plans to make other details such as the timeline for reimbursements and the implementation of the program start date available soon.
“This state initiative will not only help us change the learning trajectory for all future students, but it will also have a positive fiscal impact on the entire district in future years,” said Fisicaro.
Eligibility requirements for the preschool program state that prospective students must be 4-years-old by Oct. 1 during the year they will enroll, and must also be current residents of Mantua Township.
Apart from the upcoming information session to inform current and prospective families about the changes coming to their preschool education program, families should visit the school district website for further details at www.mantuaschools.com.
— Mercer County photo
TRENTON, N.J. — About two dozen families introduced their special-needs children to the airport experience at Mercer County’s inaugural program called Let’s Investigate Flying Together (LIFT) exercise at Trenton-Mercer Airport (TTN), recently.
The 90-minute program took participants through the experiences of entering the airport, getting boarding passes, going through security, sitting in the passenger hold area, and collecting their luggage through baggage claim.
“Our goal was to help families prepare for a positive flying experience from Trenton-Mercer or any other airport,” said Mercer County Executive Brian M. Hughes. “This first exercise went very smoothly, and we hope to offer additional LIFT events for people with special needs who could benefit from an airport exposure program.”
LIFT was organized by the County of Mercer, TTN, and the Mercer County Special Services School District to allow children with autism to become familiar with TTN, airport procedures, and the federal Transportation Security Administration (TSA) process before taking an actual airplane trip.
For the first LIFT event, airport officials and Special Services School District staff members were on hand to answer questions and help participants understand the airport procedures.
Worldwide Flight Services, Mercer County Sheriff’s Office and Sky Lounge at Ewing restaurant were also present at the event.
The participating families feedback will help shape future LIFT programs. Overall, participants said they enjoyed the airport experience and would consider traveling from TTN.
“Thank you for organizing this event! Frankly, I have some anxiety regarding flying with my son…exposing him to the process and environment before we actually fly will lessen that,” states one parent.
This parent offered a special thank you to the TSA staff for their desire to learn about the autistic population and how to best assist such travelers, making sure they are safe but compliant.
“Everything went well,” wrote another parent. “My 4-year-old enjoyed his first experience in an airport.”
Some participants said they were disappointed that they were not able to board an aircraft, but organizers expressed hope that an aircraft could be made available for future LIFT exercises.
– Photo by Michelle Dryden
TRENTON, N.J. — Just in time for Christmas, The National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) — Mercer Section, and Mt. Zion A.M.E. Church of Trenton, held a food and toy drive at the church Friday, with hopes to make the holidays happy for many families.
“We asked the pastor to identify 25 families that we can be a blessing to,” said Lossie Whitaker-Thornton, vice president of NCNW, Mercer Section.
Families with children were present to choose from many toys like dolls and trucks, and games that were on separate tabletops and labeled by age and gender.
They were also giving away 24 whole turkeys that weighed about 10-15 pounds each, a ham, and six chickens to three families. 
– Photo by Michelle Dryden
Thornton said the turkeys they were giving to families included all the trimmings such as cranberry sauce, apple cider, dinner rolls, cornbread, string beans, yams, and macaroni and cheese.
The NCNW, Mercer Section is a newly formed organization that’s a branch of the national organization. It was formed in January 2017, but became and official section in March. It held its installation service Sept. 30 at the Pines Manor in Edison. There are about 63 members.
“This is our first year at Mt. Zion A.M.E. We partnered with them,” said Thornton.
The pastor of Mt. Zion A.M.E., Rev. Frank Smart was happy to have the NCNW at his church.
“Because it’s a national council, it’s an honor to have them choose Mt. Zion from the many other churches in Trenton,” said Smart. “We see it as an honor. As far as the members, we always want to lend a helping hand, a supportive hand, and this is a time of the year that we’d like to do it.”
The NCNW, Mercer Section does many other community-based activities that have positive impact on families, children, and especially women of color. 
– Photo by Michelle Dryden
Since becoming a Mercer County organization, they have held a health fair in the summer, had financial literacy and entrepreneurship events, voter registration, and Pennington Day in May where businesses came out to support each other.
They have plans for upcoming events such as a Legacy Jazz Brunch in February at Mountain View Golf Club in Ewing, and they are looking into a scholarship luncheon for college students, said Rev. Dr. Angela Battle, President of NCNW, Mercer Section.
Educator and political leader, Mary McLeod Bethune founded the NCNW in 1935. It is a nonprofit membership organization comprised of 36 national African-American women’s organizations and more than 230 community and campus-based sections.
NCNW’s mission is to lead, empower and advocate for nearly three million women, their families and communities.
“We seek to harness the collective power of women of African descent, so that they may realize their full potential and create a just society that enhances the quality of life for all people,” their mission states.
For more information about NCNW, or the Jazz brunch, call (973) 634-1176, or e-mail lossielwt@aol.com.