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The Maximizing Opportunities for Veterans Employment Success (MOVES) is funded by the Department of Labor and Veterans Administration to provide homeless Veterans of New Jersey with opportunities to becoming financially stable. We are charged with assisting with permanent housing, vocational training, and career-driven job placement.
The purpose of the Jazz Brunch event is to raise a minimum of $50,000.00 in unrestricted funds to enable the MOVES project to begin expanding our services to include mental health and counseling supportive services for our Veteran consumers in the Metropolitan areas of New York and New Jersey. Funding success of $100,000 or more will allow for immediate implementation of all counseling services. Current DOL/VET funding limits us to housing, educational/vocational training and career-based job placement. However, many of our consumers suffer from PTS and MST, which if go untreated, almost always affect their employment stability. With the backlog at the VA hospitals, that are currently outsourcing much of these services. Expanding our programming to include counseling will immediately benefit our Veteran consumers.
Please support our efforts to get our homeless all the supportive services they need under one roof.
Originally from Haiti, Chef Mackinson (aka Chef Mack) has been a head chef for over 15 years, starting with Disney in 2005. He has worked at Craft and Craft Bar by Tom Colicchio; and spent four years as a traveling Chef, working for Princess Cruises, Mara Largo (Donald Trump); and various four- and five-star establishments in New York, Arizona, Colorado, and Massachusetts. Chef Mac has spent three years working for the Mayor of New York City, at Gracie Mansion.
Currently, he is performing at the Mark Hotel by Jean Georges. You can find and follow him on Instagram at @chefmacknyc.
Joseph (Joe) McCallum was born and raised in Newark, NJ. He is a graduate of Belmont-Runyon Grammar School, Clinton Place Junior High School, and Malcolm X Shabazz High School. Mr. McCallum is a veteran of the United States Air Force, where he performed as a Telecommunications Systems Control Specialist.
Under the artistic direction of Christian McBride, 7-time Grammy Award winning jazz artist, JAZZ HOUSE KiDS is the only community arts organization in New Jersey exclusively dedicated to educating children through jazz: America’s home-grown art form. At the JAZZ HOUSE, they ensure that every student has access to music, education, mentoring, and apprenticeship.
We are ecstatic to have JAZZ HOUSE KiDS perform for our holiday event to support our veterans.
Warren Battiste was born in New Orleans in 1925 and was taught to play the guitar by his father who was a banjo player at Preservation Hall. Warren served in the Army Air Force in World War II. After the war, utilizing the GI Bill, Warren completed 4 years of instructions at Gruenwald Music School in New Orleans
Warren has performed at numerous jazz clubs on Bourbon Street, Preservation Hall, Snug Harbor, the Matador and many others. Warren also appeared in the film “Shy People” with Jill Clayburgh and Barbara Hershey. He has taught music at Wequahic High School, Essex County College and the Newark Art Center in Newark, New Jersey. Warren has performed with George Benson, The Platters, The Inkspots, Les Paul, the Platters, Frank Foster, Barry Harris, Woody Shaw and Illinois Jacquet to name just a few, and was the first regular guitar player for Fats Domino..
Tony Caggiano is a solo artist who has been performing as a full time musician since 2010. In 2013 after auditioning and earning a coveted position on the Landshark Bar roster (Resorts Hotel and Casino, Atlantic City, NJ) his residency continued for four years. In the interim Tony performed at the World Renowned Hard Rock Hotel and Casino and he has booked acts of various genres at Firewater Saloon in the Tropicana.
Tony has performed for top corporate sponsors such as Marriott, and his band hosted the Grand opening party for the first Carl’s Jr. in Manhattan outside of Madison Square Garden.
While performing hundreds of shows per year on the NJ cover scene Tony has released an EP of original music “Sounds from the NJ Outlaw” which is a five song compilation of Lyrical, Southern Rock infused, Bluesy songs rounded out by the ballad “It’s My Turn”.
A highly accomplished musician and artist, Mrs. Brandon studied piano and the harp for many years, in addition to printmaking with the great Bob Blackburn and Otto Neals.
With a higher passion for molding young minds, Nancy’s convictions led her to what she thought would be a greater impact on the world—education. She desired to share her gifts by educating and developing young minds, and taught art to junior high school students for 30 years.
For seventy years, now 91 years young, Nancy’s love of color, rhythm, and design, in art and in life, continues to be the motivating force behind her vibrant works—becoming an acclaimed and renowned artist, the world over! She has been honored by the Library of Congress, which currently safeguards one of her many exuberant prints—“The Offering”—in the Bob Blackburn Collection.
“Brandon’s art is geometric abstractions that jump with texture and vivid colors”, (Rogers, 2011).
Some of her private collectors include, but not limited to: The Hon. and Mrs. David Dinkins; Mr. and Mrs. Frank Wimberley; Dr. Cynthia Barnes; Mr. and Mrs. John Tanksley; Hon. and Mrs. Floyd Flake; Reynaldo Glover; Hon. and Mrs. G. Winsberg; Hon. Lolis Eli; Madame Janine Micholson; Arnold and Gwen Webb, Dr. Mai Rosenbaum, Stone Mountain TX; Paa ya Paa Art Center – Nairobi, Kenya; and Augusta Savage Gallery, University of Massachusetts.
Mrs. Brandon, in all her generosity, and love of humanity, donates an original, one-of-a-kind painting “Urban Soul-stice”, to help homeless Veterans of New Jersey. We are honored and humbled by her selflessness and generosity.
His story is one of strength and valor, hope and humility, faith and faithfulness. Too many times has death rung his doorbell. Too many times has he been told no, yet he made it. He made it in the delivery room where his birth was mingled with complications. Through the silence of seizures which were not detected until he was six months of age, he thrived. Having experienced four life-threatening episodes before his fifth year of age, the evidence of his determined spirit resonates through his work. Keenu Hale turned turmoil into triumph, pain into purpose and challenges into characters.
Yes, characters. As a child, his giftedness in character creation and the arts were clear. Calling his work “Tales of Hale”, the very talented Keenu has developed a packed portfolio of over 35 illustrated story books and over 1000 characters which he hopes to be personified in the near-future.
With pen and paper in hand, Keenu brings his imagination to life. “Tales of Hale” is a beautiful and eye-catching collection of creatures and beings of every kind. Keenu’s style is eclectic as he works from various cartoon genres. He is a 2019 Graduate of The School of Visual Arts in New York, New York, BFA in Animation.
With a dream to become a renowned artist, illustrator and animator, Keenu is steadily building his portfolio and becoming a master at his craft. He has been featured at an art exhibit at Princeton University, interviewed and highlighted on the Princeton television network and has artwork displayed in schools and businesses alike. With a richness in heart and artwork, Keenu aims to put a smile on the faces of all those who come to see his creations.
Treat your friends, family, and fellow wine lovers to a private wine tasting for up to 20 people in the classroom of our store.
Total Wine & More will host an event that is certain to impress you and your guests. Enjoy a tour of the land and learn about the famed appellations and grape varietals that make each region so unforgettable.
Taste a variety of our premium, hand-selected wines and discover hidden treasures from the wine region of your choosing. One of our wine experts will present and discuss each delicious wine during your two hour class, which can be arranged as a seated class-style or more casual walk-around event. Total Wine & More will provide all necessary stemware and educational handouts for tasting notes. Choose from 7 popular themes.
Donated by Total Wine & More, this Heineken(R) grill and smoker. Durable, yet light-weight, this iconic beer smoker is ideal for that grilling enthusiast in your life.
The funds from this event will go to support the homeless Veterans of New Jersey.
Sponsored by EYES INC of NJ a Nonprofit Corporation.
We are a 501(c)3 organization. All donations are 100% tax deductible.
