Charitable Giving
Helping Those in Need – It’s at the Heart of Main Street Movers
As we are in life, we are in business. The saying applies well to Main Street Movers, especially with the guidance and caring spirit of co-founders Tom and Karen Mantzouranis. Deeply committed to helping others and to make giving a strong component of creating a living legacy, Tom and Karen champion many charitable endeavors via Main Street Movers and work tirelessly to help individuals in need:
- Speaking publicly at business functions
- Informal conversations with people they meet
- Lobbying legislators in Washington, D.C.
Wreaths Across America
December marks National Wreaths Across America Day and a time when Wreaths Across America coordinates wreath-laying ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery and more than 1,600 additional locations in all 50 states—as well as at sea and abroad.
Main Street Movers supports Wreaths Across America’s mission to Remember, Honor and Teach, encouraging individuals and organizations to sponsor a veterans’ wreath at a local cemetery, or by volunteering or donating to a local fundraising group.
Associated Humane Societies
Founded in 1906, The Associated Humane Societies is the largest animal sheltering system in New Jersey. Operating three shelters located in Newark, Forked River, and Tinton Falls, the New Jersey Society is a not-for-profit, 501 (c)3 organization that also includes Popcorn Park.
Established in 1977 in Forked River, NJ, Popcorn Park is a sanctuary for abandoned, injured, ill, exploited, abused, or elderly farm animals, birds, and wildlife (domestic and exotic).
In addition, Popcorn Park is a federally-licensed zoo.
Move For Hunger
Move For Hunger is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that works with relocation companies to collect non-perishable food items and deliver these items to food banks all across North America.
Working to provide food to the 41 million Americans who face hunger each day, Move for Hunger has donated more than 15 million pounds of food to food banks across the United States and Canada. These donations have translated into more than 12 million meals for people in need.
Girls on the Run
Girls on the Run inspires girls to be joyful, healthy and confident, using a fun, experience-based curriculum which creatively integrates running. Its goal: to ensure that every girl knows and activates her limitless potential and is free to boldly pursue her dreams, take charge of her life and define the future on her own terms.
The Girls on the Run curriculum is taught by certified Girls on the Run® coaches and includes three parts: understanding themselves, valuing relationships and teamwork and understanding how they connect with and shape the world at large. Over the course of the program, girls will develop and improve competence, feel confidence in who they are, develop strength of character, respond to others and oneself with care, create positive connections with peers and adults, and make a meaningful contribution to community and society.
At each season’s conclusion, the girls and their running buddies complete a 5K event. In some cities this is a large, community wide event and in others, it’s an inspiring gathering of friends and family. Completing a 5K gives the girls a tangible sense of achievement as well as a framework for setting and achieving life goals.
Closing for a Cause
Closing for a Cause takes the real estate transaction and closing to a new level. Following a successful home closing, agents will make a donation in your name to your favorite charity rather than buying another knick-knack for a closing gift. In this way, one’s closing will help an individual’s favorite cause and make a difference in the world.
Kidney Cancer Research Alliance
The Kidney Cancer Research Alliance (KCCure) is a grassroots organization of patients, caregivers, doctors and medical researchers dedicated to eliminating suffering and death due to kidney cancer. KCCure strives to achieve its goal by providing increased funding to accelerate research that will lead to a cure for all patients and prevent future kidney cancer diagnoses.
Main Street Mover’s connection to KCCure is a personal one. Tom has been diagnosed with kidney cancer. Fortunately, his cancer is not an aggressive one. But this doesn’t stop this couple from working on behalf of others who suffer with the disease. You’ll see them involved with anything from lobbying for funding for more research in Washington, D.C. to initiating campaigns to raise money for KCCure.
It’s estimated that more than 60,000 people will be diagnosed with kidney cancer in the United States this year and more than 14,000 people will die from the disease. For reasons not yet known, the incidence of kidney cancer has been increasing since the 1990s, and kidney cancer remains the deadliest of all urological malignancies.
Despite these facts, kidney cancer research is vastly underfunded. According to the American Cancer Society, of the more than 700 research grants awarded in 2017, only 11 grants totaling less than $1.5 million out of over $390,000,000 awarded went to kidney cancer research.
Because kidney cancer is a rare disease, many kidney patients struggle with finding information about their diagnosis and find it difficult to connect with others facing the same challenges. Research has shown that patients with kidney cancer suffer from higher rates of emotional distress and depression. In addition to fund-raising activities and securing grants, KCCure encourages patients to share their stories online on the organization’s website. It also welcomes patients to the The KCCure 1-2-3 Kidney Cancer Support Community, which is designed to support patients managing a diagnosis of stage 1, stage 2 or stage 3 renal cell carcinoma.
Research begins with KCCure and the funds to support that research starts with people like Tom and Karen and companies like Main Street Movers.
