ICE New Jersey field offices lead multiagency book drive
Collected books for the Boys and Girls Club of Newark, New Jersey
When U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) employees heard the Boys and Girls Club of Newark needed help with its new K-8 Literacy Program, they led a multiagency effort to build a library of 2,750 books for the children of New Jersey. Under ethics rules, with managerial approval and ethics concurrence, employees may collect non-monetary items in the federal workplace for charitable causes.
“When I visited the Boys and Girls Club of Newark, the children and staff were incredibly welcoming and the whole place was special,” said Community Relations Officer Chris Moriarty. “I left knowing it would be a perfect fit for community outreach with our ICE offices and the rest of the Department of Homeland Security family in Newark.”
In addition to donating books, ICE employees are making themselves available as reading and mentoring volunteers at the Club.
ICE worked with Department of Homeland Security partners including Customs and Border Protection Port Newark, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Newark, as well as Housing and Urban Development, Newark. Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), under the leadership of Field Office Director John Tsoukaris, and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), under the leadership of Special Agent in Charge Terence Opiola, worked closely with Moriarty to coordinate the donations and ICE components.
ICE employee donations far exceeded the original goal of the book drive. “Our initial goal was around 500 books,” said Moriarty. “The generosity of ICE and DHS employees was off the charts; 2,750 books have built a library for these children and their families.”
ICE Newark has set the standard for employees when it comes to community engagement.
Whether by ICE’s official mission of public safety in communities throughout the U.S., or through the efforts of Moriarity’s book drive, ICE Newark is a leading example of community service in action.
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