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New Jersey transplants attract $1,000 donation for SM East NJROTC program

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Jesse Barrera
When Monica Barrera’s husband lost his job in New Jersey a couple years ago, the family looked at it as an opportunity.

“He was originally from the Missouri side, and when we’d come here to visit, I was always so impressed by the neighborhoods and the schools,” Barrera said. “When he lost his job, I said, ‘Let’s move.’ I wanted our kids in these schools.”

The Barreras’ decision to relocate to the SM East area has paid off for one organization hit hard by recent budget cuts: the local chapter of the NJROTC (Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corp).

Barrera’s eldest son Jesse joined the group as a freshman at SM East, an experience that has been overwhelmingly positive for him, she said.

“It’s taught him so much discipline and focus,” she said. “He loves it.”

So when Barrera heard the NJROTC was facing serious financial pressures, she wanted to see if she could help. She approached the American Legion post in Rahway, New Jersey where her boys’ grandmother was a member, inquiring about the possibility of a donation to help the organization out. She wasn’t expecting much. Asking a group in New Jersey to donate to a NJROTC squad half a country away was a bit of a long shot, even with a relative in the mix, after all. And funds were short at the American Legion as well.

So she was elated when she got a check for $1,000 to help support the squad.

“We were really surprised – and really happy,” Barrera said.

Barrera said she’s very happy the family was able to give back to the community, which she says has been a very positive place for her sons.

“It’s depressing to hear about the school funding problems, and, honestly, when we got here, I started to wonder if we made the right move if the schools were in trouble,” she said. “But the teachers are working to give these kids the best education possible. They’re giving 110 percent.”

About the author

Jay Senter
Jay Senter

Jay Senter is the founder and publisher of the Post.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in business at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, where he worked as a reporter and editor at The Badger Herald.

He went on to receive a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Kansas, where he earned the Calder Pickett Award. While he was in graduate school, he also worked as a reporter for the Lawrence Journal-World.

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