Norton, MA, September 23, 2005 — Bernie & Phyl’s Furniture recently donated new furniture for the waiting and interview rooms of the Children’s Advocacy Center of Suffolk County (CAC). The CAC is an interagency public/private partnership dedicated to minimizing trauma to children and families when concerns of abuse and violence arise. The Center coordinates the services available to child abuse victims and each year more than 1,000 children and their caretakers visit the CAC to talk about difficult events in their lives.
The CAC recently moved into new expanded space at the Boston Family Justice Center on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston. The new furniture will help make this space a friendlier and more welcoming environment for the children who use it.
“Bernie & Phyl’s cares about families in our community – including families and children that are in trouble and need help. We’re pleased that our furniture will help ease a stressful time for the people who come to the Children’s Advocacy Center,” said Bernie Rubin, co-founder and chairman of Bernie & Phyl’s Furniture.
Norton, MA, September 16, 2005 – Bernie & Phyl’s Furniture is partnering with New England Patriot Vince Wilfork, WBCN, and the Mass Mentoring Partnership to encourage more people to get involved with mentoring kids. The company is sponsoring a major public service campaign called “Be a Champion for a Child,” which highlights the need for high-quality youth mentoring throughout Massachusetts. The spots star Bernie and Phyllis Rubin, co-founders of Bernie & Phyl’s Furniture, and Patriot’s nose tackle Vince Wilfork, who explain that there are thousands of children across the state in need of mentors. Currently, for every two kids matched with an adult, one remains on a mentoring program’s wait list.
In addition to the radio spots, one successful mentor and mentee pair will attend each home game of the season as Vince’s “match of the game” and have their stories told on the radio that day. At the end of October, Vince and Bernie and Phyl will take part in two special events at Bernie & Phyl’s stores (dates and times to be announced later), during which people will be able to learn about the rewards of mentoring.
“Mentoring was really important in my life and we at Bernie & Phyl’s are very excited about teaming up with Vince Wilfork of the Patriots. We hope to achieve ‘a touchdown’ for kids throughout the state by attracting more people to become mentors,” said Bernie Rubin.
Each January for the past four years, Bernie & Phyl’s Furniture has sponsored the National Mentoring Month public service campaign for the Mass Mentoring Partnership. The Partnership recently awarded the company the first Champions of Mentoring Award for their long-standing support and commitment to mentoring kids.
Norton, MA, September 6, 2005 — Bernie & Phyl’s Furniture’s recent child car seat safety event at its Saugus store was a major success, with nearly a hundred families having their car seats checked and/or reinstalled by the state police. This was the third year that Bernie & Phyl’s has sponsored this event at its Saugus location.
According to the Massachusetts State Police, every day four children are killed in car crashes in this country and many more are seriously injured. A child who is properly restrained in a car seat reduces his risk of death and injury by 71 percent. Sadly, the state police find that 98 percent of all the child safety seats they inspect are installed incorrectly. In addition to installation problems, some car seats are too old to be safe. At the Bernie & Phyl’s event, the police technicians replaced several because of their age, including one that was 18 years old.
“This was a great way to help out the families in our community and remind everyone that lives are saved when everyone is buckled up properly,” said Bernie Rubin, chairman of Bernie & Phyl’s Furniture. “We were happy to be co-sponsors and the hosts for this popular event.”