HACKENSACK, NJ November 2011 – The Deirdre Imus Environmental Health Center™ has announced a strategic partnership with The ARC of Bergen and Passaic counties. The ARC is the largest national community-based organization advocating for and serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families. The ARC was born 60 years ago from a grassroots movement of families working vigilantly to create services for children and adults who were being denied day care, educational opportunities and work programs.
As part of the ARC’s mission to provide employment opportunities, a partnership with The Deirdre Imus Environmental Health Center™ has been established on two distinct fronts: one encompasses the pouring, packaging and distribution The Center’s green Hand Soap and the other on marketing and selling of this green product into New Jersey government offices. The partnership represents a new labor opportunity for The ARC and an untapped sales conduit for GTC® products to the State of New Jersey.
As a key part of the partnership, individuals with disabilities who work at The ARC’s Vocational Center in Hackensack, NJ will fulfill a variety of tasks from quality labeling and heat sealing to blister wrapping and other packaging needs.
“We applaud the work that our friends at The ARC of Bergen and Passaic do and we’re extremely pleased to have an opportunity to partner with them. The ARC has a long history of providing superior, customized support for assembly and packaging needs and we look forward to working with their conscientious and reliable staff,” said Deirdre Imus, Founder and President of The Center.
Kathy Walsh president and CEO of The ARC adds: “Using Greening the Cleaning® products is just a starting point for a healthy change. We encourage all NJ State facilities to take full advantage of this opportunity to reduce costs while reducing toxins in the New Jersey environment. At the same time, this initiative provides employment opportunities for individuals with developmental disabilities.”
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Greening the Cleaning® means eliminating to the greatest extent possible, all cleaning agents containing hazardous ingredients and replacing them with naturally-derived ingredients with the least level of toxicity. One hundred percent of all profits from the institutional products go to the Deirdre Imus Environmental Health Center™ to help identify, control, and ultimately prevent toxic exposures in the environment that threaten our children's health.
ABOUT THE DEIRDRE IMUS ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH CENTER:
The Deirdre Imus Environmental Health Center(R) at Hackensack University Medical Center represents one of the first hospital-based programs whose specific mission is to identify, control and ultimately prevent toxic exposures in the environment that threaten our children's health. The Center’s mission is twofold: to enhance health by educating our children, their parents and the public-at-large about the carcinogens and other environmental factors that occur all too commonly in our lives…and to serve as a voice that can realistically help shape policy decisions that impact the environment and our well being.
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About Deirdre Imus:
Deirdre Imus is the Founder and President of The Deirdre Imus Environmental Health Center ™ at Hackensack University Medical Center and Co-Founder/Director of the Imus Cattle Ranch for Kids with Cancer. She is a New York Times best-selling author and a frequent contributor to FoxNewsHealth.com and Foxbusiness.com. Numerous organizations have recognized Ms. Imus’ impact. She was honored with the 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Northeast Organic Farming Association and named as one of Glamour Magazine’s Eco Heroes for 2009. Deirdre serves on the boards of several children’s health organizations, including the National Autism Association, Safe Minds, Generation Rescue, SKIP of New York, East Harlem Council for Human Services, Inc., Boriken Neighborhood Health Center and Gilda's Club - Northern NJ.