Thank You Mr. Mancuso
In addition to this summary, there are two letters of appreciation from The County College of Morris and The College of St. Elizabeth, and the IRS Compliance letter. You can view the letters by clicking the instituion names below.
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Thank You, Mr. Mancuso . . . thanks to your leadership, more than $240,000 was raised for local students to attend the County College of Morris and the College of Saint Elizabeth.
In the Spring of 1990, Morris Township held a special 250th anniversary celebration of the Township's incorporation in 1740 under the leadership of former Mayor Peter Mancuso. Planning for this celebration took three years, and to formalize this event, Morris Township Day, Inc. was created as a charitable not-for-profit entity. Among the 37 events that were hosted for our residents was a family-oriented Carnival with rides and amusements. After the nine-day celebration came to a close, a decision was made to continue with the Carnival as a way to keep the community spirit that was on display during that celebration alive for the ensuing years.
As the Carnival grew in popularity, it became a major fund raising venue for many community organizations, including Morristown American Little League, Senior Citizens, Employment Horizons, NJ Umpires, Bethel AME Church, Morristown First Night, Knights of Columbus, Babe Ruth Baseball, the Morris Museum, Morristown Kiwanis and Zonta. All of these groups, and many others, benefited from the Carnival by being awarded all of the proceeds they raised from the various games and amusements they operated as volunteers. For some of these organizations, the Carnival was their only source of fund raising.
The Carnival also raised money each year in its own name for the purpose of supporting education using funds raised from admission fees, ticket sales and 50-50 raffles. These funds were dedicated to scholarships that were provided to college students from Morris Township, Morristown and Morris County &mdask; in that order of preference — with about two thirds of the funds going to students attending the County College of Morris and one third to students attending the College of Saint Elizabeth. A total of $241,500 has been distributed for these scholarships by Morris Township Day, Inc., and about $6,000 more remains on hand to be distributed.
After many years of successful operations, two issues arose in 2007 that caused the Carnival to suspend its annual appearances. One was the discovery that small charitable organizations like Morris Township Day, Inc. were subject to lower filing thresholds than what the Carnival organization had previously been advised. When this came to light, a comprehensive audit of Morris Township Day Inc. operations was completed and all necessary tax returns were filed. No taxes were due, and no interest or penalties of any kind were assessed.
The other issue that contributed to the Carnival's suspension was the increasing difficulty in finding sufficient volunteers. Each Carnival requires 10 – 15 people each hour during the 30 hours the event operates during its 4-day appearance. This challenge has not been resolved.
It is clear, though, that many students from our community, and many community organizations, have benefited from Morris Township Day, Inc. under the leadership of Peter Mancuso. They join the thousands of families who enjoyed attending the Carnival over the years in saying . . .
Thank You, Mr. Mancuso!
