First-year students from the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) in Newark spent several hours at New Community Harmony House armed with steel wire mesh brushes, rollers and paint. As part of NJIT’s Annual First Year Service Day, 25 students worked on giving Harmony House, a transitional housing facility for homeless families, a makeover. The volunteers prepped and painted the poles, stairwells and guardrails surrounding the courtyard of the complex. On the left, Babatunde Ojo, 18, of Piscataway and Bridgen Parekh, 18, of the Fords section of Woodbridge, painted together. On the right, Gabe Coley of NCC Environmental Services worked with a group of students on the stairwell. According to Parekh, the annual service day has a two-fold purpose: to help new students bond and “to give back to the community of Newark.” Harmony House was among more than 40 sites in Newark and surrounding areas that hosted a total of 800 NJIT students.
