Over the past 20 years Heartworks and its founder, Bernardsville resident Megan McDowell, have made it their mission to show love and support for people living through the first 14 months of grief, serious illness or natural disaster. Megan was inspired to establish Heartworks in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. On that day, her brother-in-law, John Farrell, who grew up in Gladstone and lived in Basking Ridge, was killed in the South Tower. To quote Megan, “It felt like the whole country showed up for my sister Maryanne and their four young children.”

The beauty and energy of the kindness her family received during such a devastating time motivated the formation of Heartworks. Local women have gathered since 2004 to fundraise, plan, and put into action acts of kindness benefitting residents of our local community and others around NJ. Heartworks is careful to ensure they provide support tailored to the specific circumstances of each family. Lawn care, meals, housecleaning, and financial assistance are just a few examples of how they show kindness. Tickets to a special event, fall decor on a front porch, a day of beauty, or a college care package are other ways Heartworks is known to send love.

Added to the mission in early days, Heartworks also actively supports our local veterans. A dinner for members of Post 7858 is hosted monthly at Heartworks House on 202 in Basking Ridge where they can eat together and hold their meetings. And each year since its inception, Heartworkers have honored our vets during the weeks of Memorial Day and Veterans Day with special meals, cards, and support at their local events.

Junior Heartworks is a daughter organization that provides the opportunity for high school age girls from our local communities to gather and engage in the same support and acts of kindness as the adult group.

For more information about Heartworks, to donate, or to refer a family for kindness, please visit https://www.njheartworks.org/ or call the office at 908-766-4400.

— Jen Aaron