Mt. Olive is Awesome

We work together and are united.The Become Awesome Foundation is a non-profit organization founded by the D’Amico-Novaky families in memory of Nick Novaky and in celebration of all young lives.  The Foundation’s mission is to promote the self-confidence to cope with hardship as well as social consciousness and tolerance.  The Foundation asked for help when the roadside memorial erected by the friends of Nick Novaky and Neil Solanki needed to be dismantled. Some 149 individuals, young and older alike, came forward. Together we planned a garden memorial, built elsewhere, that would celebrate all the young who have lost their lives before age 30 in Mt. Olive.  Faye, an owner of the Budd Lake Diner and a master gardener, volunteered cuttings for spring planting. Young people offered their time and labor. Mayor Greenbaum and the Council are allowing the garden to be built on an unused portion of Turkey Brook Park. The garden plans for perennial flowering plants, benches, engraved stepping stones, a rain barrel, and a potting shed. We will plant deer-resistant bulbs for spring growth soon.  We need a substantial fundraising effort to support the entire garden plan; any help is appreciated. This spring we will continue planting and hold a grand opening event. If anyone is interested in volunteering with research, gardening, or fund raising, please contact us via our website at:  www.become-awesome.org.

Denise Novaky
Budd Lake