Ebone Woodard Receives Help From JF Party Dragon for Mother’s Urn
Rowan College at Burlington County student Ebone Woodard was helped by the nonprofit JF Party Dragon. Photo by Rowan College at Burlington County.
AC JosepH Media/RCBC
MOUNT LAUREL — The nonprofit charity, JF Party Dragon, run by Justin Greco, Josh Avilleira, and Thomas Nuara, who teaches public speaking at Rowan College at Burlington County, recently changed the life of Rowan College at Burlington County student Ebone Woodard.
As part of a task assigned by professor Nuara, Woodard revealed that because she was unable to obtain an urn, she had stored her mother’s ashes in a Walmart bag. Upon learning about the situation, Nuara used his charity, JF Party Dragon, to donate an urn for Woodard’s late mother.
“The donation of the urn was unbelievable, but one word I can use is that I’m just blessed,” Woodard said. “I am highly grateful for the donation, including my sisters. We never knew a simple uploaded assignment would get us this far, but it did. It was unbelievable to know that such a kind spirit (Nuara) still walked this Earth.
“You know, when you go through so much and endure so many trials and tribulations, it’s hard to see the light beyond what felt like an everlasting dark tunnel. It meant the world to us to know that our mother’s ashes have a home now. It’s a beautiful carved, wooden brown box with detailed engravings in it. JF Party Dragon restored my faith.”
“No more Walmart bags,” she joked.
This act of kindness embodies JF Party Dragon’s mission, “To build a better, bigger, more beautiful tomorrow for those less fortunate in our local community. By fundraising and making unique personal donations, we can help create new opportunities and make our community stronger, smarter, happier, and healthier.”
Woodard currently studies radiology at RCBC. Her determination shows that if you have the “hustling mentality” or a hunger for education, you won’t rest until you get it.
“I chose RCBC because it is a great school, I deserved to further my education and I knew it would make my mother proud,” Woodard said. “I feel like she deserves that much, here or in spirit. The legacy my mother created was a hustling mentality. No matter what situation I have ever found myself in, I knew I would get out of it because this mouth is always open, ready to be fed.”
So, where did the name JF Party Dragon come from?
“The original stuffed animal (our mascot JF Party Dragon) was won on the boardwalk by Josh, and we had a group chat at Kean University going,” Nuara said. “Josh put a picture of it in the group chat and was looking for a name.
“The conversation went on for a few hours back and forth with a group of about 10 people; it was quite silly and funny. In the end, one person told a story about Juicy Fruit gum and he went on for hours; that’s when the name stuck. When we became a legal entity, we shortened the Juicy Fruit to JF to avoid any issues later with Wrigley, as we grew. We want our brand to represent the importance of helping others and doing the right thing in our communities,” Nuara said.
They have partnered with companies like Walmart and Target in order to fulfill their mission and hold a variety of events every year that support causes, including breast and prostate cancer and autism. They’ve held food and toy drives, collected donations for animal shelters and women’s shelters and hosted back-to-school fundraisers for underprivileged children.
JF Party Dragon is based in Toms River and the best way to reach them is through social media.
For more information, please visit jfpartydragon.com and follow them @jfpartrydragon on Instagram and JF Party Dragon on Facebook.
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