A little bit of rain didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of 150 ‘Spring into Action’ volunteers reporting for service April 25 at nonprofit organizations in Camden.
“This is our largest turnout ever!” Elena Piperno, the Domenica Foundation’s executive director, told the crowd of volunteers enjoying breakfast at Cathedral Kitchen in East Camden.
Many of those in the dining area had brought along their children; there were hugs and selfies all around before volunteers fanned out across the city to pick up shovels, rakes, power tools, and paint brushes.
Their destinations included the St. Joseph’s Carpenter Society; Heart of Camden; Sisters of St. Joseph Neighborhood Center; Ronald McDonald House of Southern New Jersey; LUCY Outreach; Joseph’s House of Camden; and Catholic Partnership Schools. And their tasks included assembling meal bags, painting a school hallway, and building flower boxes.
“This has been a really hard year for people in the city and the nonprofits that support them,” Piperno said. “The need is through the roof…and these nonprofits don’t just open their doors, They make them open wider and they keep them open longer.”
Founded in 1991 by her father, Adolfo ‘Pepe’ Piperno, in honor of his mother, Domenica, the foundation partners with nonprofits that offer educational and vocational opportunities for youth, or work to address housing, food insecurity, and community development issues for families and adults in Camden.
“If you ask my dad about our mission, he would say, ‘we just want to help people, and support these nonprofits,’” Piperno said. “They are doing incredible work. They are real heroes in this city.”
Cathedral Kitchen has been a Domenica partner “going back decades,” said Noreen Flewelling, vice-president of development. In addition to culinary training, Cathedral Kitchen offers a hot meal to as many as 800 people daily.
“Domenica not only supports us financially. They also bring volunteers to us every month,” said Flewelling.
“These volunteers help plate meals, serve coffee…and raise awareness of Cathedral Kitchen and our mission to fight food insecurity in Camden. We can’t do it alone.”
Steve Goodman, a longtime Domenica volunteer, helped cut lumber at the Workforce Development Center on Federal Street in East Camden. The Carpenter Society opened the facility in 2025.
“When I was growing up about six miles from Camden I really didn’t know the issues for people living in the city,” he said.
“Now I do, and that’s what drives me,” said Goodman. “I changed careers late in life to work in nonprofits and make an impact. I have a list of about 25 people who also volunteer at places like Joseph’s House, and I try to interest more people to do this.”
At LUCY Outreach, a youth empowerment program about 10 blocks east on Federal Street, friends Rob Warren and AJ Mastragostino were pulling weeds as they spruced up a grassy strip in front of the main building.
Warren described Spring into Action as a family friendly event. “It’s nice to be with friends and bring the kids along while doing work like this,” he said.
“Most of us who are volunteering grew up in South Jersey, and people in Camden are our neighbors,” said Mastragostino. “We like to help our neighbors.”
A group of volunteers from Hammonton, Atlantic County, were painting a second-floor corridor in a school building at the St. Anthony of Padua Church campus in the city’s Cramer Hill section.
“Domenica comes here every year and this is the third year for the group from Hammonton,” said Jameka Walker, executive director of Camden Partnership Schools. The partnership includes five K-8 Catholic schools in Camden and Pennsauken.
In a second-floor hallway, Hunter Becker and his mom, Alexandra were painting walls.
“I love helping the community and helping others, and being a part of this,” said Hunter Becker, 12, an incoming eighth-grader at the St. Joseph Academy in Hammonton.
Walker said sprucing up the building sends a message.
“ The students notice the new paint. The building is brightly painted, and it’s all because of service projects like this one by the Domenica Foundation. We don’t have the money or the manpower to do it,” she said.
Speaking to the crowd at Cathedral Kitchen – which she cited as an example of how nonprofits “show up” in Camden – Elena Piperno said the city’s challenges will be met by “the resilience of the people and the strength of the community.”
She told the volunteers: “Thank you for being part of this tradition.”