Riverview Observer (12/16/08)

Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy, members of the Municipal Council, and HelpLight NJ recently delivered 575 light bulbs on Friday, December 12, 2008 to senior citizens residing at Berry Gardens Community Hall at 92 Danforth Avenue in Jersey City. HelpLight New Jersey, an organization founded by high school students John Caddock and Matthew Erickson, initially began distributing light bulbs to local food pantries and senior centers.

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Mosaic Society (2008)

… An Energy Star-sponsored program that is unconventional in its environmental goals is HelpLight New Jersey, which was started by global warming-conscious high school juniors Matthew Erickson and John Caddock in Nov. 2007. Its mission is “to inspire teens to take action in the fight against global warming…and helping the less fortunate in hopes of creating a better earth.” …

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Courier News (12/9/08)

PLAINFIELD —The light bulbs that recently lit up over several city volunteers’ heads just happened to
concern, well, light bulbs.

In seeking a way to benefit area senior citizens in a time of economic distress, representatives from Friends of Sleepy Hollow, a Plainfield neighborhood association, collaborated with members of HelpLight New Jersey, a Central Jersey nonprofit organization, in distributing six-packs of compact fluorescent light bulbs to about 175 people at the Plainfield Senior Center on East Front Street on Tuesday, Dec. 9…

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Philadelphia Inquirer – 12/8/08

… Another group, HelpLightNJ, will distribute compact fluorescents today at the Nancy Elkis Senior Center in Deptford in a similar program. Residents of the Gloucester County Housing
Authority will receive more than 14,000 bulbs.

Students from Deptford High and Mater Dei High in Monmouth County will hand out the last of 60,000 bulbs the student-founded HelpLightNJ received from a state Clean Energy grant.

Low-income residents will receive free six-packs, valued at approximately $30. The bulbs use about 70 percent less energy than incandescent bulbs and last up to 10 times longer. The six-
pack can save families $400 off their electric bills over their lifetime…

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The Courier (12/5/08)
Rough economy doesn’t slow Somerset County United Way holiday gift drive

… The needy families will also receive a food basket with a ham or turkey and holiday meal fixings from the Food Bank Network of Somerset County, which is accepting donations to its holiday meal drive until Tuesday, Dec. 22. As a “green” Christmas bonus, Help Light New Jersey, provided a bag of six energy efficient light bulbs for each of the families. The bulbs, which are expected to last 10,000 hours, are estimated to save each family $400 in electric bills during the lifetime of the bulb, said Bernie Erickson of Middletown, whose son, Matt, created the charity…

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Montgomery News (10/9/08)
Montgomery Township Joins Energy Star Campaign

… Montgomery Sustainability is also working with NJ Clean Energy partner HelpLightNJ to give Seniors and the Food Pantry families $30 worth of CFL bulbs – that’s $400 worth of energy savings – FREE. HelpLightNJ, a group of Perth Amboy high school students doing their part in helping the environment, will do an educational talk at the Senior Center this fall. For more information, contact Denise Crowley, Montgomery Senior Center, 609-466-0846…

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The Star Ledger (10/1/2008)
His bright idea: Distribute efficient bulbs

… Matthew Erickson admits he didn’t know much about global warning until he saw Al Gore’s documentary “An Inconvienient Truth” last year.

As the film showed how the Arctic ice sheets could melt and polar bears become extinct within his lifetime, the proverbial light bulb in Erickson’s head went on. Make that a compact fluorescent bulb. In an effort to do his own part in helping the environment, Erickson along with several friends is giving away 60,000 compact fluorescent bulbs to senior citizens and needy families, as well as educating people about their energy saving benefits.

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Monmouth Journal (9/5/08)
Local students show it’s easy to be green

MIDDLETOWN – A group of students from Mater Dei High School, located in the New Monmouth section of the township, have started an organization to help the environment, as well as families in need. Called HelpLight NJ, founders John Caddock and Matthew Erickson, both 16, hope to help others, help the environment and help the economy – one light bulb at a time…

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The Star Ledger (4/17/08)
Climate challenges inspire innovation

Although only a high school sophomore, Matt Erickson, of Middletown, has had a big impact in central New Jersey. He and John Caddock, a fellow student at Mater Dei High Schoo, in Middletown, started HelpLight NJ in November with the goal of raising money to buy energy-saving compact fluorescent bulbs and distribute them to needy families. “We felt needy families probably wouldn’t try these bulbs because they cost more, and they could use the savings,” Erikson said.

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