Our Mission

My name is Len Rapoport, and I am the president of the International Press Association and publisher of IMPress Magazine.  I am a 40+ year resident of Hazlet.  As a resident who takes pride in his home and his town, I decided that Hazlet should have an online publication devoted to home and garden maintenance and improvement.  Some call this site the “Hazlet Better Homes and Gardens”.

The reason I started the Hazlet News, was because of my frustration with the decline of the homes in our  town and the fact that some of the areas of Hazlet have simply given up.  Even some of the homes on my block could use some TLC as well.  With neighbors either looking to move or some homes in my development in foreclosure, I decided I had to do something to help get Hazlet back on track.

What You Will Find On This Site

The website will be the great place to visit for some tips on how to maintain and improve your home and garden.  Loads of videos and articles will also highlight what we believe is the Best of Hazlet, from restaurants, businesses to some beautiful homes.  We hope this will demonstrate why many of us have chosen to live in Hazlet and have stayed here for so many years.

You will find links to important township offices and their calendar of events.  We urge our readers to attend some of the Hazlet Committee meetings. You will have an opportunity to meet our Mayor and the towns committee and have an opportunity to speak to those that make important decisions about our towns future.

By voicing your concerns and opinions in these meetings you enable them to better understand any issues that need attention.   With Sue Kiley now joining our towns committee and Mike Sachs our new mayor, my hope is that positive changes will be made in the coming year.

We need to be active in our community in order to keep it strong and to encourage its residence so that Hazlet can once again be the wonderful town I moved to 40 years ago.

Where We Are Starting Our Efforts

Since my expertise is in publishing online magazines and websites and my passion and interests are in gardening, home improvement projects, photography and writing, I hope I can become the spark that motivates others.  This website and our Facebook Page with over 8,000 LIKES and our Group with close to 1700 members in 5 months can become a forum to share ideas and comments with others.

I really do understand that budgets are tight and taxes continue to rise as our real estate values decline, but I believe we can stop the erosion of the homes values if we begin an aggressive program to maintain our homes.  To start we must improve the overall appearance of our town, starting with what people see first as they drive through our community, our homes exterior and our lawns.

For the 40 years my garden has been a source of pleasure. No question it takes hard work and dedication to maintain and care for my garden.  It is a source of pride for me and gives me the opportunity to get away from the computer and get out in the fresh air and sunshine.  Over the years, I have shared my plants and knowledge with my neighbors. In one case I have even helped to maintain a neighbors lawn for years.  I have even paid for the cost of the necessary chemicals and treatments when necessary as well.

Having a neighbor that simply doesn’t care to maintain their property is a problem for the entire community.  These homeowners and their homes become a blight on our town and this is why our home values have declined.  So my goal is to ask all of you for your support. The Hazlet News will do what it can to inform and help those that need it most, but ultimately it is up to you.

If we start to band together and reach out to others that may need our help, we can succeed in strengthening and bringing together those in our town that do care.  As a group of concerned citizens we can make a difference, even if it starts with our own homes.

I Need Your Help

Hazlet News  has a  group on Facebook and a FB Page as well.  Both will be our way to communicate up to the minute ideas, announcements and answer questions you may have about our plan to beautify Hazlet.  Please add your friends on Facebook to our Group.   This will help us grow and get the word out to others.

We will also continue to participate at the Hazlet Day Festival and township events.  If an event is coming up, let us know so we can cover the event for this publication.   I would also support Hazlet’s efforts to create an educational program designed to help our residents in the proper techniques to improve their homes and gardens.  I would reach out to local businesses to supply us with educators that can teach us how to care for our homes and gardens.  Please let our towns council know you support this type of program and lets make it happen.

We also have color post cards and business sized cards with information about the Hazlet News on the reverse side.  I  hope you will help us distribute these throughout the town and that local businesses.  Putting them on the counters or check out lanes can help us spread the word about our efforts.

Email us if you own a business and would like some cards or if you can get some placed in businesses in our town.

Facebook of course, will be our primary place to answer questions and alert you to new articles, so check there often.  Our Contact form on this site can be used to subscribe to our article feed and to reach us anytime day or night.

Would You Like To Be A HN Volunteer?

We need your help.  We understand that some homeowners are having difficult financial issues and are hard pressed to put food on the table.  So for those that really want to maintain their homes and gardens it is a struggle.  The question many are faced with is where the available funds should go. I understand it must first be used to pay your necessary bills,  however, the cost of maintaining ones home and garden is small and not doing so depreciates the value of your most valuable asset, your home.   We understand the frustration when money is tight and you need to make those tough decisions, but maybe we can help, reach out to us if you have the desire, but don’t have the ability or funds to make it happen.

We are looking for volunteers that can help those in need…the elderly the disabled the financially burdened.  If you are a landscaping firm, a retiree, a student, or anyone that has some time during the Spring Summer and Early Fall seasons and can lend a hand, let us know.  If the homeowner has their own lawn mower but is unable to do the physical work of cutting their lawns, we hope to have volunteers that can do it for you.

If you have a lawn that needs more attention, we will be reaching out to others to donate their excess or new bags of fertilizer and other garden products that can be shared with those that qualify for assistance.  How many of us have gardens with excess plants?  I have donated so many of mine to neighbors and you can read our article about Neighbors Helping Neighbors to see how I was able to help my neighbor.

We have great plans for the future and hope we can gain the Hazlet residents support in our effort.  We do not have any funding at all, no donations, no government money, nothing. It is my donation of my time and knowledge that I am offering to Hazlet and hope I can count on others like myself that see the need to step up and do something positive for our town.

If you are interested in being part of our team and would like to volunteer, to help us help others, contact us.  For students that are looking for experience, or need to perform meaningful community services, we can help you too.  For others that love to garden or simply want to help those that need it the most, share your expertise and even your excess plants to help others.

Would you like to help others that simply can’t mow their own lawn or can’t afford to hire a lawn service?  If so let us know.  Together we can create beautiful gardens and make our town a showplace, an example, of what a community can accomplish if they have the support of its residents.

The Hazlet News and our effort to Beautify Hazlet is a bold one I know and it can succeed with your support. Than we accomplish these lofty goals to improve our lives and increase the value of our homes and our community.

Have A Story Idea?

Please feel free to email  your comments and suggestions to us for future story ideas.  We will be working hard to highlight some of the best businesses, restaurants and homes in Hazlet and welcome those that are willing to pitch in and help us accomplish our lofty goals.

Want to view Hazlet stats, including how many people live in our town, who they are and what they earn?  Click Here