Excellence in Philanthropy Awardees

Join AFP-NJ in celebrating New Jersey’s 2025 awardees!

Creature Comfort Pet Therapy: Healing Happens Here

When stress, grief, or loneliness closes in, Creature Comfort Pet Therapy (CCPT) based in Madison, NJ, opens the door to relief—with a cold nose, a warm nuzzle, and a volunteer who cares.

A Hands-On Model That Works

Founded in 2011 by the late Joan Baer and Annie Murphy, CCPT was created to meet the soaring demand for animal-assisted visits across New Jersey. What distinguishes CCPT is its hands-on, customized approach: staff collaborate with every partner site to match the right volunteer–pet team to each population’s needs, then structure every visit for maximum therapeutic impact.

Numbers That Tell a Story

7,000+ visits in 2024
150,000 people reached
300 facilities served across 9 counties
500+ certified teams representing dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, a goat and even a mini horse

Behind those numbers are the volunteers—more than 200 active teams—who commit to at least two visits a month after passing a rigorous evaluation and mentorship process. Together, they deliver about 300 visits every month to hospitals, schools, libraries, mental-health programs, veterans’ homes, hospices, and senior-care centers.

Programs for Every Stage of Life

Recurring Visits & Animal-Assisted Activities – Unstructured time to elevate mood, ease pain, and reduce anxiety.
Animal-Assisted Therapy – One-on-one sessions integrated into a professional treatment plan.
Creature Comfort On Call – Rapid-response teams for crises or urgent needs.
Reading to Dogs – A judgment-free zone that boosts literacy and confidence.
Special-Needs Schools, After-School Education & Pediatric Units – Tailored interactions that aid developmental and emotional growth.
Mental-Health, Veterans & Senior Programs – Visits that fight isolation and spark communication for adults of all ages.

The Science—and Magic—of Pet Therapy

Research shows interaction with calm animals can lower blood pressure, release mood-boosting endorphins, and diminish pain. Yet the magic often reveals itself in personal moments:

A child with selective mutism whispers to a therapy dog for the very first time.
A stroke survivor flexes stiff fingers to reach a cat’s soft fur.
An elder in memory care brightens, recalling the therapy dog’s name even after forgetting her own.

“These animals reach people no one else can,” says a CCPT staff member. “Healing can begin with a single tail wag.”

Mission, Vision, and a Lasting Legacy

Mission: To enhance people’s lives through therapeutic visits with caring volunteers and their pets.
Vision: A statewide network where trained volunteers and facilities connect easily, and the benefits of pet therapy are widely understood and embraced.

Joan Baer and Annie Murphy called it the “power of the paws.” AFP New Jersey calls it Excellence in Philanthropy—honoring CCPT as the 2025 Outstanding Community Organization for its innovation, reach, and life-changing results.

Get Involved

Whether you have a gentle pet, a facility seeking visits, or a heart moved to give, Creature Comfort Pet Therapy welcomes you. Learn more, volunteer, or donate at www.ccpettherapy.org.

Honoring Excellence in Consulting: George Ruotolo Named 2025 AFP-NJ Award Winner

The New Jersey Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP-NJ) is proud to recognize George C. Ruotolo, Jr., CFRE, Chairman and CEO of Ruotolo Associates, as the 2025 recipient of the Award for Consulting Excellence as part of the annual Excellence in Philanthropy celebration.

A visionary leader with a career spanning more than five decades, George Ruotolo has become a pillar of the nonprofit sector. Since founding Ruotolo Associates in 1979, George has helped guide hundreds of mission-driven organizations through transformational fundraising and development strategies. His areas of expertise span annual giving, capital campaigns, planned giving, marketing, and public relations—each approached with his signature style: high-touch, values-driven, and deeply strategic.

George created Ruotolo Associates to fill a need he saw in the industry—a more contemporary, personalized, and professional approach to development consulting. His philosophy remains simple but powerful: every organization is unique and deserves solutions tailored to its individual mission, culture, and community. That belief, paired with his deep knowledge of fundraising and communications, has helped raise millions of dollars for causes that matter.

Clients and colleagues alike describe George as principled, collaborative, and forward-thinking. He brings the highest standards of ethics, integrity, and professionalism to every engagement. His legacy includes not only the growth of countless nonprofit institutions, but also the development of future leaders in the field.

In addition to his consulting work, George has dedicated himself to community and higher education leadership. He currently serves as Immediate Past Chair of the Board of Trustees at Ramapo College of New Jersey, is a founding member of the Ridgewood Educational Foundation, and has lectured at Columbia University, Boston University, and Baruch College. His contributions to the profession have been recognized previously, including the 2005 Robert J. Smyth Outstanding Professional Fundraiser Award, also presented by AFP-NJ.

The Award for Consulting Excellence honors a professional who has made a sustained and significant impact in nonprofit consulting, exemplifying best practices and elevating the field. George Ruotolo has done all this and more. As one nominator put it, “I can attest to the quality service he provides, as well as to his understanding of the importance of each organization as a unique entity with a unique mission.”

George’s achievements serve as a model for excellence in philanthropic consulting. His work has strengthened institutions, inspired donors, and uplifted communities across New Jersey and beyond. It is with deep appreciation that AFP-NJ celebrates his extraordinary career.

Connie Dwyer Breast Cancer Foundation Honored with 2025 AFP-NJ Outstanding Foundation Award

The New Jersey Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP-NJ) is proud to name the Connie Dwyer Breast Cancer Foundation (CDBCF) as the recipient of the 2025 Outstanding Foundation Award—part of its annual Excellence in Philanthropy Awards. This honor recognizes CDBCF’s extraordinary impact on breast cancer care, advocacy, and community empowerment across New Jersey.

For more than 20 years, the Connie Dwyer Breast Cancer Foundation has been a beacon of hope for thousands of uninsured and underinsured women. The organization’s mission is clear and powerful: to ensure vulnerable women have access to high-quality breast health services—regardless of their ability to pay. Through clinical care, education, advocacy, and financial support, CDBCF addresses every stage of the breast cancer journey with compassion and precision.

One of the Foundation’s most impactful initiatives is its Community Grants Program, which dramatically expanded in 2024. That year, CDBCF awarded $100,000 to eight exceptional organizations, each dedicated to preventing, diagnosing, treating, or supporting recovery from breast cancer. Together, these community partners served more than 7,000 patients and families statewide. From financial aid and transportation to emotional recovery and holistic healing, these programs touch lives in meaningful, lasting ways.

Among the 2024 highlights:

Sister to Sister offered financial assistance to over 2,200 women.
Crossroads4Hope delivered bilingual outreach and education to 4,000 individuals.
Trinitas Foundation helped 60+ patients access lifesaving care through transportation assistance.
Other partners provided healing therapies, support groups, free wigs, and navigation services—ensuring no woman feels alone.

CDBCF’s visionary leadership and commitment to equity were also instrumental in launching a $1.2 million mobile mammography unit at University Hospital in Newark in 2024. Outfitted with state-of-the-art 3D technology and a full-time outreach team, the unit screened 2,365 women in its first year, with projections to reach more than 4,000 annually. For women facing barriers such as poverty, language, or lack of insurance, this mobile clinic brings care directly to their neighborhoods—removing the systemic obstacles that often delay diagnosis.

In Essex County, the mobile unit brings care directly into neighborhoods, and the need is great. In 2023, 36% of women first screened at University Hospital were diagnosed with a later stage cancer, and African American patients experienced higher mortality rates and incidences of inflammatory breast cancer.

The mobile unit is making a measurable difference. Its early results show promise, and the heartfelt feedback from participants speaks volumes:

“This is such a good program for the community.”
“I don’t have health insurance, and this is a blessing.”
“This is my first mammogram—I don’t know if I would have done it if it wasn’t for you.”

The Connie Dwyer Breast Cancer Foundation exemplifies what it means to be an outstanding foundation: innovative, compassionate, community-centered, and relentlessly committed to saving lives. By lifting up trusted partners, removing barriers to care, and expanding access to vital services, CDBCF brings hope and healing to women who need it most.

AFP-NJ is honored to recognize the Connie Dwyer Breast Cancer Foundation for its remarkable leadership and lasting impact.

Amol Sinha Honored with 2025 AFP-NJ Outstanding Nonprofit Advocate Award

The New Jersey Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP-NJ) is proud to present the 2025 Outstanding Nonprofit Advocate Award to Amol Sinha, Executive Director of the ACLU of New Jersey (ACLU-NJ). This honor recognizes Amol exceptional leadership, transformative impact, and unwavering commitment to advancing racial justice, protecting civil liberties, and defending democracy.

Since taking the helm of the ACLU-NJ in 2017, Amol has guided the organization through a period of unprecedented growth and influence. Under his leadership, the ACLU-NJ has more than doubled its staff, deepened community partnerships, and built an integrated advocacy model that combines litigation, policy, public education, and strategic communications. The results have been nothing short of transformational for New Jersey’s civil rights landscape.

During his tenure, the ACLU-NJ has appeared before the New Jersey Supreme Court more than any other non-governmental party, securing landmark victories across multiple issue areas. Amol has championed access to driver’s licenses for all residents regardless of immigration status, prevented hundreds of deportations, restored voting rights to people on probation and parole, and defended free speech across a spectrum of viewpoints.

One of the hallmarks of Amol’s leadership is his focus on decarceration and criminal justice reform. Through strategic litigation and legislative advocacy, the ACLU-NJ helped secure the early release of more than 9,000 people from New Jersey’s prisons and jails, a historic step toward dismantling systemic inequities in the criminal legal system. His team also led the successful effort to legalize cannabis with an explicit racial justice framework—ensuring equity remained central to policy and implementation.

In 2024, Amol spearheaded the launch of the Clemency Project, a groundbreaking initiative encouraging the use of categorical clemency to address widespread injustices. In collaboration with Governor Phil Murphy, this project has resulted in 129 pardons and commutations in just one year—more than all New Jersey governors combined had granted in the previous three decades.

Beyond his work at the ACLU-NJ, Amol is a respected national leader. He was elected Chair of the ACLU’s Nationwide Executive Director Council in 2024 and serves as a Policy Fellow at Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs. His career has also included significant roles at the Innocence Project and the New York Civil Liberties Union, where he led efforts to address wrongful convictions, protect immigrants’ rights, and reform the criminal legal system.

Amol’s influence extends into the community, particularly within the South Asian American and Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities. He has served as President of the South Asian Bar Association of New York, been appointed to the New Jersey AAPI Commission, and is a frequent commentator in national and international media on civil rights, racial justice, and public interest law.

In honoring Amol Sinha, AFP-NJ celebrates not only a powerful advocate but a compassionate leader who centers directly impacted communities in every fight. His work continues to shape a more just, equitable, and inclusive New Jersey—and sets a model for advocacy nationwide.