Dora Ramos, a recently retired attendance officer and advocate who served the Edison school community for three decades, was fittingly honored during the township’s Board of Education meeting on Tuesday night.
“You are leaving a legacy of service and care that will live on in the hearts and minds of the children, parents and educators of our community,” Herbert Hoover Middle School Principal Brian McGrath said.
“Everyone here today knows that you will never be replaced, and that your work can never be replicated. The impact of your work will live on in those you helped long after you retire to the comfort of your family.”
Dora and her husband, Jimmy, a recently retired Edison Township Public Schools security officer, founded Community Action Reaches Everyone, a grassroots service organization better known by the acronym C.A.R.E.
The organization existed informally for two decades before being established as a foundation. For three decades, whenever township residents were in need of assistance – whether it be a warm winter coat, a new pair of eyeglasses or shoes, school supplies, or food to get through the week – Ramos and her small army of volunteers would lend a helping hand.
“A model charity provided all the best when life seemed to be at its worst,” McGrath said of C.A.R.E, noting social workers, educators, police officers, and firefighters would contact Dora at all hours of the day or night to assist children and families in need.
“Dora did all this while raising a family and working full-time,” McGrath said, noting Dora and Jimmy’s “greatest accomplishment” was their own son’s success.
Dr. Christopher Ramos, a John P. Stevens High School alumnus, attended Columbia and Princeton universities. He earned both a medical degree and MBA and, just as his parents, is currently serving others, albeit in his capacity as a gastroenterologist in Texas. Dr. Ramos joined the school board’s presentation for his mother via livestream.
Drawing an analogy to Bono, Bruce, Madonna, and Taylor – world-renowned musical artists identified solely by their first names – McGrath said Ramos was equally well known throughout Edison Township simply as Dora.
“But Dora was never motivated by fame or fortune,” McGrath explained. “What motivated Dora was providing families the resources they needed to live a safe and dignified life, enabling children to thrive in school and beyond.”
While C.A.R.E. disbanded in 2019 when the Ramoses became grandparents and started planning their retirement, Dora and Jimmy continued their community service.
Dora gifted C.A.R.E.’s remaining funds to The Marisa Tufaro Foundation, which assists pediatric patients and children in need throughout the greater Middlesex County area with a large part of its focus on Edison Township.
C.A.R.E. was an outgrowth of Dora’s deep concern for others and her observation that families in Edison sometimes needed a helping hand to move forward.
“When we started this, I saw that families needed things and I’d say to my husband, ‘Come on, we have to go shopping,’” Dora said shortly after C.A.R.E. disbanded.
The seed for C.A.R.E. was planted when Dora took Christopher to school for the first time and was surprised to be greeted in her native Spanish by a teacher who suggested she get involved in the PTA.
Dora, who worried about her then lack of proficiency with English, asked what she could possibly do. She was told that from making coffee, to taking photographs at events, there were lots of ways to assist. Grateful to be included in the school community, Dora knew she wanted to give back.
With that, she began to look around a little closer and could see a need. “As a parent,” Dora said, “I’d see something and would think, ‘Oh boy, that kid needs shoes.”
In time, Dora found others who assisted her and led her to those in need. C.A.R.E. grew into an organization of 200 to 300 people who would volunteer and participate in fundraisers including charity walks and food and coat drives. Local businesses regularly made financial and in-kind donations to support Dora’s efforts.
As her mission grew, so did the strength of C.A.R.E. and the importance of doing due diligence. “One of the things that distinguished C.A.R.E. is that we did our own assessments. I was very proud of that,” Dora said. “I wanted to make sure that the people we were helping really needed the help, and that they got it.”
C.A.R.E., which had a nine-person executive board, also ran career programs for children and sponsored peer-to-peer mentoring with the help of residents committed to its mission of community service.
Dora is gratified that C.A.R.E assisted countless individuals, that her large circle of friends and supporters were able to make a difference for the people of Edison, and that she could show that giving back comes in many forms.
“It doesn’t have to be money,” Dora said. “There are many ways to give back to others.”