To the Editor:

On Friday, October 8, Princeton-Blairstown Center (PBC) held its sixth annual Links to Youth Golf Outing at the Fox Hollow Golf Club in Branchburg. A beautiful fall day drew 88 golfers and raised more than $75,000, which will support PBC’s award-winning Summer Bridge Program. Each year, Summer Bridge offers hundreds of students from Trenton and Newark a high-quality summer enrichment experience focused on social emotional learning and S.T.E.A.M. completely free of charge.

In addition to the golfers who joined us for the day, many others supported the event by donating and/or bidding on items in the online silent auction. Our board members were also tremendous assets, stepping up to register or recruit foursomes and solicit auction prizes and sponsorships. Their efforts helped us surpass both our attendance and revenue goals!

The winning foursome for the day, who scored an impressive six under par on the Fox Hollow course, included Mike Dawson of North Brunswick; Nichole Drakeford of Union; Antoine Johnson of East Brunswick; and Derek Simpkins of Ringoes. Three of the golfers in this year’s first-place foursome were returning golfers who were also part of last year’s winning team.

Beyond the fun and excitement of the day, the event supports the mission of the Princeton-Blairstown Center to serve young people, primarily from historically marginalized communities, by nurturing their social-emotional skills through experiential, environmental, and adventure-based programming. Developing these skills enables participants to engage in self-discovery and transform their communities to create a more just world. PBC strives for a future in which young people exhibit personal resilience and compassion, embrace expanded possibilities for their lives and enact positive change within their communities and the world.

Thanks to our event sponsors: AMSkier Insurance; Sarah & Mark Antin; Blue Ridge Lumber Company; Rev. Dr. Alison Boden and Rev. Walter Kerbel; Bryn Mawr Trust; Peggy and Russell DaSilva; Geeta Gavindarajoo and Bruce Ellsworth; New Jersey Institute of Technology – Martin Tuchman School of Management; Vishal Moni and Shankar Iyer; NRG Energy; Payday LLC; Kathy and Bruce Petersen; Rotary Club of Princeton Corridor; Suman Rao and Kaushik Arunagiri; Karen Richardson; Yvette Saeko Lanneaux, Esq. and Mr. Michael Nissan, Esq.; Tamara Simpkins Franklin; Dr. Sarah Tantillo; and Robin and Christopher Van Buren.

We are also tremendously grateful to our Links to Youth co-chairs, Heather Reilly and Derek Simpkins for their time, energy, and effort organizing and executing this successful event.

Pam Gregory
President and CEO, Princeton-Blairstown Center