To the Editor:

On Friday, May 5, the Princeton-Blairstown Center (PBC) held its Soirée Under the Stars benefit fundraiser at Springdale Golf Club in Princeton after a three-year hiatus due to COVID. This event drew 170 people and raised more than $77,000, 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, literacy, and STEM as well as outdoor experiences such as canoeing, kayaking, swimming, high- and low-ropes course adventures, and roasting s’mores over campfires, completely free of charge.

During the evening, PBC presented the 2023 Frank Broderick Award to John S. Watson Jr. and NJM Insurance Group with the 2023 Reverend David H. McAlpin Jr. Community Champion Award. To conclude the program, student speaker Issac Evans from Trenton spoke about how his experiences at the Center made him the person he is today.

This 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: NJM Insurance Group; Robin and Chris Van Buren; Jessica Perry; Kathy and Bruce Petersen; Andrea and Warren Stock; AMSkier Insurance; Christina and Peter Bailey; Pam Gregory and David Palladino; Elyse and Chris Gribble; Claudia Franco Kelly and Scott Kelly; Suman Rao and Kaushik Arunagiri; Patty and Don Seitz; Patricia Shanley; Pamela and Derek Simpkins; Stark & Stark; Sarah Tantillo; Peggy and Russell DaSilva; Barbara and Chris DiCostanzo; Tamara Franklin; Geniva and Bill Martin; Nanci and David McAlpin; Anna and Chris Moser; Princeton Area Community Foundation and The Bunbury Fund; Heather and Scott Reilly; Pam and Joe Walker; Minda and William Alena; Revs. Alison Boden and Jarrett Kerbel; Rachel and John Clarke; Deborah and Anthony Corso; Susan Danielson and Peter Wyngaard; Michael S. Fletcher II; Geeta Govindarajoo and Bruce Ellsworth; Hill Wallack LLP; Dr. Patrice Jean; Randy Jones; Praveena Joseph-de Saram and Vijay Krishnamurthy; Angela and Shawn Maxam; Rita and Robert Murray; NJ Conservation Foundation; PBC’s Senior Leadership Team; Penbrook Management LLC; Karen Richardson; Lynda and Albert Robichaux; Ajanta and Pulkit Shah; Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum; Judith and Charles Tantillo; AJ Images, Aljohn’s; the bent spoon; Driscoll Foods; Nathan Fisher; Barry Harris Jr.; and Pam Walker.

We are also tremendously grateful to our Soirée Under the Stars Benefit Committee for their time, energy, and effort organizing and executing this successful event.

Barbara Dicostanzo
Pam Walker
Co-Chairs, Princeton-Blairstown Center’s Soirée Under the Stars Benefit Committee
Roszel Road