To the Editor:

On Friday, September 22, the Princeton-Blairstown Center (PBC) held its eighth annual Links to Youth Golf Outing at the Fox Hollow Golf Club in Branchburg. This event drew 90 golfers and guests and raised $75,000, which will support PBC’s award-winning Summer Bridge Program. Each year, Summer Bridge offers hundreds of students from Trenton, Newark, and Camden a high-quality summer enrichment experience focused on social emotional learning, literacy, and STEM completely free of charge.

At the dinner celebration following the outing, PBC presented the Ev Pinneo Award to the Rev. Alison Boden, Ph.D. Established in 2018 as part of the 110th Anniversary of the Center, the Ev Pinneo Award is given to a volunteer or staff member who has gone above and beyond in their dedication and commitment to the mission of the Princeton-Blairstown Center, in much the same way that Ev has throughout his seven-decade association with PBC. Alison is the dean of Religious Life and the Chapel at Princeton University and served on the PBC Board for 15 years, helping to shepherd the organization through its transition from a support organization of the University to the independent nonprofit that it is today.

The winning foursome for the day was the team from Beyond Payments and included Brian Bernabe, Peter Cappiello, Greg Farrell, and Mike Peters

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 Kathy and Bruce Petersen; the Iyer Family; NRG Energy; Bank of America NJ Markets; Beyond Payments; Robin and Chris Van Buren; AMSkier Insurance; Tamara Simpkins Franklin; Geeta and Bruce Ellsworth; Pam Gregory and David Palladino; Peggy and Russell DaSilva; R.G. Hoffman Electrical Contractor; Claudia Franco Kelly and Scott Kelly; Northfield Bank; Suman Rao and Kaushik Arunagiri; Sarah and Mark Antin; Lubaina Maimoon; Marc Engelsman; Haley and Aldrich; Imbue Creative; Mea and Al Kaemmerlen; Lear and Pannepacker; Payday; and PBC Senior Leadership Team.

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
Roszel Road