On Friday, May 5, the Princeton-Blairstown Center’s (PBC) Soirée Under the Stars benefit fundraiser returned after a 3-year hiatus due to Covid. Co-chaired by Princeton Junction resident Barbara DiCostanzo and Cranbury resident Pam Walker, the event brought together supporters and friends at the Springdale Golf Club to honor John S. Watson, Jr. with the 2023 Frank Broderick Award and NJM Insurance Group with the 2023 Reverend David H. McAlpin, Jr. Community Champion Award and to celebrate PBC’s 115th anniversary.
The funds raised from the evening’s benefit support Princeton-Blairstown Center’s award-winning Summer Bridge Program which provides hundreds of students from historically marginalized communities with quality summer programming designed to combat summer learning loss with engaging, hands-on curriculum focused on literacy, SEL, and STEM, as well as outdoor experiences such as canoeing, kayaking, swimming, high- and low- ropes course adventures, and roasting s’mores over campfires.
Princeton-Blairstown Center President & CEO Pam Gregory shared, “There is no doubt that our honorees are most deserving recipients of their respective awards. John S. Watson, Jr. has worked to protect New Jersey’s environment for more than 40 years, especially for people who live in urban areas, and NJM Insurance Group has a legacy of supporting the communities where its policyholders and employees live and work.”
The event was attended by almost 170 people and raised over $75,000 to support Summer Bridge, an academic and leadership enrichment program offered free of charge to students from Trenton, Newark, and Camden. Attendees heard firsthand about the impact of the Center from Issac Evans who shared how his experiences at PBC growing up made him the person he is today.
“PBC taught me to step out of my comfort zone and if I didn’t learn that, I would not have achieved some of the things that I’m proudest of,” Issac shared during his speech.
Issac will return to PBC this summer as an experiential education facilitator and is excited to provide students with the same opportunities to learn and grow that he cherishes so much.
