SPRING 2017
COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP DINNER the people of Trenton. Following a bid for mayor in 2014, Paul and Janet started PFT, a non-profit dedicated to educating youth, supporting seniors, and matching citizens of Trenton to existing resources. One example of their many successes involved PBC, when Paul and Janet mobilized PFT volunteers on extremely short notice to fill some open spots in PBC’s 2016 Summer Bridge Program, sending an additional 50 low-income young people and chaperones from Trenton public schools to PBC’s Blairstown campus for a week of academic and social-emotional enrichment programs. Most of these young people would not have left Trenton, had access to enriching academic experiences, swam in a lake, or practiced social-emotional skills without Paul and Janet’s quick action. Paul spoke of the joy students and their parents expressed upon their return from PBC, and PFT’s commitment to working with PBC in 2017.
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n April 5th the Princeton-Blairstown Center (PBC) hosted its first annual Community Leadership Dinner at the beautiful Princeton Abbey to further strengthen our sense of community between Trustees, Honorary Trustees, Advisory Council members, Young Professionals Committee members, Senior Leaders, leadership donors, and spouses. Our evening’s program focused on poverty in Mercer County, especially what it means for young people and their families, and how PBC’s Summer Bridge program is helping to combat summer learning loss and provide young people living in poverty with positive role models. Two guest speakers and Pam Gregory, President & CEO of PBC, led the discussion. Jeffrey Vega, President & CEO of the Princeton Area Community Foundation (PACF), began with some alarming statistics. Nearly 1 in 6 of Mercer County’s 81,000 children live in poverty. One-third of Mercer County’s public school children are eligible for free or reduced-price meals including 90% of Trenton students. Sadly, Mercer County
Paul also talked about how important a library was to him as a young person. Unforranks 14th out of the state's 21 counties tunately, Trenton today has only one library, for child well-being, 16th for mothers who miles away from most young people. receive early prenatal care, 14th for births to girls ages 10-19, 19th for infant mortality, Pam Gregory cited research which tells us 14th for child abuse/neglect investigations, that public library use among low-income and 17th for juvenile arrests. children drops off when a library is more than six blocks from their home, and that Jeffrey spoke about the negative pipeline they typically lose three months of reading that begins at birth, when one in four proficiency during the summer. This is mothers do not get early prenatal care, known as the Summer Learning Gap and is and continues into the teen years, with one of the main reasons PBC started its elevated school drop-out rates and juve- Summer Bridge Program. nile arrests. PACF, under Jeffrey’s leadership, is committed to building a positive During the upcoming summer, PBC will pipeline to help children succeed, leverag- provide 200 low-income students from ing funding from public and private Mercer County with our week-long Sumsources and bringing a number of non- mer Bridge Program. We will help young profits to the table to collaboratively ad- people build community, lessen the dress childhood poverty. Summer Learning Gap, and teach critical social-emotional skills – all free of Paul Perez, President of Partnerships charge. We can only do this with your for Trenton (PFT), shared his story and help! A gift of $400 supports a lowwhat he is trying to accomplish. He grew income student for a week. Please join up in Trenton as one of 15 children and us in supporting the Trenton community. married his high school sweetheart, Janet. After completing a distinguished military With gratitude, career, Paul and Janet returned to Trenton and immediately recognized the need Sarah Tantillo, Ed.D. Pam Gregory for government to more effectively serve Board Chair President & CEO