Student/Partner Alliance Accepts Donation from the Rotary

[SUMMIT, NJ] – Student/Partner Alliance, a Summit based non-profit, gratefully accepted a donation from the Summit/New Providence Rotary on February 25th. The Summit/New Providence Rotary committed to supporting one student for 4 years at Benedictine Academy in Elizabeth. Rotary Member and Student/Partner Alliance Partner James Fleishman and Dr. Neela Pushparaj, the student’s Mentor, presented S/PA Executive Director Margaret Momber with the annual check at the February Summit/New Providence Rotary meeting. We are pleased to have the support of such a great organization in the Summit area.

The meeting’s speaker at the event was Merle Johnson from Impact 100 Garden State, a membership driven women's philanthropic organization. They provide high Impact grants for the unmet needs of those in our surrounding communities. Currently, they service Morris, Somerset, Passaic and Sussex. In 2019 they voted to take on Union County as well. They are all volunteer and award 100% of their membership money each year to innovative, sustainable new program. During the first 6 years, they have awarded $1.3 million in increments of $100,000.

ABOUT:

Student/Partner Alliance

The mission of Student/Partner Alliance (S/PA) is to support motivated high school students at private high schools in New Jersey’s urban areas of Essex, Hudson and Union counties with tuition assistance and mentoring to increase their chances for college admission and scholarships, and ultimately to lead successful and productive lives.

Research from mentor.org shows that mentors play a powerful role in providing young people with the tools to strive and thrive, to attend and engage in school, and to reduce or avoid risky behavior like drug use. In turn, these young people are:

– 55% more likely to be enrolled in college

– 81% more likely to report participating regularly in sports or extracurricular activities

– 78% more likely to volunteer regularly in their communities.

– More than twice as likely to say they held a leadership position in a club or sports team.

Yet, the same research shows that one in three young people in our country will grow up without a mentor. Today, in our community there are so many young people who could benefit from having a mentor outside their family.

To learn more about the role mentoring plays in our community and to find volunteer opportunities with us visit www.studentpartneralliance.org. If you would like to learn more about our program, please contact me at akent@studentpartneralliance.org.