Community Development Fund Awards $25K in Grants to Local Non Profits

The Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce Community Development Fund recently awarded its first round of grants- $25,000 in total. 

The recipients are Volunteer Connect of Princeton, HomeFront of Lawrenceville and Minding Our Business of Lawrenceville. 

“The organizations selected represent the program diversity and excellence that is a hallmark of non-profit organizations in the Princeton Region,”  said Kristin Appelget, chair of the committee and director of community and regional affairs at Princeton University.

 HomeFront's mission is to end homelessness in Central New Jersey by harnessing the caring, resources and expertise of the community. The committee selected its Hire Expectations Program, a job-readiness training program with a track record of proven success in helping motivated individuals acquire the tools and skills necessary to be part of the workforce. 

Minding Our Business program supports the next generation of entrepreneurs and business leaders through their High School Program."

“The program, which advances the personal and vocational development of urban youth through entrepreneurship education and coaching/mentoring, gives participants hands-on opportunities to learn important skills that will help them understand what it takes to be successful in the business world,” Appelget said.  

Princeton-based Volunteer Connect strives to expand the reach, impact and capacity of community organizations through effective volunteerism. Its  Pilot Program will train future board members. 

“The program will train a corps of potential board leaders to understand the responsibilities, and expectations of non-profit board membership in the Princeton Region and where they can add the most value," Appelget said. 

The PRCC and the PRCC Foundation established the Community Development Fund in partnership with the Princeton Area Community Foundation in July with a $500,000 gift from the Chamber Foundation to benefit nonprofits located throughout the Chamber’s five-county, Central New Jersey footprint. Grants are given to the most promising programs that address one or more of the Fund’s focus areas: education, leadership, economic opportunity and development, and self-sufficiency.

Photo caption L-R: Amy Klein, executive director of Volunteer Connect; Nancy Kieling, executive director of Princeton Area Community Foundation; Roxanne Globis, director of alumni affairs at Thomas Edison State College and Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce Community Development Fund Committee; Kristin Appelget, chair of the Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce Community Development Fund Committee and director of community and regional affairs at Princeton University; Kevin Wortham, executive director of Minding Our Business; Meredith Moore, Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce Community Development Fund Committee.