Princeton NJ Non-Profit Press Releases

Get SET Afterschool Program Receives Community Foundation Grant

Get SET Afterschool Program Receives Community Foundation Grant

TRENTON, NJ ---- Westminster Presbyterian Church’s Get SET Afterschool Program received a $15,000 grant from the Princeton Area Community Foundation. The Community Foundation serves Mercer County and central New Jersey. This is the second year that the Community Foundation has supported the Get SET Reading and Writing program. Get SET is one of 24 organizations to receive funding through the Community Foundation.  Grants totaling over $470,000 were awarded to local nonprofits for a full-range of community building, program and operating support.

The funds are used for reading and writing programs for elementary-school age children, held after school during the academic year and during  Get SET’s four-week  Summer Arts Camp;  a program to help teens with SAT preparation and college applications; and for family evenings that involve parents and children in literacy or art-based activities.  Loriann Fell, who teaches in the Writing Arts Department at Rowan University, directs the program. “We are so pleased that the Community Foundation believes in Get SET’s work with Trenton youth and their families. Their support enabled us to launch Get SET's Reading and Writing program, and with their continuing commitment it will be able to grow.”

            Michelle Cash, the Community Foundation’s Vice President of Grants and Programs, said, “The Community Foundation is pleased to support the Get SET program and the great work they do for the kids and families in our community. When kids are involved in learning and growing, the whole community benefits.”             

The Get SET Afterschool Program began in 1990 at Bethany Presbyterian Church with both staff and funding support from Westminster. In 2000, Westminster adopted Get SET as part of a strategy for addressing the increasing gang violence in the neighborhood. Today Get SET provides 40 children with tutoring; mentoring; and creative arts workshops, including visual arts, theater, music, and creative writing, through partnerships with Princeton University, the College of New Jersey, Rider University, Princeton Theological Seminary, and Passage Theatre Company. 

The Princeton Area Community Foundation promotes philanthropy to advance the well-being of our communities forever. The Community Foundation provides charitable giving expertise to individuals, nonprofits and corporations, and each year invests millions of dollars into the community through grants and scholarships. For more information on the Community Foundation please contact them at 609-219-1800 or online at www.pacf.org