Jon Bon Jovi, Flo Rida, Hunter Hayes and other celebrity guests and performers join Samsung Electronics America for an evening dedicated to worthy causes and community impact in times of need

RIDGEFIELD PARK, N.J., October 26, 2017 — Samsung Electronics America, Inc. announced today the return of the annual Samsung Charity Gala, which will be held on November 2, 2017 at the Skylight Clarkson Square in New York. At the same time, Samsung is proud to unveil this year’s list of supported charities, as well as the roster of celebrity guests who will be on hand to show their support for Samsung’s charitable initiatives.

Entering its 16th year, Samsung’s philanthropic platform – Samsung Gives – remains committed to helping young people discover a world of possibilities. To date, Samsung philanthropic efforts have contributed more than $60 million, helping more than 1,200 schools, hospitals, and foundations throughout the U.S.

This annual event brings together luminaries from across the worlds of entertainment and business to help raise awareness for a variety of important social and charitable programs, with the primary goal of raising funds to help people build brighter futures.  This year’s gala will be held at the iconic Skylight Clarkson Square Ballroom in NYC and will include performances by Jon Bon Jovi, Flo Rida, DJ Livia and Hunter Hayes.

“At Samsung, every day we are inspired by the people who are helping to build a better world, but especially this year, those who are out there lending a hand to those who need to rebuild their communities and their lives,” said Tim Baxter, President and CEO of Samsung Electronics North America. “This year, we are thrilled to be able to celebrate the Samsung Charity Gala by connecting people, organizations and resources to some truly remarkable charities and the people who need our help.”

This year, longtime Samsung partner, rock icon, and philanthropist Jon Bon Jovi has chosen the Samsung Charity Gala to help bring attention to the work of the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation, which funds charitable initiatives with an aim to break the cycle of poverty and homelessness in the U.S. Every year, all of the proceeds from the Samsung Charity Gala go directly to Samsung’s charity partners.

“I am excited and honored to be a part of this beautiful event with our friends at Samsung,” said Hunter Hayes. “This year Samsung helped me give a complete renovation to a school in Nashville that encourages art and empowers individuality, giving young people the tools to realize their dreams.”

A committed corporate citizen, Samsung’s contributions to American communities come to life through its ‘Samsung Gives‘ philanthropic programming. From the education-based Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Contest, to Veteran Support and partner programming with Covenant House and Junior Achievement, Samsung is making a definitive impact in the American communities it calls home.

“I want to thank Samsung for their continued support of Big Dreams For Kids and allowing me such great opportunities over the years for us to partner and continue to inspire future leaders,” said Flo Rida. “I look forward to the gala and further partnerships with Samsung.”

To learn more about Samsung’s Annual Charity Gala and the charities supported, please visit SamsungCharityGala2017.com.

Filling Empty Bowls with Love in Toms River

Artists, students, and volunteers help bring in a bountiful harvest for Toms River this year.

The afternoon of Saturday, Sept. 30 brings a fun opportunity for people in Toms River to share in the harvest bounty.

On Saturday, Sept. 30, the JBJ Soul Kitchen will be hosting an Empty Bowls Pottery Sale event at their site, at The B.E.A.T. Center 1769 Hooper Ave. The event is a joint effort by the Soul Kitchen, the Teen Arts Festival, and The Art Alliance of Monmouth County. For a $20 donation, participants may select a bowl from hundreds of handmade bowls, each made by a student, artist, or volunteer. The proceeds go to further the work of the Soul Kitchen to provide healthy, delicious food to all members of the community, and to the work of the Art Alliance, a member-supported organization.

“We are thrilled that Empty Bowls is coming to the JBJ Soul Kitchen in Toms River, and so thankful to Mil Wexler,” says Carol Trub of the Soul Kitchen.  “Our support staff volunteers helped Mil guide high school students to create the bowls last spring, and we will now see the project come full circle.  It is a true community effort. Each bowl is more beautiful than the next, and all for a great cause.”

Initiated by Mil Wexler-Kobrinski, an artist with the Art Alliance of Monmouth County, the Empty Bowls Event has proven popular and successful over the past few years at the Soul Kitchen in Red Bank. The year-round effort to make the bowls requires many hands. Students at Teen Arts workshops each spring are among the most prolific contributors.

NJ State Teen Arts Coordinator Harrison Haney brought Mil to the State Teen Arts Festival at Ocean County College this spring. Her workshops proved so popular that some students spent the whole day making bowls.

Haney, who made a bowl or two himself, says, “It’s a great workshop, a hands-on opportunity for students to learn bowl making. Mil makes sure the kids know this bowl is going to be in someone’s hands and it’s going to a good cause.”

The three-day state Teen Arts Festival held each spring showcases the talents of teens selected as outstanding at each county Teen Arts Festival, and provides all students and teachers who attend the opportunity to participate in a variety of activities, festivities, and networking events.

Gina Navon of the Art Alliance coordinates the volunteers in the project. She says, “Empty Bowls is a project of community helping community. We come together from the Art Alliance, from Soul Kitchen, from Monmouth Arts, we invite our friends to join us, we bring our daughters, sons, significant others. We have fun, but we work hard–especially Mil, who is the driving force here–and in the process we are all humbled by our good fortune, and present this reminder to the world that there are still many among us who struggle for this simple basic human need: food.”

Mil Wexler-Kobrinski, the initiator of the project in our area, is a ceramic artist and painter, and a board member of the Art Alliance. Her MFA thesis project focused on Empty Bowls, a project of Imagine/RENDER, a 501(c) 3 organization that fosters an international grassroots effort to raise both money and awareness in the fight to end hunger. The mission is to create positive and lasting change through the arts, education, and projects that build community.

Soul Kitchen was founded by Dorothea and Jon Bon Jovi. The JBJ Soul Kitchen, a program of the JBJ Soul Foundation, is a community restaurant featuring fresh, healthy ingredients. Soul Kitchen serves meals to in-need customers through volunteer work and to paying customers through donation.

The Art Alliance of Monmouth County is a non-profit, member-owned and operated gallery and studio in Red Bank, whose mission is to promote the advancement of the visual arts and provide exhibition, studio and classroom space.

Monmouth Arts is the official county arts agency of Monmouth County whose mission is to enrich the community by inspiring and fostering the arts. The annual Monmouth Teen Arts Festival invites all teens ages 13-19 in the county to experience professional critiques in their artistic disciplines, fun and interactive workshops (including the most popular workshop, Empty Bowls with Mil), peer performances, and exhibitions.

For more information about the Art Alliance, please visit: artallianceofmonmouth.org ; for Soul Kitchen visit: www.jbjsoulkitchen.org; for Monmouth Arts Festival:  www.monmoutharts.org ; for NJ State Teen Arts: www.njteenarts.org .

On Monday, June 12^th the JBJ Soul Kitchen held its first Mulligans for Meals golf outing at Colts Neck Golf Club. Despite the heat, it turned out to be an enjoyable and exciting day for everyone who participated.  With the support of our sponsors and golfers, we were able to raise a significant amount of money.  This will be used to continue to Soul Kitchen’s mission and feed community patrons. Since the Soul Kitchen is a volunteer-based community restaurant, we rely on donations to offset the cost of meals earned by volunteering patrons.  Without events like these, continuing our mission would not be possible.

We would like to extend a special thanks to the following sponsors for their generous support in our outing:

Luncheon Sponsor:  TW Cooper Insurance

Car Sponsor:  Pine Belt of Lakewood

Photographer Sponsor: Patken Photographer

Golf Cart Sponsor:  Tom Lawless

Beverage Cart Sponsor:  Morgan Stanley of Red Bank

Driving Range Sponsor:  TD Bank

Putting Green Sponsors:  Causeway Family of Dealerships, TD Bank, & Vrola Meats

Tee Sponsors: Buff Duncan Associates, Inc., George Wall Ford Lincoln, Pat’s Market, PernaFrederick Commercial Real Estate, Prima Corporation, & WRAT

10th Hole Bend Sponsors: Boynton & Boynton, Gianni’s Pizzeria, Jersey Wholesale Tire, & Windward Deli

Donation Item Sponsors:  AMC Theatres, Carter & Cavero in Red Bank, The Bistro at Red Bank, Callaway, Char, Colts Neck Golf Club, Count Basie Theatre, Devotion Vodka, Earth Pizza, The First Tee of Monmouth & Ocean County, Freshica’s Juice Bar, Gallo’s Wine Cellar, Greek Eats, Jay & Silent Bob’s Secret Stash, Jughandle Brewing Company, Kramer Portraits, Lakewood BlueClaws, The Molly Pitcher Inn, The Oyster Point Hotel, Pazzo, PNC Bank Arts Center, Prown’s Windows, Red Rock Bar & Grill, Regal Cinemas, Saker ShopRites, Inc., Stop & Shop, Teak, Top Golf in Edison, USGA, and Wegmans

We would also like to thank the wonderful volunteers from Kohl’s, The First Tee of Monmouth & Ocean County and Soul Kitchen for working hard to ensure everyone had a great time!

On behalf of Jon & Dorothea, the Soul Foundation, and Soul Kitchen staff and volunteers, THANK YOU!  Keep an eye out for information regarding our golf outing in 2018.  We hope to see you soon at the Soul Kitchen for dinner!

WASHINGTON, D.C.— The Jefferson Awards Foundation (JAF), America’s gold seal of public service, honored Dorothea Bongiovi with the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Award for Outstanding Public Service Benefiting the Local Community, for her powerful, positive impact during the foundation’s annual gala in Washington, D.C. The Jefferson Awards Foundation recognized students, companies and individuals for their efforts to make a difference both in their communities and our nation. The gala also honored co-founder of BET Sheila Johnson, Major League Baseball executive and MLB Hall of Fame inductee Joe Torre, former Governor of Massachusetts Deval Patrick and Black Lives Matter Founders Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi.

Dorothea was among more than 11 local grassroots heroes honored with national awards who were celebrated for the significant impact they had in their communities. She was nominated by NJ Advance Media for founding the JBJ Soul Kitchen, a community restaurant that empowers individuals by providing volunteer opportunities in exchange for a dining certificate for themselves and their family, as well as job training.

Recipients of these local Jefferson Awards include winners of this year’s Students in Action program along with honorees selected by JAF’s local media partners and corporate Champion Partners in markets throughout the country.

“America is filled with heroes in local communities who wake up every day and create positive change,” said Hillary Schafer, Executive Director of The Jefferson Awards Foundation. “It is a privilege for The Jefferson Awards Foundation to honor the best of these individuals and in doing so, use the power of storytelling as a multiplier for good.”
About the Jefferson Awards Foundation

The Jefferson Awards Foundation (JAF) powers others to have maximum impact on the things they care about most. They are the largest multiplier of public service in America. Through celebration, they inspire action. With programs and partnerships, they drive Americans to change their communities and the world. They are celebrating 45 years of powering public service. To learn more about the Jefferson Awards Foundation, visit: JeffersonAwards.org or engage with their community on Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and Facebook.