Community to Come Together Through The Arts

The Northern New Jersey Community Foundation (NNJCF) announces the grant award of $1,200 to the Dr. John Grieco Scholarship Fund at the Academies@Englewood for the 13th Annual Englewood Idol talent competition's program. The grant provides $100 scholarships for each contestant to record one song and the group to collaborate and record two songs together on a professionally developed CD.

The grant award complements the Foundation's mission to build stronger communities through collaboration. A NNJCF board member conceived Englewood Idol as a mechanism to bring together Englewood, New Jersey public and private high school students through the arts.

NNJCF has supported the talent competition since its inception in 2005. "We are pleased our initial effort to bring students together has grown into an exemplary demonstration of how the arts can bring together not just students, but whole communities. The arts are a universal language we all speak, that arouse emotions we all share." said Michael Shannon, President, NNJCF.

Englewood Idol is an annual singing competition open to any high school student currently living or attending school in Englewood, New Jersey. On Thursday, January 18, at 7:00 p.m., the 2018 Englewood Idol comes once again to the Bergen Performing Arts Center (bergenPAC) in Englewood. This year's contestants are Alexis Oliver, Le'Keil Herring, Gabriela Arango, Zion McGill, Diondra Curtis, Andrew Jones, Deirdre Riggsbee, Joey Liberti, Patricia Parker, Tiffany Moon, Sarah Dubon, and Lily Waxman. The talent competition attracts students attending Dwight Morrow High School, Academies@Englewood, and The Dwight-Englewood School.

Innovative Support of Students

"The Northern New Jersey Community Foundation continues to find innovative ways to support our student performers. The grant they have awarded to the Dr. John Grieco Scholarship Fund will enable each of this year's 12 Englewood Idols to cut their own CD. What an extraordinary experience for our Idols to work with a professional music producer and record their songs in a studio. Projects like this can be a window into so much more for a young person," said Judy Aronson, Producer of Englewood Idol and Faculty Advisor of the Dr. John Grieco Scholarship Fund Dwight Morrow High School / Academies@Englewood

For further information about the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation or ArtsBergen, contact nnjcf@nnjcf.org or call 201-568-5608.

About NNJCF
The Northern New Jersey Community Foundation (NNJCF), a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization based in Hackensack, New Jersey, focuses primarily on civic engagement, education, public health, and the arts. NNJCF works with local governments, school districts, businesses, non-profit organizations, and citizen groups in Northern New Jersey to improve community life. The Foundation's partners identify and resolve regional problems and opportunities by talking and learning from each other, by sharing ideas, best practices, services, and resources.

For more information, visit www.nnjcf.org, send an email to nnjcf@nnjcf.org, or call (201) 568-5608. Follow the NNJCF on Facebook at Northern NJ Community Foundation/ArtsBergen and Twitter @NNJCF.

About ArtsBergen

ArtsBergen, an initiative of the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation, is an emerging arts alliance in Bergen County, New Jersey that supports and encourages creative placemaking, the practice of integrating arts and culture into a neighborhood, town, or region to build community and livability and boost local economy. The initiative's mission is to energize and unify artists and arts organizations and connect the Bergen County community to the arts. For more information, visit www.nnjcf.org, send an email to artsbergen@nnjcf.org, or call 201-568-5608.

Photo Credit: Englewood Idol

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