TRENTON, N.J., May 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Comcast Foundation, founded in 1999 to provide charitable support to its local communities and to empower and enrich lives, awarded 69 New Jersey high school seniors scholarships through its annual Leaders and Achievers® Scholarship Program. The program, one of the Comcast Foundation's signature community investment programs, recognizes students' leadership skills, academic achievement and commitment to community service.
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Sixty-eight of the 2011 New Jersey Leaders and Achievers recipients received $1,000 scholarships and Lorenza Jerez of Perth Amboy was awarded a $10,000 Comcast Founders Scholarship -- instituted in honor of Ralph J. Roberts, Founder and Chairman Emeritus of Comcast Corporation -- for a total of $78,000 awarded this year. After a prize drawing, ten students were also given a Netbook computer to use at college.
Charisse R. Lillie, vice president of Community Investment of Comcast Corporation and executive vice president of the Comcast Foundation, was joined by New Jersey Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno and Assemblywoman Pam Lampitt, who chairs the Assembly's Committee on Higher Education, in recognizing the students at a special event held at the Trenton War Memorial on Tuesday.
"In the state of New Jersey, we are committed to helping our young people gain access to quality education and opportunities for personal success," said Lt. Governor Guadagno. "Comcast shares in that commitment and through programs like Leaders and Achievers, is investing in a bright future for us all."
"Comcast is proud of its Leaders & Achievers scholarship recipients. They represent some of the best and brightest high school seniors who also demonstrate civic involvement in the communities we serve across the country," said Lillie. "We are thrilled to support their educational efforts with these scholarships."
The Comcast Leaders and Achievers® Scholarship Program provides one-time $1,000 scholarships to students who strive to achieve their potential, who are catalysts for positive change in their communities, who are involved in their schools, and who serve as models for their fellow students. The philosophy behind the program is to give young people every opportunity to be prepared for the future, to engage youth in their communities, and to demonstrate the importance of civic involvement and the value placed on civic involvement by the business community.
Since the program's inception there have been more than 15,000 scholarship winners totaling more than $15.4 million nationwide, including nearly $1.3 million awarded to students in the state of New Jersey. In addition to Leaders and Achievers, Comcast gives back year-round to communities across the state through initiatives like Comcast Cares Day, the company's annual nationwide day of service, and an annual United Way fundraiser. In 2009, Comcast invested more than $2.7 million in New Jersey communities.
2011 Comcast Leaders and Achievers® Scholarship Winners from New Jersey
SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS (by County where high school is located):
Atlantic
Atlantic City - Anthony Cox of Atlantic City High School
Galloway Township - Cierra Kaler-Jones of Absegami High School
Richland - Matthew Doherty of St Augustine Preparatory School
Burlington
Burlington - Luke Capritti of Burlington Township High School
Burlington - Angel Wilson of Burlington City High School
Columbus - Aashika Suseendran of Northern Burlington County Regional High School
Delran - Aubrey Paris of Delran High School
Moorestown - Autumn Talley of Moorestown Friends School
Mount Holly - Brett Axler of Rancocas Valley Regional High School
Mount Holly - Arayna Spratley of Burlington County Institute Of Technology
Willingboro - Kyleen Cezar of Willingboro High School
Camden
Atco - MacKenzie Slusser of Winslow Township High School
Camden - Gabrielle Days of Camden City Creative Arts High School
Camden - Kwame Phillips of Charles E. Brimm Medical Arts School
Camden - Alexis Sutch of Camden Academy Charter High School
Cherry Hill - Shannon Cahill of Camden Catholic High School
Cherry Hill - Kerwing Hy of Cherry Hill High School West
Cherry Hill - Tezita Watts of Cherry Hill High School East
Erial - Deanna Doyon of Timber Creek Regional High School
Gloucester City - Angela Harris of Gloucester City Junior-Senior High School
Lindenwold - Christopher Price of Lindenwold High School
Pine Hill - Gilbert Bundalian of Overbrook Regional Senior High School
Sickerville - Joseph Cannizzo of Gloucester Township Technical High School
Voorhees - Jianan Huang of Eastern Senior High School
Westmont - Matthew Dezii of Haddon Township High School
Cape May
North Wildwood - Brittani Helverson of Wildwood Catholic High School
Cumberland
Bridgeton - Shannon Branch of Bridgeton High School
Millville - Sarah Workman of Millville Senior High School
Essex
Caldwell - Meghan Duffy of Mount Saint Dominic Academy
Montclair - Kevin Alvernaz of Immaculate Conception High School
West Orange - Deborah Rose of West Orange High School
Gloucester
Franklinville - Olivia Davis of Delsea Regional High School
Sewell - Diondre Douglas of Gloucester County Institute of Technology
Westville - Jade Fox of West Deptford High School
Woodbury - Julio Interiano of Woodbury Senior High School
Hudson
Jersey City - Alexis Domenech of University Academy Charter School at New Jersey City University
Jersey City - Rachel Freeman of St. Anthony High School
Jersey City - Devin Jackson of Henry Snyder High School
Jersey City - Fantasia Jenkins of St. Dominic Academy
Jersey City - Penafrancia Malcampo of Saint Mary High School
Jersey City - Kamal Shah of Dr. Ronald McNair Academic High School
Jersey City - Harsh Swaminarayan of William L. Dickinson High School
Hunterdon
Glen Gardner - Kathryn Hahn of Voorhees High School
Mercer
Ewing - Courtney Rufh of Ewing High School
Trenton - Tyis Everett of Trenton High School West
Trenton - Brian Ridolfi of McVs Assunpink Center V.S.
Middlesex
Carteret - Rubina Chauhan of Carteret High School
East Brunswick - Taran Sayal of East Brunswick High School
Monmouth Junction - Ernest Miu of South Brunswick High School
Monroe Township - Shannon Vaivada of Monroe Township High School
Perth Amboy - Lorenza Jerez of Perth Amboy High School
Plainsboro - Shayla Reid of West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North
Monmouth
Highlands - Sue-Jean Sung of Marine Academy Of Science & Technology
Lincroft - Betty Liu of High Technology High School
Long Branch - Diana Dos Santos of Long Branch High School
New Monmouth - Kara Teehan of Mater Dei Prep
Ocean
Point Pleasant - Jacqueline Taylor of Point Pleasant Beach High School
Toms River - Steven Brandt of Toms River High School East
Toms River - Brisamar Cruz of Ocean County Voc-Tech School
Toms River - See Gin Lee of Toms River High School North
Toms River - Luke McCauley of Toms River High School South
Union
Berkeley Heights - Eric Whyte of Governor Livingston High School
Clark - Rachel Syko of Arthur L. Johnson High School
Cranford - Colleen Jones of Cranford High School
Plainfield - Chanelle Sears of Plainfield High School
Scotch Plains - Megan Tosato of Union Catholic Regional High School
Summit - Gregory Vartan of Summit High School
Warren
Hackettstown - Amanda Haar of Hackettstown High School
Washington - Jessica Nguyen of Warren Hills Regional High School
About The Comcast Foundation
The Comcast Foundation was founded by Comcast Corporation in June 1999 to provide charitable support to qualified non-profit organizations. The Foundation primarily invests in programs intended to have a positive, sustainable impact on their communities. The Foundation's focus areas are volunteerism, literacy, and youth leadership development. Since its inception, the Comcast Foundation has donated more than $90 million to organizations in the communities nationwide that Comcast serves. More information about the Foundation and its programs is available at www.comcast.com/inthecommunity.
About Comcast
Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) (www.comcast.com) is one of the nation's leading providers of entertainment, information and communications products and services. Comcast is principally involved in the operation of cable systems through Comcast Cable and in the development, production and distribution of entertainment, news, sports and other content for global audiences through NBCUniversal. Comcast Cable is one of the nation's largest video, high-speed Internet and phone providers to residential and business customers. Comcast is the majority owner and manager of NBCUniversal, which owns and operates entertainment and news cable networks, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, local television station groups, television production operations, a major motion picture company and theme parks.
SOURCE Comcast Cable
