By Allison Musante, Staff Writer
To continue aiding Mercer County’s low-income families, the Crisis Ministry of Princeton and Trenton has been awarded a $250,000 endowment grant by the J. Seward Johnson Sr. 1963 Charitable Trust.
The award, received last week, will be used to fund the salary of the organization’s Princeton office director for the lifetime of the position, and will be renamed the J. Seward Johnson Sr. Community Social Worker.
The 1963 charitable trust was founded by Mr. Johnson Sr., of the Johnson & Johnson company, to support the ministry’s internal activities, according to Sarah Unger, Crisis Ministry spokesperson.
”We are honored and humbled by the legacy of generosity and philanthropy demonstrated by J. Seward Johnson Sr., through his establishment of the 1963 Charitable Trust,” said executive director the Rev. Jarrett Kerbel, in a statement. “It is especially meaningful that this endowment comes to us in our 30th year of serving neighbors in need in our original Princeton location as well as in Trenton.”
Ms. Unger said the endowment account will be managed by the Princeton Area Community Foundation, which manages more than 250 charitable funds across greater Mercer County and central New Jersey. The foundation also manages J. Seward Johnson Sr.’s Princeton Recreation Scholarship Fund and Environmental Education Fund at the John Witherspoon Middle School.
Created in 1991, the Princeton Area Community Foundation seeks to build community by promoting and encouraging philanthropy across greater Mercer County and central New Jersey. It now manages over 250 charitable funds, including 28 agency endowments created by the Community Foundation and members of the community for the long-term benefit of central New Jersey.
The Crisis Ministry is based in downtown Trenton and at the Nassau Presbyterian Church on Nassau Street in Princeton. Each month, the ministry serves about 1,400 individuals and families who need healthy food and emergency housing assistance. At its Trenton location, the workforce development program, Harvesting Hope, provides workforce training to about 60 adults every year.
Originally founded in 1980 as a joint initiative of clergy and lay leaders from Nassau Presbyterian Church and Princeton’s Trinity Episcopal Church, the ministry currently partners with more than 60 congregations of different faiths, businesses, private foundations, schools and colleges, as well as hundreds of volunteers and private donors.
