U.S. Sen. Menendez Announces Grant for Computers for Jubilee Center

U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), accepted the Beloved Community Award from the Jubilee Center on Friday night. The senator also announced that the center will receive a $250,000 grant to invest in new computers.

"I'm glad we got a quarter of a million dollars from the federal government to create opportunities," Menendez said. He encouraged the students to make the most out of their experience at the center and learn as much as they can. 

"The Jubilee is really about celebration," Menendez said. "What goes on here every day is a celebration of life, of the potential of our children."

Menendez visited the center around 6 p.m. where he was greeted by roughly 100 people. He received a plaque with a thank you from the Jubilee Center's kids. 

"I grew up in Union City, poor in a tenement," Menendez told the Jubilee Center's children. "I was the first one in my family to go to college, the first one in my family to go to law school."

The staff of the center had been looking to honor Menendez for a while, said Reverend Geoffrey Curtiss, president of the All Saints Community and Service Development Corporation. 

"There are a lot of connections between the work that we're doing and what he stands for," Curtiss said.

Menendez is the third person to receive the Beloved Community Award. The first one went to former State Senator Bernard Kenny, and the second to James Shipman of the Hoboken Shelter.

"It's incredible that he's here tonight," Curtiss added.

After an opening prayer by Michelle White, executive director of the center, a group of kids performed an African dance. The performance was followed by the showing of a video that was made by Jubilee Center kids. 

Menendez, who is a Hoboken resident, said he was happy to be home for a night.

"It's great to be with the community and with the kids," he said. But mostly, he wanted to emphasize the importance of a place like the Jubilee Center.

"If there's no center," the senator said, "there's the courtyard around the corner. That's not good."

After the visit to the Jubilee Center, Menendez attended a fundraiser at Amanda's Restaurant. Curtiss said roughly 100 tickets at $250 had been sold.