NEWARK, NJ — The PSEG Foundation announced its new strategic pillars of environmental sustainability, social justice, and equity and economic empowerment on April 7. The PSEG Foundation funds grants to more than 200 nonprofit organizations that have an impact in communities in New Jersey and Long Island, N.Y. During the past five years, the PSEG Foundation has awarded more than $40 million in grants through various programs, including strategic partnerships, the Neighborhood Partners Program, and an employee matching gift program to help organizations that support thousands of individuals and families across the region.
“It is a privilege for the PSEG Foundation to support and celebrate the work of these organizations, whose generosity serves the needs of millions of people in the communities we serve in New Jersey and Long Island,” PSEG Senior Vice President for Corporate Citizenship and PSEG Foundation Chairperson Rick Thigpen said. “Our new strategic pillars represent the true essence of the PSEG Foundation’s support of underserved communities.”
Most recently, the PSEG Foundation awarded nearly $1.8 million in grants to Montclair State University Foundation for its Green Teams program; Foundation for NJIT for a number of programs, including scholarships; American Red Cross for the Home Fire Campaign; New Jersey Hall of Fame for educational programming; and Community FoodBank of New Jersey for its Recovery Challenge Initiative.
This is in addition to its regular support for the Arbor Day Foundation, Greater Newark Habitat for Humanity, Hampton University, Howard University, North Carolina A&T, Rutgers University, Stevens Institute of Technology, Stony Brook University, Sustainable Jersey, The Nature Conservancy, New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, United
Negro College Fund and many more organizations.
“The pandemic revealed many inequalities and inequities facing our communities,” PSEG Foundation President Calvin Ledford Jr. said. “For that reason, the PSEG Foundation has allocated $1 million to our Neighborhood Partners Program to support nonprofits working at a grassroots level. Through the Neighborhood Partners Program, the PSEG Foundation supports nonprofits that are addressing the social determinants of health, food insecurity, social and environmental justice, and other issues. The PSEG Foundation is committed to helping build sustainable and thriving communities by empowering and investing in the many diverse communities we are honored to serve.”
Funding recipients are grateful for the support from the foundation.
“The PSEG Foundation is a dedicated, long-standing supporter of our mission,” said Carlos Rodriguez, president and CEO of the Community FoodBank of New Jersey, headquartered in Hillside. “For many years, their partnership has been essential to the Community FoodBank of New Jersey’s ability to combat hunger and its root causes in service of the 800,000 food insecure people in our state. Recently, the PSEG Foundation provided generous disaster relief support for our Recovery Challenge Initiative, which will allow us to offer emergency response, to help build back communities, and to increase our investment in historically under-resourced neighborhoods.”
“PSEG Foundation grants are instrumental in Sustainable Jersey’s efforts to support municipalities, schools and school districts in achieving their local sustainability goals and making progress on critical issues of statewide and global concern such as climate action,” said Randall Solomon, executive director of Sustainable Jersey. “The PSEG Foundation helps our organization strengthen the efforts of New Jersey communities as they create a new era of sustainability in New Jersey — one that secures economic, environmental and societal well-being.”
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