WEST ORANGE, NJ — On Wednesday, Oct. 12, The Shauger Group, West Orange PBA Local 25, West Orange Firefighters Association FMBA Local 28, West Orange SOA Local 228 and West Orange Scholarship Fund will host the second Timothy Groves Memorial Scholarship Fundraiser. The event will raise funds for the Timothy Groves Memorial Scholarship, which was established in 2014 by Donald and Lisa Shauger with the WOSF.
The cocktail reception event will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Wilshire Grand Hotel, 350 Pleasant Valley Way in West Orange. Tickets are charged, with 100 percent of the proceeds directly benefiting the Timothy Groves Memorial Scholarship.
Founded in memory of former West Orange police officer Timothy Groves, the Timothy Groves Memorial Scholarship annually provides need-based scholarships to West Orange seniors. Scholarship recipients are selected on the basis of their written applications, financial necessity, academic record and extracurricular involvement; special consideration is given to community-minded students who embody many of Groves’ traits, such as leadership, selflessness, industriousness and commitment to service.
Since its inception, the scholarship has provided financial scholarships to five remarkable students: Thomas Sayers, Rebekah Pedo, Christine Bell, Brendin Espeleta-Silveria and Jada Parker.
“After Timothy Groves passed away in 2013, Lisa (Shauger) and I wanted to honor his memory in a meaningful way,” Donald Shauger, executive vice president of The Shauger Group, said in a press release. “The scholarship is a fitting tribute to him and the mark he left on the West Orange community. As someone who devoted his life to mentoring West Orange youth, he would have been proud to know that his name lives on in a scholarship that benefits local students who share his passions and interests.”
“The West Orange Scholarship Fund, as a communitywide organization since 1923, takes great pride in our relationship with The Shauger Group in honoring the memory of one of West Orange’s finest citizens, while also awarding deserving WOHS graduates each year with the Timothy Groves Memorial Scholarship,” WOSF President Richard Rizzolo said in the release.
Thanks to the steadfast commitment of the fundraiser’s co-sponsors and the support of friends, more than $21,000 has been raised for the Timothy Groves Memorial Scholarship over the past year alone. The majority of that sum was donated at the first Timothy Groves Memorial Scholarship Fundraiser, which took place in October 2015 and attracted approximately 140 attendees.
The co-sponsors of this year’s event hope to surpass last year’s numbers, both in terms of event attendance and fundraising total.
This year’s fundraiser event will feature numerous door prizes, including New York Giants tickets; New Jersey Devils tickets; Andrea Bocelli concert tickets at the Prudential Center; restaurant gift certificates to Newark’s Fornos of Spain, Orange’s Libretti’s Restaurant and Whippany’s Il Capriccio Restaurant; and one month of free athletic training at Cedar Knolls fitness center Next Level Training.
“It is a pleasure and an honor to be a part of this year’s scholarship fundraiser,” Frank Noborine, vice president of the West Orange FMBA Local 28, said in the release. “Officer Timothy Groves embodied what it meant to serve one’s community. His commitment to West Orange residents, especially its youth, is well-known. He could often be seen on his bike riding around the streets of West Orange, never hesitating to stop and interact with the township’s youth. Officer Groves would be proud to see the young men and women who serve the township of West Orange, many of whom can share stories of their interactions with him when they were young. It is in his image that many of us strive to serve our community.”
To reserve tickets for the fundraiser, to donate to the event or for more information, contact The Shauger Group at 973-676-2100.
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