Lourdes Starr (center) receives a grant from the Camden County Cultural and Heritage Commission on behalf of the Greater South Jersey Chorus on March 7 at the grant ceremony with Melinda Kane (left) and David Bruno (right). She is representing one of 35 organizations who received an award.
Organizations from across the county gathered earlier this month at Camden County College to be presented with grants from the county’s Cultural and Heritage Commission.
David Bruno, executive director of the commission, explained that recipients had already been notified but it was a breakfast to acknowledge the grant recipients.
“This is kind of an opportunity for us to officially recognize them, but also have them come together under one roof so they can network, meet each other and share contact info,” said David Bruno, executive director of the commission.
“Because what we’re doing from a county perspective is so important, we make sure they all know each other and can work with each other.”
Bruno also noted the commission offered two kinds of grants: one for the arts through the New Jersey Council of the Arts and another for history through the county’s partnership with the state historical association.
This year, the commission was able to support 35 organizations, two more than last year.
Recipients included a wide range of organizations: Arts Play Theatre, Camden County Historical Society, Camden Shipyard and Maritime, ChildrenSong of New Jersey, Community Rocks, Garden State Chorale, Greater SJ Chorus, Jersey Surf, Jubilee Music Enrichment, Lawnside Historical Society, Marian Anderson Music Guild, Nick Virgilio Haiku Association, Philharmonic of Southern New Jersey, Pine Barons, Reimagine Runnemede, Writers House-Rutgers Camden, SJ Caribbean and Developmental Organization, SJ Youth Arts, South Camden Theatre Company, Tri-County Symphonic Band Inc., Tri-State Jazz Society, Voorhees Arts Commission, Voorhees Theatre Company, Wind Symphony of Southern New Jersey, the Friends of Barclay Farmstead, Gloucester City Sail, Haddon Heights Historical Society, Historical Society of Haddonfield, Old Baldy Civil War Roundtable, Perkins Center for the Arts and That Which Connects Camden.
“Really, what we’re trying to do is to make sure they (recipients) have a resource, that they can come to us to find out about funding opportunities,” Bruno said.
“For our chorus, it means everything,” noted Lourdes Starr, vice president of the board of trustees for the Greater South Jersey Chorus, a nonprofit based in Haddonfield and Cherry Hill and a grant recipient. She added that the grant allows the creative director license to plan bigger and more comprehensive projects, as well as collaborations.
” … It’s funding that we rely on that allows us to have a season and plan for it.”
To learn more about the commission, visit https://www.camdencc.edu/arts/camden-county-cultural-heritage-commission/.
