Essex County ‘Cops 4 Kids’ Awards 2021 Scholarships | Belleville, NJ Patch – Belleville, NJ Patch

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — The following news release comes courtesy of Essex County Cops 4 Kids. Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site.

Essex County Cops 4 Kids celebrated the graduation of thirteen 8th graders and awarded three scholarships to Essex County high school seniors Friday night at their annual Graduation celebration. The Newark based organization celebrated this year at the Nutley VFW.

The graduates, who are all members of Essex County Cops 4 Kids, represented 15 different schools. While mostly from Newark, there was also a graduate from Belleville, one from Lyndhurst, one from Bayonne.

Essex County Cops 4 Kids was founded in 2015 by Armando Aviles who is now a retired Investigator from the Essex County Sheriff’s Office. The organization was initially started to encourage youngsters to seek careers in law enforcement and has since evolved into a mentoring program that creates a special bond between law enforcement officers and children in the community.

Aviles stated that this year’s scholarships recipients each had to complete 100 hours of community service. The service hours were completed by delivering food, water, and much needed supplies to families throughout Essex County during the pandemic. What makes the organization unique is that the officers and parents work side by side with each teenager. Each scholarship recipient also submitted an essay indicating what their career goals were and how they plan to give back to the community once they achieve those goals.

The Newark Police Lt. Leo Bernheim Memorial Scholarship was awarded to Belleville High School Student Brandon Ramirez. Brandon will be attending the University of New Haven where he will be majoring in Civil Engineering.

The Essex County Sheriff Captain Dominick Minni Memorial Scholarship was awarded to Donald Payne Technology High School Senior Alondra Sanchez. Alondra will be attending Montclair State University where she will be majoring in Education.

The Essex County Sheriff Sergeant Victor Racioppi Memorial Scholarship was awarded to Essex County Newark Tech Senior Justin Ruiz. Justin will also be attending Montclair State University where he will major in Business Management and Administration.

All three scholarships were named after individuals that played an important role in Aviles’ life. Lt Bernheim was his mentor as a teenager when he was a member of the Newark Police Explorer Program and Minni and Racioppi mentored him when he was a Detective in the Essex County Sheriff’s Office.

Also receiving recognition that evening was United States Air Force Security Forces Officer Samantha Choice – Sankar. Choice- Sankar serves as a mentor and board member and she received her Associates Degree from Hudson County Community College in Criminal Justice.

Essex County Cops 4 Kids has distributed over $20,000.00 in scholarships over the past 4 years. The organization is self funded and all of its staff, including the officers, are all volunteers.

Sign up for Patch email newsletters. Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com