Montclair Residents Host 35th Annual Bunks Fun Run – Montclair, NJ Patch

MONTCLAIR, NJ — The following news release comes courtesy of a Patch Montclair community member. Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site.

Montclair residents Bruce and Susan Reitz hosted 38 adults and 4 children at the 35th Annual Bunk’s Fun Run on Sunday, December 8. Their college friends, neighbors, Board Members, staff, and other Student/Partner Alliance(S/PA) supporters raised close to $13,000 for scholarships for students.

Bruce and his wife Susan, both long-time mentors at S/PA who have mentored students at Immaculate Conception, run two fundraising events each year to support the organization, Bunk’s Fun Run in December and Bunk’s Golf Outing in June. The 13th Annual Bunk’s Golf Tournament held at Galloping Hill Golf Course in Kenilworth was largest golf event to date, raising $45,000, making the total net raised from all Bunk’s events for S/PA over $300,000! Bruce’s passionate commitment to S/PA has motivated friends and colleagues to support the organization financially and as mentors.

It was a beautiful sunny day for the run and runners and walkers enjoyed the exercise and the meal that followed. This year’s winners were Debbie and Ajay Nagpal and 4-year old Isla. Susan and her team of amazing cooks and bakers presented a feast after the event, and many warmed up outside by the firepit.

The mission of Student/Partner Alliance (S/PA) is to support motivated high school students at private high schools in New Jersey’s urban areas of Essex, Hudson and Union counties with tuition assistance and mentoring to increase their chances for college admission and scholarships, and ultimately to lead successful and productive lives.

Research from mentor.org shows that mentors play a powerful role in providing young people with the tools to strive and thrive, to attend and engage in school, and to reduce or avoid risky behavior like drug use. In turn, these young people are:

– 55% more likely to be enrolled in college

– 81% more likely to report participating regularly in sports or extracurricular activities

– 78% more likely to volunteer regularly in their communities.

– More than twice as likely to say they held a leadership position in a club or sports team.

Yet, the same research shows that one in three young people in our country will grow up without a mentor. Today, in our community there are so many young people who could benefit from having a mentor outside their family.

To learn more about the role mentoring plays in our community and to find volunteer opportunities with us visit www.studentpartneralliance.org. If you would like to learn more about our program, please contact me at akent@studentpartneralliance.org.

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