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The Pray Family Center for Service Learning and Civic Engagement at Raritan Valley Community College celebrated 30 years of the College’s service to the community at an award luncheon held May 16 at the College’s Branchburg campus.

Approximately 140 people—including students and their families, community members representing various nonprofit organizations, College staff and faculty, and Board of Trustees members—attended the event, which honored exemplary RVCC students for their participation in service learning and civic engagement activities.

Over the years, the Service Learning Program at RVCC has invested in activities that meet the most pressing needs in communities locally and nationally. One of the highlights of the event was the screening of the Pray Family Center 30 Year Anniversary Video, which celebrates that work (To view the video, visit: www.raritanval.edu/servicelearning30th/).

RVCC’s nationally recognized program enables students to use community service as part of their academic coursework and receive credit for the experience. Through involvement in service learning and civic engagement activities, students are not only helping themselves, but they are also helping others. Annually, RVCC students provide service to more than 250 community organizations in Somerset and Hunterdon counties, donating the economic equivalent of over $1,000,000 in service to numerous organizations and their clients. In a five-year period, students have contributed the economic equivalent of well over $5,000,000 to the community, helping the College gain national recognition.  

“We have such great community partners, who are more than willing to open their doors to the support offered by RVCC students,” said Lori Moog, Director of Service Learning and Community Outreach, who has led the program for the past 29 years. “Our students play a critical role in driving the success of this program, and in return, they’re enriched by the experience and network they gain.”

From non-profits to schools to government agencies, students serve many diverse organizations that include public schools, literacy centers, nursing homes, municipal offices, food pantries, environmental centers and farms, as well as homeless, domestic violence and animal shelters. Students learn about important community issues and provide assistance without financial cost, helping the organization improve services to their clients and the community.

In 2023, the College’s Service Learning Program received a generous gift from Don and Penny Pray of Westfield and Jupiter, FL that benefits RVCC students in their efforts to give back to the local community. The couple’s five-year commitment of $150,000, directed through the RVCC Foundation, is being used to create greater recognition and exposure for the achievements and impact of students participating in programs offered through service learning. In the Prays’ honor, and in recognition for their exceptional generosity, the College’s program was renamed “The Pray Family Center for Service Learning and Civic Engagement.”

During the RVCC luncheon, students were celebrated for their service learning projects in a variety of academic courses and programs, including:

Foundations of Education (Spring 2025)

Julia Beatty, Class of 2026

Foundations of Education (Fall 2024)

Nabeeha Khan, Class of 2026

Medical Assisting Program (Fall 2024)

Shruti Patel, Class of 2025

Occupational Therapy Assistant Program (Spring 2025)

Anna Clara Da Fonseca Lima, Class of 2027; Julianna Shea, Class of 2027

Social Media Program (Fall 2024)

Shaina Villalobos, TBD

General Biology II Honors (Spring 2025)

Jasmin Ha, Class of 2026; Jaimy Solis, Class of  2026

General Biology I Honors (Fall 2024)

Andrew Bambridge, Class of 2025; Owen Pierro, Class of 2026

Trends in Nursing (Spring 2025)

Evelyn DeLeon, David Reichert, Daniel Vigilante, and Donna Zimmerman, all Class of 2025

In addition, the recipients of several institutional awards were recognized during the program. Robert Lamptey of Piscataway, Class of 2025, was honored with 2024-2025 Pray Family Center for Service Learning and Civic Engagement Leadership Award.

The annual award at RVCC honors a student for their outstanding leadership and personal development attained through their service learning project and reflection activity. The award focuses on projects showing a high level of initiative in all areas of development, including identifying the community need, preparing the service, and putting the plan into action.

Lamptey is a second-year Business Administration major who is pursuing the General Business option. His passion for social change is highlighted by his leadership and engagement in service learning through his Supply Chain Management and Volunteer Tax Assistance courses. His service has focused on such areas as assisting with economic research and project management at the Somerville Public Works Engineering Department; coordinating efforts at the RVCC Resource Center and Food Pantry, including creating a procedural manual; and helping low-income populations with tax returns. Additionally, Lamptey’s co-curricular activities at RVCC include serving as president of both the National Society of Leadership and Success and the International Cultural Association, as well as being an active member of the International Students’ Club.

Outside of school activities, he serves on the Piscataway Township Board of Education Fiscal Planning and Operations Committee and the Culture Climate and Community Relations Committee, and as co-vice president of the Piscataway Board of Education High School Parent Teacher Student Organization.

Lamptey represented RVCC and expanded his reach to other college students within the state by presenting his research and work with food insecurity at the statewide EngageNJ THRIVE Student Conference, held this winter at Middlesex College.

In addition to his RVCC honors, Lamptey has earned the President’s Volunteer Service Award – Gold Level from the global nonprofit organization, Points of Light Foundation, for completing over 300 hours of service to the community.

During the May 16 event, Sari Pehnke of Hopewell, a second-year environmental science major at RVCC, was recognized as the recipient of the 2025 Pray Family Center Nonprofit Civic Engagement Award. The annual award honors a student who has demonstrated active and exemplary involvement serving a nonprofit, going above and beyond with their work, and playing a major role in a project for their community partner organization.

Pehnke invests in volunteering through the lens of environmental and community-based work. In alignment with her academic pursuits in environmental and sustainability studies, Pehnke is an active student volunteer for numerous nonprofit organizations that include the Sourland Conservancy, New Jersey Conservation Foundation, Ridgeview Conservancy, Raritan Headwaters, Stony Brook Watershed, Rutgers Hutcheson Memorial Forest, Friends of Sparta Mountain, and Friends of Princeton Open Space. She is also an intern for Forest Ecology & Water Quality at RVCC. At these organizations, she serves as an environmental land steward and educator working on many different projects.  

Pehnke also serves as the vice president of the RVCC Environmental Club and helped launch the Student Network for Amphibian Pathogen Surveillance (SNAPS) project at the College. Through her service over the 2024-2025 academic year, Pehnke earned the President’s Volunteer Service Award – Gold Level from the global nonprofit organization, Points of Light Foundation, for completing over 300 hours of service to the community.   
 
In addition, the following students were recognized with The Pray Family Center Student Ambassador Awards:

•    Voter Engagement Project: Calvin Edgar, Class of 2024

•    Service Learning/Institutional Engagement Artistic Research Project: Lucia Robertiello, Class of 2025

•    Service Learning/Institutional Engagement Video Project on Student Belonging at RVCC: Kennedi Smith, Class of 2026

RVCC is located at 118 Lamington Road in Branchburg, NJ. For further information, visit www.raritanval.edu.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 21, 2025

Media contact: Donna Stolzer, 908-526-1200, ext. 8383

PR #101