Leonia High School Senior Awarded Scholarship for Being a Good Friend, Student and Athlete

Hackensack (New Jersey) — Being a good friend to others, student and athlete matters.  The Northern New Jersey Community Foundation’s (NNJCF) The Class of 1964 Ralph Gregg Memorial Scholarship Fund announces Leonia High School senior Richard Cho was named its seventeenth recipient.  He received a scholarship for $1,000 at the high school’s awards ceremony on June 2.  This fall, Cho plans to attend The College of New Jersey.  The NNJCF donor advised fund memorializes Leonia High School 1964 classmate Ralph Gregg.

Friendship Matters

The scholarship award is given to a student seeking to further his or her education, who is also a member of an athletic team, holds a B grade point average or better, and demonstrates some financial need.  “Being a friend is a key part of the scholarship award.  The recipient must demonstrate the ability to relate to everyone, be a true friend, and be humorous.  We take pride in the Ralph Gregg scholarship being different because its main focus is not on academics or athletics but on friendship and being a great classmate.  Frequently, this is the only scholarship our recipient receives,” said Doug Bauer, a member of The Ralph Gregg Scholarship Fund’s advisory committee.

While working as a tutor at A&A Prep and with the accounting and tax service firm of Seil LLP, he juggled his academic and athletic schedule.  During high school, Cho was very active on sports teams and assumed leadership roles.  As a freshman, he started as a runner on the Varsity Track team and became captain during his junior and senior years.  He also played Varsity Basketball during his freshman, sophomore, and senior years.

Among his extracurricular activities, he was very involved with DECA, Inc., a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit career and technical student organization, through all four years of high school.  Notably, Cho attended the state conference twice and was a finalist his senior year.  He also volunteered at the food stand at the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) soccer game.

Philanthropic Opportunities

For nearly 25 years, the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation has served the community by offering a comprehensive menu of philanthropic opportunities.  The NNJCF, a not-for-profit 501(c) 3 organization based in Hackensack, New Jersey, focuses primarily on the arts, civic engagement, education, the environment, philanthropy, and public health.  The Foundation provides donors with flexible, efficient, and tax-effective ways to ensure their charitable giving has maximum impact through donor-advised funds, tax-saving annuities, and trust options.

“The Northern NJ Community Foundation encourages philanthropy at any level.  People of different income levels can become philanthropists.  The NNJCF is unique because our minimum fee to establish a charitable fund is significantly lower than other community foundations.  This allows individual donors and groups of donors greater access to the benefits of this type of charitable vehicle,” said Danielle De Laurentis, Associate Director, Northern New Jersey Community Foundation.

For further information about the NNJCF, The Class of 1964 Ralph Gregg Memorial Scholarship Fund, or to set up a charitable fund, call 201-568-5608 or send an e-mail to nnjcf@nnjcf.org.

About NNJCF
Founded in 1998, the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation (NNJCF), a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization based in Hackensack, New Jersey, focuses primarily on the arts, civic engagement, education, the environment, philanthropy, and public health.  The NNJCF works with local governments, school districts, businesses, non-profit organizations, and citizen groups in Northern New Jersey to improve community life.  The Foundation’s partners identify and resolve regional problems and opportunities by talking and learning from each other and sharing ideas, best practices, services, and resources.

For more information, visit www.nnjcf.org, send an email to nnjcf@nnjcf.org, or call (201) 568-5608.  Follow the NNJCF on Facebook at Northern NJ Community Foundation/ArtsBergen, Instagram at nnjcf_artsbergen, LinkedIn, Twitter @NNJCF and YouTube.

Photo:
1) Leonia High School senior Richard Cho received the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation’s The Class of 1964 Ralph Gregg Memorial Scholarship Fund’s 2022 award.

2) Leonia High School senior Richard Cho (left) received the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation’s The Class of 1964 Ralph Gregg Memorial Scholarship Fund’s 2022 award from Doug Bauer, a member of the fund’s advisory committee. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Doug Bauer

Photo Credit: Legacy Studios

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