November 12, 2009 A Taste of Newark is a great success! Link Community School held its major fundraiser, A Taste of Newark 2009, on Thursday, November 12, 2009, at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. With the generosity of donors supporting the event – individuals, corporations, and foundations – the event raised over $700,000, which comprises about one-quarter of the school’s operating budget. Over 500 guests shared in the festivities celebrating the school as well as honoring a long-time Link friend and trustee, Margo Walter of Montclair. The event featured a huge buffet of wonderful food from various cuisines prepared and served by twenty restaurants and culinary establishments from Newark and surrounding towns. While eating and socializing, guests perused a large silent auction of items donated by many friends of the school and listened to the Link Chorus performing selections from Porgy and Bess, George Gershwin’s famous opera. Guests moved to NJPAC’s Victoria Theater and viewed a short film about the school, A Matter of Justice, watched a thrilling performance by the Link African Dancers under the direction of Link’s Dance and Fitness teacher Jerome Hunter, and listened to an inspiring address by a Link alumna, Javonni Judd ‘01, now a senior at Columbia University in Manhattan. About her experience at Link Ms. Judd commented that her Link experience gave her a “sense of community” and was “pivotal…in helping shape my decisions for the future.” Link Class of ’95 alumnus Darryl Powell introduced the evening’s honoree, Mrs. Walter, selected for her long-time commitment to Link as a volunteer, trustee, donor and mentor. Dovetailing on the words of Ms. Judd, Mrs. Walter also addressed the sense of “community” that Link fosters, a community preparing “Newark-area youth into the world with a vision for their lives and skills necessary to achieve that vision.” To conclude the evening, Doug Doyle of WBGO 88.3 FM served as the auctioneer of a live auction of a number exciting items – exclusive vacation homes, luxury box football tickets, a VIP Tour of Google and more. To see photos from the event, click here.