As my tenure as President of the Puerto Rican Cultural Committee of Hoboken comes to an end, I would like to recognize the people who contributed in numerous ways to the success of our committee in 2004.
We started the year with limited funds and a small but enthusiastic core group of members and volunteers who were determined to hold the events that our community holds dear. I would like to thank Raúl Morales, past PRCC President for his vote of confidence when he nominated me to lead the committee. Linda Viruet, Mirta Sepúlveda-Reyes, Héctor Irizarry, Elba Ramos, Julio Avilés, Angel Medina, Ricky Villabol, Marcy Jimenez, Ray Guzmán, Lourdes Arroyo and Tom Olivieri gave enormous amounts of time, talent, resources and encouragement. Sandra Ramos, Hoboken Officer of Hispanic and Minority Affairs was an invaluable resource and worked tirelessly on fund raising and organization of the 38th Annual Flag Raising Ceremony and 11th Annual Cultural Festival. Over 70 individuals and small businesses from our community and beyond responded to our appeal and contributed generously to our activities and scholarship fund. We granted $3,000 in scholarships this year, and the PRCC has now awarded $28,000 in the past 9 years to Hoboken public school seniors of Puerto Rican heritage to assist with college expenses. A very special thank you to The City of Hoboken, Continental Airlines, The Applied Companies, The Hudson Reporter, The Hispanic Bar Foundation of New Jersey, Mr. & Mrs. Frank Raia, Senator Bernard Kenny, Jr. and Mr. John Branciforte for their especially generous contributions. We also are grateful to Applied Housing for their continued support in providing us with meeting space. Thanks also to Director Joe Peluso, Director Carmelo Garcia and their staff (especially Mary Ann) for their assistance. We could not have done it without all of you. We are proud that with your help, we were able to help bright young students, bring top quality live entertainment to Hoboken for our Festival and celebrate our culture and heritage. The record crowd we enjoyed for the Pregones Theater performance has now ensured that Hoboken will continue to be a venue for this unique theater group and that is another reason to celebrate and be thankful.
The PRCC will hold a reorganization meeting on Tuesday, February 8th at 7:00 p.m. in the Applied Housing Community Room, 915 Clinton Street. All current and potential members are invited. We welcome your inquiries at hobokenprcc@msn.com.
Inés García Keim
PRCC President