The YMCA of Metuchen, Edison, Woodbridge & South Amboy (MEWSA) will be holding its Annual Dinner on May 3, 2017 at 6:00 PM at the Pines Manor in Edison. This event is a long standing tradition that celebrates the highlights of the YMCA of MEWSA, now in its 96th year of service to Greater Middlesex County. The Annual Dinner will feature a recap of the year’s activities and present the Charles S. Edgar Memorial Award and Peter J. Barnes, Jr. Community Champion Award to deserving members of the community who support and further the YMCA’s goals.
The recipient of the Charles S. Edgar Memorial Award is Patricia Wiley. This award is given to an individual who has greatly served the youth of the community, exemplifies community spirit, has contributed to the community through a variety of organizations and in a variety of roles and is responsive to and interested in the work of the YMCA. Patricia has been a long-time volunteer, donor and supporter of the YMCA of MEWSA. She is a 1973 graduate of Marietta College where she received her BA in accounting and economics. She served on the Metuchen YMCA Branch Board of Managers from 2012 to 2015, leaving that Board to join the YMCA Association Board of Directors in 2013, on which she still currently serves. She has also served on the YMCA’s Strategic Planning Committee in 2014, the Golf Committee in 2013 and 2014 and was Chair of the Financial Development Committee from 2013 to 2015. Patricia has been a long-time volunteer for the Annual Support Campaign, a fundraising effort that provides financial assistance and program subsidy for community members who need it most and served as Committee Chair for the campaign in 2014. She also serves on the Finance Committee and was instrumental in advising staff and the Board in matters of financial management and planning. Patricia is retired from Johnson & Johnson where she worked for 39 years in various financial and supply chain positions. Patricia was also a Democratic Committeewoman for Metuchen District 13 from 2009 to 2016, representing Metuchen residents to bring grassroots concerns to the Democratic Party. She epitomizes the core values of the YMCA and altruistically giving back to the community.
The Peter J. Barnes Jr. Community Champion Award will be presented to former Governor James Florio. This award is given to an individual who has a legacy of community service, is responsive to and interested in the work of the YMCA, serves as an example for others in leadership, integrity and the core values of the YMCA: caring, honesty, respect and responsibility. James served as New Jersey’s 49th Governor from 1990 to 1994 and also served as a member of the United States House of Representatives for 15 years between 1975 and 1990. He attended Trenton State College and received his law degree from Rutgers School of Law in Camden. In both 1969 and 1971, James was elected to represent Legislative District 3D in the New Jersey General Assembly and was elected in 1973 to represent the 5th Legislative District in the General Assembly. He resigned from those positions in 1975 in order to take a seat in Congress. In 1974, James was elected to the United States House of Representatives for New Jersey’s 1st congressional district and served from 1975 to 1990, where he earned the title, “the hardest working member of Congress”. He was best known as the author of the Superfund legislation to clean up the most polluted sites in the country, considered to be one of the most important pieces of federal environmental legislation in the last two decades. Florio was responsible for redistributing hundreds of millions of dollars of school aid to urban and rural districts, as part of the Quality Education Act. In 1990, under his leadership, New Jersey passed the strictest gun control law in the nation, banning the sale and severely restricting the possession of assault weapons in the state. He was recognized for these and other notable achievements by receiving the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award in 1993 and being inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame in 2014. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the New Jersey Health Care Quality and is a University Professor for Public Policy and Administration at Rutgers University.
Patricia Wiley and former Governor James Florio will be honored at the 2017 Annual Dinner of the YMCA of Metuchen, Edison, and Woodbridge & South Amboy on Wednesday, May 3rd, 2017 at 6:00 PM at the Pines Manor in Edison, NJ. The cost to attend is $65.00 per person. For more information or to purchase tickets, contact Katie McAdoo, Association Advancement Director at 732-516-1108 or at katie.mcadoo@ymcaofmewsa.org.
About the Y
The YMCA of Metuchen, Edison, Woodbridge & South Amboy is a charitable, nonprofit organization devoted to supporting individuals and families—regardless of age, income or background—in their quest to realize their full potential through programs and services that foster youth development, healthy living and social responsibility. Each day we serve over 6,000 YMCA members and 1,000 children in childcare in five communities throughout Middlesex County. The YMCA of MEWSA has the long-standing relationships and physical presence not just to promise, but to deliver, lasting personal and social change. www.ymcaofmewsa.org.