Professor Steven Fischer, Ph.D., Center for Food Action Coordinator Lisa Pitz, Professor Sydney Birnback, Ph.D., and Professor Fred Golub.
PARAMUS, N.J. – Three longtime Bergen Community College faculty members – Professor Steven Fischer, Ph.D., Professor Sydney Birnback, Ph.D., and Professor Fred Golub – organized a dinner fundraiser April 21 that netted $4,300 for the Center for Food Action pantry located at the institution. The pantry opened in June 2014 to assist students, faculty and staff fighting hunger. One in five community college students has struggled with hunger, according to a survey conducted by the Association of Community College Trustees and nonprofit Single Stop.
The event, attended by 67 current and former faculty and staff members and their families, featured the culinary talents of students in the College’s hotel/restaurant/hospitality program, led by professors David Cohen, Dan Chadwick and Tomer Zilkha. A group of students not only prepared the event’s dinner, but also worked as hosts and servers in the College’s “Bergen Room” laboratory restaurant at the main campus. Members of Bergen’s horticulture program decorated the space with centerpieces and floral displays later raffled to guests. Bergen staff members Tara Muttillo and Sherry Wilson provided administrative support.
The Bergen Community College Foundation and local businesses such as Paramus Golf Course, Sparks Electric Company, supermarkets and diners contributed raffle prizes, gift certificates, desserts and financial considerations.
Based in Paramus, Bergen Community College (www.bergen.edu), a public two-year coeducational college, enrolls 15,000 students at locations in Paramus, the Philip Ciarco Jr. Learning Center in Hackensack and Bergen Community College at the Meadowlands in Lyndhurst. The College offers associate degree, certificate and continuing education programs in a variety of fields. More students graduate from Bergen than any other community college in the state.
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