by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

February 24, 2020

The Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation Donates $5 Million to New Jersey After-School Program

The Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation has given a $5 million donation to  Pathways to College, a Newark, New Jersey-based and nationally-operated after school program that helps prepare students of color for a college education, according to NJ.com.

The program aims to expand the pipeline to college in underserved communities. The program also works toward:

  • Creating a nationwide, networked community of high-achieving primarily minority children.
  • Assisting these students, with their families, to become knowledgeable, attractive college applicants, students, and successful graduates.
  • Partnering with colleges, schools, and communities to provide ongoing, consistent encouragement and support to these children.
  • Building on the examples our students and teachers set, helping foster and support a school-wide cultural change that emphasizes academic and career achievement.

The founder of Pathways to College, Judith Griffin, received that important phone call last September from then-president of the Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation, Rebecca Sykes.

“Words cannot express how grateful we are for Ms. Winfrey’s support of Pathways to College,” Griffin said in a statement. “Ms. Winfrey’s extraordinary generosity will help us partner with an increasing number of schools that want our help and set in place the necessary plans to inform and involve local donors to help supply funding beyond what is possible for schools to absorb. We are deeply grateful to her.”

In a video, Winfrey said: “I celebrate and honor the work Pathways to College does in securing futures for young people who want to go to college. I am proud to sponsor and support all of these young people and their dreams for a better life through education.”


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