Northern NJ Community Foundation Announces Fund's 2020 Award Recipient in the Arts

The Northern New Jersey Community Foundation's (NNJCF) The Frank DeLorenzo Memorial Scholarship Fund announces Mikoto Ozawa, a graduate of the 2020 class at Leonia High School, of Leonia, New Jersey received its second annual scholarship award. Ozawa plans to study visual arts at Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in New Brunswick. The $2,000 scholarship award is given to a student, who demonstrates talent and ambition as an artist, musician, or writer and seeks to further his or her education.

During high school, Ozawa received the Scholastics Arts and Writings Award Gold Key and Honorable Mentions in 2019 and 2020. Among her community service activities, she volunteered with the stage crew of SummerStage at Leonia, a nonprofit, theatrical organization producing a family-friendly musically annually for three weekends in July.

The NNJCF donor advised fund memorializes Leonia High School 1964 classmate Frank DeLorenzo. "Frank DeLorenzo was not just a good friend, growing up in Leonia in the 1950's and early '60's---he was an inspiration to all who knew him. Singer, song-writer, artist, actor, comedian: Frankie could liven up any room, any group, anytime, anywhere. I deeply mourned his passing. Establishing the Frank DeLorenzo Memorial Scholarship Fund has been my way of keeping alive the memory and the spirit of a uniquely gifted human being," said Paul Coopersmith, a classmate of DeLorenzo and the Fund's creator and advisor.

The Northern New Jersey Community Foundation offers the region a comprehensive menu of philanthropic opportunities. The NNJCF, a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization based in Hackensack, New Jersey, focuses primarily on education, public health, civic engagement, arts, philanthropy, and the environment. The Foundation provides donors with flexible, efficient, and tax-effective ways to ensure their charitable giving has maximum impact through donor-advised funds, tax-saving annuities, and trust options.

"The pandemic heightened awareness of the importance of personal relationships, the needs of our community and the world, and the role of philanthropy. The Northern New Jersey Community Foundation helps donors define and implement their philanthropic goals. Establishing a donor advised fund in honor or in memory of a loved one or a field of interest fund to support an issue is both gratifying personally, resulting in real impacts made locally and regionally. These giving options also have tax benefits," said Danielle De Laurentis, Associate Director, Northern New Jersey Community Foundation.

For further information about the NNJCF, The Frank DeLorenzo Memorial Scholarship Fund, or to set up a charitable fund, call 201-568-5608 or send an e-mail to nnjcf@nnjcf.org.

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