GreatNJ.com Family - Helping NJ's Youth

Hello all.

This may be a shameless plug for my family members, but it's definitely one that should be shared and noted.

On Friday, April 11, 2008, I could not have been more proud of my brother, Ed Rowbotham, who was awarded and recognized by the Vision Latina Organziation for his hard work and dedication to the community and children of Passaic.

For nearly 1o years, Ed has been the Health and Social Services Coordinator at Passaic High School. His primary role is to link students with any agencies that will help reduce or eliminate any economic, psychological, or social barriers to their graduation. Those from an inner city, like Passaic, truly know how difficult that can be.

Prior to that, Ed helped develop the city’s first mentoring program through the United Passaic Organization. Through his hard work and dedication, the Sink or Swim Program was recognized by county and state officials as a model program that could be replicated throughout the state.

Upon graduating from Passaic High School, Ed went on to earn a Bachelors of Arts and Master of Public Administration Degree from Rutgers University. In addition, he also holds a Substance Awareness Certificate from Kean University and is in the process of completing his Administrative Certification at Montclair State University.

Ed is a dedicated husband, father, son, brother and friend. Always working to better our NJ community and our kids, it was great to see him get the recognition he deserves.

Unfortunately, sometimes there are those that work for smaller organizations that are not in the public's eye, that dedicate countless hours of time and efforts and don't get recognization they deserve as well.

Therefore, I'd like to take some time to personally recognize another family member of mine, my sister, Lori Rowbotham.

Lori help develop a community program called Jr. Steps. For the past 6 plus years, Lori has helped mentor hundreds of NJ's youth. From discussions on real life issues (teen pregnancy, drugs, cultural issues, etc) to exploring new areas and avenues, the goal of Jr. Steps has been to show our youth that there is more than just the inner city style of life and basically that they are people that matter.

So a big kudos to my brother and sister but more importantly to my mom and dad, for instilling us all with good values. Reminding us that is always better to Give than Receive.

Keep up the good fight and keep our community strong.

Thanks for making your brother and the Rowbotham name so proud.

- Rich Rowbotham