One of the few major live music events held in Asbury Park during this very unusual year was the 4th Annual PorchFest event, which took place on September 26th and surpassed expectations, attracting thousands of attendees. On this Giving Tuesday, the Asbury Park Homeowners’ Association (APHA), which hosts the event, is pleased to announce three recipients of proceeds raised from donations and merchandise sold.
They are: Asbury Park Dinner Table, Asbury Park Music Foundation, and Interfaith Neighbors.
PorchFest is a family-friendly, free event that features musicians from a wide variety of genres playing on front porches all over the City. This year, over a dozen homeowners around AP donated the use of their porches and lawns for a wonderful audience that adhered to mask and distancing rules, resulting in a safe event. 
“Our all-volunteer team was determined to host PorchFest safely, in spite of the pandemic, and thanks to the community’s enthusiasm and a beautiful day, we accomplished just that,” said Jordan Modell, the APHA Chairman and Co-President and the event’s founder. We were more determined than ever to continue our tradition of highlighting our wonderful local music scene while raising funds for AP charities that help people affected by the pandemic. Thanks to our sponsors and the generosity of those who attended for their donations and t-shirt purchases, we were able to raise almost $6,000. We wanted to offer help to those who have been affected by COVID, and the charities that were chosen all do that, serving the Asbury Park community in different ways.”
Asbury Park Dinner Table is providing free meals to members of the community three days a week through area churches and the AP Housing Authority. The dinners are prepared by nine different AP restaurants and offered at six locations around town.
Asbury Park Music Foundation provides music education programs to underserved youth through partnerships with organizations such as Lakehouse Music Academy and the Boys and Girls Clubs. Many of their programs came to a halt in mid-March because after-school programs were shut down. APMF is now providing virtual and limited in-person programming to help maintain some structure and sense of normalcy in a very unusual time.
Interfaith Neighbors assists the less fortunate in meeting life’s necessities while seeking to improve the quality of life for individuals and families and the communities in which they live. Over the years, their services have grown to eight distinct programs: affordable housing, neighborhood revitalization, SOAR, Meals on Wheels, rental and mortgage assistance, a business development center, and Kula Cafe and Kula Urban Farm.
“Here’s to a bigger and better PorchFest event in 2021 – our 5th anniversary! We’re hoping to return to some form of normalcy and present “PorchFest Unmasked” for everyone in every neighborhood in our great city of Asbury Park. said Modell. “If anyone reading this is interested in being an event sponsor next year, they can reach out to me directly at JordanModell@gmail.com for more information.”
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Website Links
Asbury Park Homeowners’ Association https://www.asburyparkhomeowners.org
Asbury Park Dinner Table https://www.asburyparkdinnertable.org
Asbury Park Music Foundation https://AsburyParkMusicLives.org
Interfaith Neighbors http://www.interfaithneighbors.org