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B��Ԫ President Tim Hall was recognized by the Don Bosco Community Center, an organization that provides services for undeserved children and their families in Port Chester, New York, at its annual celebration. Hall was presented with the Center’s Transformation in Education Award, which is given to community leaders who drive innovative solutions to address the challenges facing schools and promote equitable access to education.

In his acceptance speech, Hall cited the programs at B��Ԫ that help students overcome obstacles to accessing higher education, such as poverty or being first in their family to go to college. He referred to Mercy’s PACT Mentorship Program, a proactive advising program, as one of the initiatives that helps students succeed. “At B��Ԫ, we not only provide a personal mentor or advisor, but we say to them, get out of your office, get away from your desk,” Hall said. “It’s advising by walking around – you have to get up and have to get out.”

Hall was presented with the award by Marcela Oyervide '22, a graduate of the Don Bosco Scholars Program and a soon to be graduate of the Mercy Scholars Program. The Don Bosco Scholars Program is a first-generation scholarship program for Port Chester youth that has placed several students, such as Oyervide, at B��Ԫ. As a Mercy Scholar, Oyervide has received a scholarship to attend Mercy that covers a full four years of tuition, as well as the costs of books and other fees associated with getting a college degree.

A valued partner of B��Ԫ in its mission to give all students the opportunity to achieve a college degree, the Don Bosco Community Center is dedicated to helping people realize their fullest potential as productive, responsible and caring citizens. The organization fulfills this mission by providing college readiness, early childhood education, STEM and summer camp programs, as well as soup kitchen and food pantry services.