MLK Center Desperately Needs Donations To Help Underserved Youth In Somerset County

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — For the past 50 years, the non-profit Martin Luther King Youth Center has provided a safe haven for underserved children in the Somerset County community. Now, that same center needs the public's help to continue its good work.

The parking lot is in "desperate" need of help.

"It is a critical need. The parking lot has cracks and holes and kids are falling. I don't want them to get hurt," said MLK Youth Center Executive Director Rajni Chopra.

Chopra said the center got a quote of $30,000 to repave the lot - money the center does not have.

This is on top of other upgrades the facility needs including school bus maintenance, and classrooms.

The youth recreation center, at 1298 Prince Rodgers Ave. in Bridgewater, was created in 1972 and structured as an after-school program that offers tutorial services. Currently, they have 55-plus students for the after-school program and 100 for their summer camp. There are also at least 7 kids on the waiting list.

The center primarily serves children ages 5 to 13 years old in Bound Brook, South Bound Brook, Somerville, Raritan, and Manville.

Chopra said they provide snacks and dinner along with homework help and even transportation to and from the center. In the summer, children get transportation along with breakfast, snack, and lunch.

The cost to attend is low yet Chopra said some families still struggle to make the payments. The center will work with them further to help them.

Most recently, the center received a boost from Marisa Narula, who owns multiple Code Ninjas in the County, who saw that their computer lab was seriously lacking.

"I found out about the center through a Facebook post and was asked if I’d like to visit. I wanted to help teach the kids coding but their computer lab was seriously outdated. We needed new computers for these kids in order to begin teaching them so I reached out to my network for help," said Narula who worried about how the children can keep up with school on outdated equipment.

Narula partnered with Qualcomm and was able to secure more than $16,000 for a new computer lab. Additionally, the Hillsborough Robotics Team 75 and Johnson & Johnson will partner with Code Ninjas to teach coding and robotics to the children and Pingry School will also be donating a Projector and Board.

"She is a wizard," Chopra said of Narula. "Our computers were 2o to 25 years old."

While the computer lab donation was great, Narula said the center still needs a lot of help.

"They need help with painting the center and donations," said Narula. "It is in pretty rough condition at the moment."

Chopra and her volunteers are open to any help anyone wants to provide. Whether it is a monetary donation or coming to volunteer to tutor or any help.

"We are always open to other volunteers. High School and college students are great to help tutor," said Elisa Rivera-Wong, a teacher at the center.

Most importantly Chopra is looking to get the parking lot repaved first for safety reasons.

To make a donation or to sign up to volunteer click here. For more information on the Martin Luther King Youth Center visit mlkycenter.org.

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