11th Annual ChalkFest

Chalking at The Plaza

The sun was hot and high in the sky. The hotdogs were heating up, and the drinks were cooling down. The stage was set and all was ready for the children on Thursday, July 30th at Exchange Place Plaza in Jersey City for York Street Project’s 11th Annual ChalkFest.

At approximately 12:00 noon an entourage of children from The Nurturing Place along with their teachers and volunteers marched onto Exchange Place Plaza decked out in their official violet ChalkFest t-shirts ready to unleash their creative imaginations.

Have you ever seen a purple cow? How about a cat wearing pink shoes? Well, perhaps you’ve seen a blue-eyed flower with long flowing eyelashes! The artistic illustrations that the children created with the help of local artists and volunteers was an amazing sight to see!

And, if you were in the mood to dance, DJ “Big Ben” made sure that the tunes put a wag in your tail and a pep in your step! Fun face painting designs, stickers and arts and crafts games were provided by the City of Jersey. York Street’s friend Kellei from KC Balloons joined the festivities again this year, and created eye-catching and unusual balloon art for all the children who dared to venture her way.

In addition to the vast display of art, the Food Court was well stocked with an abundance of free hotdogs, chips, sodas and water for the more than 500 hundred lunchtime patrons who were at the event. There even was a new local neighbor from the Philly Pretzel Factory who joined in on the fun and served up trays and trays of free pretzels. And last but not least, the sweltering heat caused the line at the Italian Ice stand to practically reach the ticket booth of the Ferry dock!

Special invited guests, the children of the nearby Waterfront Montessori School of Jersey City, also enjoyed the festivities. Eighteen of their school-aged children joined in on the fun and instantly became York Street Project Chalkerteers. Olivia Viteznik, Waterfront Montessori 5th grader had this to say about her day at the ChalkFest, “I really liked ChalkFest because they played music and you could dance, and they had a DJ. It was also nice because everyone had a big square to make chalk drawings, and the whole event helped York Street Project." Karen Westman, Head of School, Waterfront Montessori also said, “It was wonderful to see so many children and adults participating in the event. What a privilege it is to be able to help York Street Project.”

Thanks to Fidelity Investments, the Title Sponsor for the fifth consecutive year, Pershing and Morgan Stanley and other supporting sponsors of the 11th Annual ChalkFest, more than $35,000 was raised to help women and children break the chains of poverty.

Mark your calendar to meet us on The Plaza next year on Thursday, July 29th at 12:00 noon.