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| The students and professional faculty chefs of Hudson County Community College’s (HCCC) nationally acclaimed Culinary Arts Institute are creating memorable cuisine and desserts for the HCCC Foundation’s 28thAnnual Gala Fundraiser on Thursday, December 4, 2025. Provident Bank will be honored with the HCCC Foundation’s Distinguished Service Award. – Hudson County Community College (HCCC) is celebrating 50 years of preparing students to achieve their dreams and partnering with business leaders and the community to develop groundbreaking programs. The HCCC Foundation has announced that it will hold its 28th Annual Gala on Thursday, December 4, 2025, at 6 p.m. The event will take place in the College’s Culinary Conference Center, 161 Newkirk Street in Jersey City, NJ. The evening will highlight five decades of progress in supporting and educating generations of HCCC students. Exceptional cuisine and desserts prepared by the HCCC Culinary Arts program’s chef professors and students will be served. The HCCC Foundation will present the 2025 Distinguished Service Award to Provident Bank in recognition of its two decades of support to the College and the HCCC Foundation. Provident Bank was the recipient of the Foundation’s inaugural Distinguished Service Award in 2005. “We are proud to celebrate the evolution of Hudson County Community College, our Foundation, and our partnerships,” said HCCC President Dr. Christopher Reber. “One of the most important partnerships we have is with Provident Bank. Thanks to their generosity, the lives of hundreds of students have been transformed over the years.” Among Provident Bank Foundation’s generous contributions to the College is a $100,000 Education Signature Grant investment that benefited 400 students in the award-winning Hudson Scholars program. Launched in 2021, the nationally recognized program drives student success through proactive academic advisement, financial stipends, high-impact educational experiences, and early academic intervention. “Provident Bank is deeply honored to receive the Distinguished Service Award from the Hudson County Community College Foundation,” said Anthony Labozzetta, President & CEO of Provident Bank. “For more than two decades, we’ve been proud to partner with HCCC in its mission to expand access to education, support student success, and strengthen the communities we serve. As HCCC celebrates 50 years of impact, we look forward to continuing our partnership and helping ensure all students have opportunities to achieve their goals.” HCCC started as a one-building “contract” college upon its founding in 1974 and today has grown to become one of the largest, most comprehensive colleges in New Jersey with three state-of-the-art locations in Hudson County. Through the years, many thousands of students have said, “Hudson is Home!,” and have graduated and gone on to new successes. HCCC continues to build on its progress, meeting the challenges ahead as Hudson County grows and transforms. The HCCC Foundation was established in 1997 to support and promote the College and its students by building awareness campaigns and developing financial resources. The Foundation ensures Hudson County residents are allowed to acquire a college education and enjoy the lifelong benefits it provides. The HCCC Foundation generates scholarships for students, seed money for new and innovative programs, stipends for faculty development, capital to assist the College in physical expansion, and resources to address basic needs of students and community members beyond the classroom. Tickets to the 2025 HCCC Foundation Gala may be purchased online at https://www.hccc.edu/community/foundation/events/gala.html. About Hudson County Community College Hudson County Community College serves 24,000 credit and non-credit students annually. The College offers more than 90 degree and certificate programs, including award-winning English as a Second Language; Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM); Culinary Arts/Hospitality Management; Nursing and Health Professions; and Humanities and Social Sciences. The HCCC Culinary/Hospitality Management program was ranked number six in the U.S. by Best Choice Schools. The College’s School of Continuing Education and Workforce Development offers cutting-edge, industry-recognized, stackable credentials in alignment with high-priority workforce needs. HCCC has partnerships with major four-year colleges and universities in the greater New Jersey-New York area and beyond, accommodating seamless transfer of credits for further undergraduate and graduate education. The College has received dozens of national awards throughout the years. HCCC was a finalist in seven categories of last year’s American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) “Awards of Excellence” and earned 2024 CEO of the Year, Faculty of the Year, and Student Success Awards. In 2023, HCCC received the Outstanding Member Institution Award from the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU). For the fifth consecutive year, HCCC was selected as one of only a few community colleges in the United States to be named among the “2025 Most Promising Places to Work in Community Colleges” by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD). HCCC was one of 22 community colleges in the nation, and the only college in New Jersey, to be recognized by ModernThink LLC and the “Chronicle of Higher Education” as a 2025, 2024, 2023 and 2022 “Great College to Work For®” and named to the 2024 and 2023 “Great Colleges Honor Roll of Distinction.” HCCC is one of two colleges in the United States to be named a Top Ten Finalist in all three program categories for the nationally recognized 2023 Bellwether Awards, and received the 2023 Bellwether Award for the College’s cutting-edge “Hudson Scholars” program, which also won the 2024 Bellwether Legacy Award. The College’s exemplary work in advancing student success has been recognized with 2025, 2024 and 2023 “Leader College of Distinction” designation by Achieving the Dream, the national nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing community colleges as catalysts for equity and mobility in their communities. HCCC also earned the Campus Prevention Network Seal of Prevention in 2025, 2024 and 2023 for demonstrating leadership in digital prevention programming focused on student safety, well-being, and inclusion.The Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) recently named the College the inaugural recipient of the 2025 ACCT national “Impact and Success Award.” About Provident Bank Founded in Jersey City in 1839, Provident Bank is the oldest community-focused financial institution based in New Jersey and is the wholly owned subsidiary of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS). With assets of $24.83 billion as of September 30, 2025, Provident Bank offers a wide range of customized financial solutions for businesses and consumers with an exceptional customer experience delivered through its convenient network of 140 branches across New Jersey and parts of New York and Pennsylvania, via mobile and online banking, and from its customer contact center. The bank also provides fiduciary and wealth management services through its wholly owned subsidiary, Beacon Trust Company, and insurance services through its wholly owned subsidiary, Provident Protection Plus, Inc. To learn more about Provident Bank, go to www.provident.bank or call our customer contact center at 800-448-7768. |
