The Hackensack Blue and Gold Scholarship Fund is approaching its seventh year, and thanks to the support of the Hackensack community, organizers are preparing a unit fund-raising event next May with the Shops at Riverside.  On Sunday, May 6, Blue and Gold will host “The Taste,” an event featuring gourmet food and entertainment.

Blue and Gold President Joe Pedone said he is excited about the increased visibility the event will bring, which organizers are hoping will attract between 500 and 600 people.

During the program, participants will have access to the entire mall.  Although the details have not been finalized, organizers plan to include raffles and Broadway singers in the event’s entertainment items.

“The Taste” is going to be a tremendous event for the community”, Pedone said.  “We will have a restaurant tour.  People will get a chance to try restaurants ‘signature dishes’”.

The scholarship fund has now raised just under a half million dollars in six years, said Pedone.  Last year, $27,000 was awarded to nine scholarship recipients – a total o $3,000 a piece.  Each year the scholarship committee selects a member of graduating senior students from Hackensack High School who meet its criteria.

The tradition strength of the fund has been its alumni donors, who make up the overwhelming majority portion of donations, said Pedone.  Once recently, as it expands, has the organization begun to consider interesting corporate sponsors.

“People spend so much time giving back to the Hackensack community – people in Hackensack have such pride and strength of community, even if they don’t live in the community anymore,” said Pedone.

Founded by Ed Acciardi, a former guidance counselor of 35 years at Hackensack High School, the Blue and Gold Fund is devoted to students “in the middle” often overlooked by other scholarships.  After retiring in 1999, Acciardi established the fund out of desire to give back to his community.

The committee tries to select good students who may not be star athletes or musicians, but who deserve to attend college and might not otherwise be able to obtain funding, Pedone explained.

Pedone, who lives in Bridgewater but said would consider moving back to Hackensack in the near future, said he enjoys participating in the fund because o the feeling of loyalty that the city inspires in him.  He also enjoys the connecting with Hackensack alumni across generations.  Many of those alumni remember having Ed Acciardi as their guidance counselor.

“I’m very proud to be a Hackensack graduate,” said Pedone.  “Much of the success I’ve had in my life was directly attributable to the diverse community I lived in.”