Gibbons Honored with 2019 Cristo Rey Award

News

October 17, 2019

Cristo Rey Newark High School has honored Gibbons P.C. with its 2019 Cristo Rey Award for sharing the mission and vision of the Cristo Rey Network, through the firm’s dedication to both the City of Newark and Cristo Rey Newark and its determination to help close the achievement gap between urban and suburban students. The firm was celebrated at the annual Cristo Rey President’s Gala, held on October 16 at Nanina’s in the Park in Belleville, New Jersey.

Gibbons has been actively engaged with Cristo Rey since its founding – and before. When then-Archbishop of Newark John J. Myers had the idea in 2005 to launch a Cristo Rey Network school in the City, he asked the firm’s name partner and standard-bearer, the late John J. Gibbons, to conduct a feasibility study. Judge Gibbons remained involved even after completing the study, ultimately serving on the school’s Board of Directors. He was presented with the school’s President’s Award in 2010 in recognition of his years of work on its behalf, and he shared his passion for Cristo Rey with the entire firm. Gibbons sponsors various fundraising events each year, and June Inderwies, the firm’s Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer, has served as both a member and Chair of the Board. According to the Reverend Robert Sandoz, current Cristo Rey president, “There would be no Cristo Rey Newark without Gibbons.”

Most significantly, Gibbons has been a proud Corporate Partner in the Corporate Work Study Program (CWSP) and has hosted a corporate intern program with Cristo Rey since 2007, which has employed 67 students, averaging five interns every year since the school was founded. These full-time, entry level jobs allow students to experience a typical workday, build their administrative skills, polish their workplace comportment, and gain the satisfaction of earning a paycheck – experience designed to positively inform their future life choices.

“At Gibbons, we share a firm-wide philosophy of ‘doing good while doing well,’ and we have been part of many truly meaningful community outreach projects, particularly in Newark, home to our headquarters since 1926,” notes Patrick C. Dunican Jr., the firm’s Chairman and Managing Director. “Gibbons is proud to have helped Cristo Rey students recognize the heights they can reach, and we are excited to continue to do so, for many classes to come.”