Project Write Now ~ A Night to Remember

PWN is a non-profit organization that partners with schools and mission-based organizations to provide free writing workshops and services, as well as a free afterschool writing program for local middle and high school students. Through the collaborative efforts of PWN’s founders Jennifer Chauhan and Allison Kehoe Tevald, and Event Planner Donna Beriont of DNB Events, an extraordinary evening of storytelling took place.

The stories shared were by chefs, musicians, artists, writers, photographers, students, educators, actors, and community members. Donna Beriont of DNB Events said, “A Night to Remember was a great first fundraiser for PWN. It involved the surrounding communities and gave everyone involved a true ‘project write now’ experience. It involved the locals by giving them a chance to respond to the writing prompt, ‘I remember.’ Prior to the event, memory boxes were placed at local businesses and thousands of people who took part in it got to see their memory either showcased at the event or performed at the event. It was a huge success.”

The response from the memory boxes was excellent and thousands came in, noted Donna. She said they also did pop up workshops and used the writing prompt to get even more workshops. “One place we went was Asbury Park to the Women Rock conference at the Convention Center. It was a great experience to meet with people all over and talk about their experiences and share memories with them.” Donna explained that some of the memories were posted on big boards as guests walked in, which had been painted by Red Bank’s Pinot’s Palette and DNB Events. Some memories were written down by the students who greeted guests as they walked in, and then added to the surrounding boards; others were posted on social media prior to the event. “It was an ongoing story from the beginning of the event experience till the event ended,” shared Donna.

The musicians’ stories were told in a unique way, beginning with a writing workshop at the PWN studio in Red Bank prior to the event. Donna explained, “We asked them to answer the prompt, ‘I remember,’ and that’s where it began. Jennifer took their work and made it into a beautiful performance. This was also a collaborative effort between the three of us and all the performers. We only had one rehearsal too! It was a very heartfelt experience to be in the room during the performance. The stories were intermingled with music by the RB All-Stars and Paul Di Dario and Michael Sarin. If you were there you heard personal stories from each performer about the death of a loved one or a hurdle they jumped or an experience that shaped their life or a vivid memory – and listening to each performer tell their story brought the people in the room together. It was a packed room, standing room too. It was very special.”

Tickets for this event were $125 per person and included food, drink, music and the performance plus goodie bags. Donna noted that there were, “wines by Gallo Wines and Holmdel Buy-Rite; locally made beer; water and soda donated by Pepsi-Co; cheese from the Cheese Cave; and wraps by Brennan’s Deli in Rumson. The following chefs and restaurants were there to share their food and memory connected with the food. Chino Alban from the Danish Café presented food from his Filipine past; Chuck Lesbriel from Ama Ristorante made ravioli and meatballs and talked about his family recipes; Chez Dechilles from B2 Bistro and Bar made polenta and talked about a fond family memory; Danny’s Steakhouse made two great and tasty soups; Grace Sepe from La De Da Café in Middletown brought mini croissant sandwiches and chocolate croissants and had the Mad Hatter and Alice In Wonderland serving tea with their samples; Gina Brochart from The Vintage Cake made gorgeous and very delicious desserts; and Booskerdoo Coffee and Bakery made coffee and dessert for our guests. We also had Purity Vodka give our guests a taste of their vodka in a themed drink for the evening.” Donna was in charge of securing the chefs/ restaurants and vendors for the evening; getting the gifts and donations for the “making more memories” raffle basket; merchandise for sale; the volunteers; and making sure everything stayed on track from beginning to end.

Also showcased at the event were photographers, and art work by Detour.

“Our photographers were Jenifer Rutherford, Steve Scanlon, Kerri Sullivan, and Detour Galleries showed an art piece called The Empress. We also had Christine Enna photograph this event.”

Donna Beriont of DNB Events shared this about the evening, “People NOW know who Project Write Now is and what they do. It is important since they give back to the kids and businesses in the community. They give free classes and workshops and get professionals to help them with their writing and it also helps self-esteem and raises confidence in the students. The students LOVE PWN and the classes so much that they wouldn’t stop for the summer but insisted on classes year round! It was a true pleasure to work with PWN and to help raise the awareness of the work they do.”