New Jersey Senate President Steve Sweeney paid a visit to Lakewood on Monday, where he met a group of prominent businessmen, community activists and leaders of local Mosdos. The reception was held at the home of Township Committeeman Meir Lichtenstein, and was attended by representatives of The Lakewood Vaad, Igud Hamodos, Agudath Israel of New Jersey, among other major community organizations.

Although Senator Sweeney’s Gloucester County district is quite a distance from Lakewood, he has long shown an interest in learning more about our community and assisting Lakewood children, both in public and nonpublic schools, in various ways. The Senator has been instrumental in the passage of last year’s landmark school busing bill, as well as on behalf of increased funding for security, nursing and other services that benefit Lakewood children.

In order to gain a close up view of our community, and its education system in particular, Senator Sweeney visited Yeshiva Ketana elementary school on Second Street and interacted with school administrators, faculty and students. He saw firsthand how successful and dedicated Lakewood education is, as well as how various initiatives he supported are making a real impact. Community activists and educators spoke in detail about the inestimable amount of positive there is in every layer of Lakewood community life – and discussed the various unique challenges that our community faces.

Most of all, Senator Sweeney heard a heartfelt message of appreciation from community representatives for his principled support of Lakewood’s needs over the years.

“New Jersey is fortunate to have a public servant like Senator Sweeney in the halls of power,” says Ben Heinemann of The Lakewood Vaad. “He is a true mentch who is devoted to helping families across our state.”