{"id":690259,"date":"2026-06-07T18:54:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T18:54:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/690259\/"},"modified":"2026-06-07T18:54:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T18:54:10","slug":"whyy-hosts-willingboro-nj-community-barbecue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/690259\/","title":{"rendered":"WHYY hosts Willingboro NJ community barbecue"},"content":{"rendered":"

The complimentary lunch, courtesy of WHYY, prepared and served by 1911 Smokehouse BBQ in Trenton, New Jersey, including ribs, hamburgers, collard greens, macaroni and cheese and vegan sausages, was a wonderful idea, said Willingboro resident Gail Fountaine.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIt brings people together, and we love that,\u201d she said. \u201cThese events build relationships. It\u2019s multigenerational, and that\u2019s what it\u2019s all about.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Sitting next to Fountaine, former Willingboro Mayor Lavonne Bebler Johnson said, \u201cIt\u2019s great to have WHYY hear about what\u2019s going on in the community,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd if you don\u2019t have community, you just have a bunch of houses.\u201d
\n\"GailGail Fountaine (right) and former mayor of Willingboro Lavonne Bebler Johnson chat with each other at the WHYY Willingboro Community Picnic June 6th 2026. (Emily Cohen for WHYY)\n<\/p>\n

Neighbors, nonprofits and local leaders connect<\/p>\n

Tiana Harvey, 16, said she enjoyed her cheeseburger, mac and cheese, and collard greens.\n <\/p>\n

\u201cYou meet a lot of people from different backgrounds and find out about their personalities,\u201d she said.\n<\/p>\n

Allison Eckel, deputy director of the Burlington County Board of Commissioners<\/a>, agreed that the barbecue was a great way to bring people together.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to hear how people are doing in our diverse county,\u201d she said. \u201cThis picnic \u2026 is another opportunity to check in with neighbors, relax and enjoy some great food and interact with them.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Burlington County Sheriff<\/a> Jim Kostoplis and his outreach unit set up an information table to give residents information about programs designed to help and protect them.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIt lets them know we\u2019re people just like they are,\u201d he said. \u201cOur mission is to help people, and this helps us share that message.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

The New Jersey Department of Children and Families<\/a>, or DCF, was also represented at the event. Brandi Harding, deputy director of the Division of Child Protection and Permanency within DCF, said several people inquired about adoption and foster care opportunities.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cAll it takes is one individual or one family to make a life-changing difference for a child,\u201d she said. \u201cWe were thrilled to have a chance to give people information about the program.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Glover said that hosting a relaxing, barbecue lunch with neighbors is \u201cclassic, quintessential WHYY.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\u201cOur focus, our mission, is to be of public service, and we get story ideas from interacting with citizens, audience members and members of the community,\u201d she said. \u201cIt separates us from other news sources, and we\u2019re grateful to be able to serve the community.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

WHYY holds civic news events across the region year-round, including pop-up newsrooms, educational media literacy sessions and other events on topics such as health care and housing. Glover said community engagement activities will continue as WHYY News seeks to deepen its community-building in the Garden State.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The complimentary lunch, courtesy of WHYY, prepared and served by 1911 Smokehouse BBQ in Trenton, New Jersey, including…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":690260,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[88,216],"class_list":["post-690259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/690259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=690259"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/690259\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/690260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=690259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=690259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=690259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}