CONWELL COMMUNITY: PB&J Fulfills Needs for Kensington Youth

by A. Schemes-’24/CCB Reporter

PB&J is a new youth program in Kensington. PB&J stands for Philly Bridge & Jawn. According to Bryan Belknap, the founder of PB&J, this is a continuation of his work as the former McPherson Youth Librarian of the Philadelphia Free Library.

“Bridges help connect people,” Belknap wrote in an email to the Conwell Cougars Blog. “That is what we want our program to do.”

The purpose of the program is to connect young people to each other and to a few youth organizations working in Kensington. It is also helping young people learn about opportunities in Kensington.

According to Mr. Belknap, the program is designed to help all teens from ages 12-19. The program introduces teens to people that Mr. Belknap thinks are positive influences. These organizations are run by those that Bryan Belknap respects and admires.

As Mr. Belknap said in his email, they are a good influence on him, therefore, Mr. Belknap thinks they would be a good influence on young people, as well.

According to the email Mr. Belknap sent, he states, “We want to connect young people to each other and to youth organizations working in Kensington.”

Some of the groups that PB&J are trying to connect to the teens are

Fab Youth Philly, a youth development organization
Hopeworks, an organization that helps with financial stability in careers
Kensington Soccer Club, a youth soccer organization
Kensington Voice, a local news organization
Ride Free, an organization that encourages youth creative potential

PB&J is holding some pilot program events in the first days of November. Mr. Belknap would like to see 20 teens show up and meet the youth organizations. He said that PB&J is hoping that the young people like the program and will want to do more like it.

According to Mr. Belknap, their goal for 2024 is to help 150 teens. After that, they would like to help 250 teens each year.

As stated by Mr. Belknap in his email, “We would like to reach 150 teens in 2024, and 250 teens every year after. Because some of the teens will be the same from year to year, our 5-year goal is to reach 500 teens.”

Mr. Belknap originally worked in the McPherson Square Library. He worked there for eight years. Once the grant that paid his salary came to an end, he realized he wanted to continue working with young people.

“The grant that paid my salary came to an end,” Belknap wrote. “But, I wanted to keep working with young people in Kensington.”

That is when he decided to start the PB&J program. He knew he could not start a new project on his own, he would need some help. While working in the library, he partnered with Nourish a few times. So, he asked for their help with the program.

According to Mr. Belknap, “Starting a brand new project, I needed help. So, I asked Nourish for help with this program.“

Nourish is a nutrition and cooking program. This program is funded by Pennsylvania SNAP-Ed It educates people about healthy food, affordable recipes, healthy cooking techniques, nutrition information, and other health resources.

According to NKCDC.org, “the goal is to create good food habits with long-term health benefits.” Nourish has an eight week online cooking class for people in Kensington, Fairhill and Juniata. Nourish provides a weekly meal kit with ingredients that are used in the online classes.

For more information about PB&J and the upcoming program from Nov. 1 – 5, which will take place at 2001 E. Allegheny Ave., contact Mr. Belknap at 856-295-1713 or email him at phillybridgeandjawn@gmail.com.