Local Non Profits

The mission of the Asbury Park African-American Music Project Inc. is to share the music, cultural heritage, and stories of Springwood Avenue in Asbury Park; develop accessible resources that reflect the African-American music heritage of the City; address a lack of representation in traditional historic resources; and engage all in the active exploration, interpretation, understanding, and preservation of the City’s African-American heritage.

The AP Arts Council is a 501(c) 3 nonprofit established under the guiding premise that the arts have been, and will continue to be, critical to the overall health and development of our community. Programs for 2024 include Asburyin3 Film Challenge, Film Maker meet ups, AP Mural Project, and For Artists’ Sake Lecture Series.

Kiwanis is a volunteer organization dedicated to improving the world one child and community at a time. Projects in 2024 include a second Book Ark providing books to Thurgood Elementary School students, supporting Asbury Park Little League and Covenant House through a variety of activities, providing volunteers for the Mercy Center food pantry, and providing books to all children through partnership with Bridge of Books Foundation.

The mission of the Asbury Park Little League is to implant firmly in the children of the community the ideals of good sportsmanship, honesty, loyalty, courage, and respect for authority, so that they may be well adjusted, stronger, and happier children and will grow to be good, decent, healthy, and trustworthy citizens.

The AP Music Foundation has provided over a decade of life-changing music programs to under resourced youth, giving them confidence, discipline and relationship building skills that improve their future success and economic mobility, preserving Asbury Park’s rich musical legacy, bringing the community together for free, live music and supporting musicians with opportunities to perform in our city by the sea.

AP Porchfest is a 501(c)(3) charity that has been putting on a free day of live music in Asbury Park since 2018. In that time, there have been more than 600 performances by an amazing group of local bands that perform throughout the City on residents’ porches. The organization has raised over $50,000 for local charities.

The AP Public Library is a department of the municipal government and is not a non-profit. However, the APHOA is a supporter of the services and activities provided by the Library, which provides the APHOA with space for its membership meetings at no charge.

Serving young people experiencing or at risk of homelessness or human trafficking with absolute respect and unconditional love. Their ultimate goal is to help each young person move on with their lives in positive ways with counseling, education, stable employment, and secure housing.

The DLC was chartered in 1974 by the 7 shore line towns. Our mission is to provide leadership, guidance, and resources to preserve and restore Deal Lake and its tributaries as a healthy and stable ecosystem. In addition, control lake levels during heavy storms to the best of our ability with limited ocean tide controls.

AP Porchfest is a 501(c)(3) charity that has been putting on a free day of live music in Asbury Park since 2018. In that time, there have been more than 600 performances by an amazing group of local bands that perform throughout the City on residents’ porches. The organization has raised over $50,000 for local charities.

With a vision to alleviate generational poverty in the Greater Asbury Park area, the Mercy Center is guided by the tradition of the Sisters of Mercy, and provides services, programs, and education in a culturally sensitive manner to: Empower people in the greater Asbury Park area to reach their full potential by providing immediate and comprehensive services and programs to help stabilize their lives; enrich the lives of those served by offering opportunities to develop skills to maintain emotional, economic and physical well-being; and educate children to break generational poverty one child, one family at a time.

The Friends of Asbury Park Environmental Shade Tree Commission (APESTC) is a non-profit volunteer group with tax deductible status. While the Environmental Shade Tree Commission (ESTC) is a funded and appointed city commission, the cost of creating and maintaining our gardens goes far beyond the resources provided in our city budget. Donations to this non-profit go towards buying the plants, soil, mulch, compost and tools we need to keep these gardens looking their best all year round. All labor involved in planting and maintaining these gardens comes from a group of dedicated volunteers who gather twice a week (or more!) to plant, weed, prune and mulch.