Bon Jovi agreed to be at the gala "to be able to use the celebrity he can bring to the table . . . to advocate for people who may not have a voice," Box said.
This is the second year Heart of Camden, a nonprofit dedicated to the redevelopment of Camden's Waterfront South neighborhood, will host the award gala. Last year, the award went to Msgr. Michael Doyle, longtime pastor at Sacred Heart Church, which started Heart of Camden in 1984.
About $150,000 was raised during the first gala in April 2010 for a community center and gymnasium on Broadway in Waterfront South.
The award gets its name from Mother Teresa's famous words: "We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love."
Giving the award to Bon Jovi is to some extent a PR move because of the contributions he is sure to attract for Heart of Camden, executive director Helene Pierson acknowledged. But the award mostly recognizes "the amazing work" the entertainer and his foundation have done in one of the nation's poorest cities, Pierson said.
"We could've sold over 1,000 tickets if we had not sold out," she said about Bon Jovi's appeal. But she said 665 was already large enough that they could not hold the event in Camden. Any more would have been hard to coordinate.
"We're not that well-oiled of a machine," Pierson said with a laugh.
Heart of Camden has had a great impact in what has been one of the most deteriorated areas of Camden. The nonprofit has done streetscape projects, installed a rain garden, and rehabilitated more than 200 homes to give low-income residents homeownership opportunities.
Most of the money raised Friday will be used for new housing projects, but $10,000 will go directly toward a mortgage down-payment for a young family that lost its home in one of the large warehouse fires this summer.
Since 2009, the Soul Foundation has provided financing for housing projects developed by Heart of Camden and St. Joseph's Carpenter's Society in East Camden, as well as the youth housing and mentoring program CRIB run by Hopeworks, a nonprofit in North Camden that works with at-risk youth.
Box declined to disclose how much money the foundation has invested in Camden.
"We don't do the projects ourselves," Box said. "We're honored because it's really they who do the work."
Contact Claudia Vargas at 856-779-3917, cvargas@phillynews.com, or @InqCVargas on Twitter.
