LANSDOWNE — The Southeastern Pennsylvania First Suburbs Project announced the establishment of an award in memory of the coalition’s late founder during a leadership event Thursday night.

About three years ago, Upper Darby resident Jonathan Thomas Schmidt founded the coalition to address the deterioration of older, inner-ring suburbs in Delaware County. Schmidt died earlier this year at the age of 36 after battling cancer.

“We established the award to honor a very special person,” said Jacquelynn Puriefoy-Brinkley, a former longtime Yeadon Borough councilwoman and founding member of this project. “We want to keep his memory alive. We will look for leaders who exemplify some of the qualities Jonathan had. I doubt we’ll find someone exactly like him ever again.”

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