Mayor Cory Booker at Yale’s Class Day over the weekend. Yale is the Mayor’s alma mater. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Newark Mayor Cory Booker has been dubbed “Super Mayor,” having performed heroic deeds from living on food stamps to bring awareness to the plight of those on the program to rescuing a freezing dog.

Booker’s latest effort was his first annual Mayor’s Masked Ball to benefit the New Jersey regional chapter of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF). The event, held at the Newark Club, sold out and initially raised $250,000 through ticket sales and other bequests, reports theGrio. Mayor Booker also collected a ton of $1,000 checks during the night from the movers and shakers in attendance.

“The mayor raised an additional $27,000 for our Campaign for Emergency Student Aid,” a spokesperson for the UNCF told theGrio.

This is just one of the first in a series of events planned in partnership between the UNCF and mayors across the country. These balls originated in Atlanta in the 1980s during Andrew Young’s tenure as mayor.

Actor Craig Robinson, currently starring in Peeples, Extra entertainment reporter A. J. Calloway and CBS This Morning co-anchor Gayle King, who was the event’s honorary chair, were among those in attendance. Singer Chrisette Michele performed.

According to Michael L. Lomax, CEO of the UNCF, involving the mayors is essential to promoting education. “You talk to a mayor two decades ago, and they said their number one issue is crime and economic development. Today, if you ask a mayor what his number one issue is, it’s education: ‘If I have an educated workforce in my community, that’s going to reduce crime, that’s going to bring economic development,” said Lomax.

Mayor Booker, “unofficially” announced his run for the U.S. Senate, told theGrio that if he is elected he will continue making educational access a priority as a U.S. Senator.

“It’s been the transformative force in my family, and for me personally. It’s something that should really become a fundamental aspect of our nation — where every kid, no matter where you’re born, no matter the zip code, has abundant pathways towards academic success,” the mayor said.

When was the last time you did something that was completely selfless?  Non-profit organizations are those in which the founders or owners do not make a profit, but instead function on fundraising and the invested work of volunteers and employees who usually share the same vision of helping make the world a bit brighter in some way.  In these dismal economic times, many feel that they don’t have the funds to finance their own stability, let alone someone else’s, but time and optimism can be more valuable than money in many ways.  Not sure where to begin? Here are ten non-profits committed to change that need your help:

(Washington Examiner) — The United Negro College Fund made its move to Washington official Monday with the purchase of its new headquarters space in a $150 million development above the Shaw Metro station that many hope will rejuvenate the historic black neighborhood. Called Progression Place, the building is a massive office, residential and retail project that city officials say will bring 500 construction jobs and 300 permanent jobs to the District. UNCF paid roughly $24 million for 50,000 square feet within the building, half the available office space.  At the project’s ceremonial groundbreaking Monday — construction began in December — Mayor Vincent Gray said UNCF’s move from Fairfax would be a shot in the arm for the city’s economy. The city has $20 million invested in the project, which is scheduled to finish in late 2012 and expected to generate at least $25 million in new taxes over the next two decades.  “[We] welcome the jobs that UNCF will bring to the city and the jobs that the new building will generate all around the Shaw neighborhood,” Gray said. City officials lured the nonprofit here with a grant of $710,000 and tax incentives totaling $3.6 million over the next decade.  UNCF President and CEO Michael L. Lomax, co-chairman of Gray’s education transition team, said he hoped other education reform organizations would join the nonprofit in the new building, “making it a center for education foundations, institutes and other reform activities.”

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