CAMDEN, N.J. -- On a sunny Saturday just before the start of the school year, hundreds of people flock to Wiggins Waterfront Park for a block party. They turn out to pick up backpacks and school supplies given away by Nike and Subaru, to shoot hoops and eat free food, but mostly they come to celebrate a young man.
At 17, D.J. Wagner is only a senior at Camden High School. But photos of him peer down from a line of banners strung from lampposts along the redeveloped waterfront, and white T-shirts bear his name in purple and gold letters.