PMEF funds more than $12,000 in Strong Grants
May 16, 2017Penn Manor Education Foundation has awarded more than $12,000 in grants to improve opportunities for students and families through its new Strong & Healthy Families initiative.
Established last year, the grant program provides assistance to families facing financial, emotional and physical difficulties.
The first-year Strong Grants include $7,000 to pay for uniforms, tools, equipment and supplies for Penn Manor students attending Lancaster Career & Technology Center programs, and $2,500 to help students pay fees for college applications, SAT tests and advanced-placement tests.
A $1,000 grant is supporting the Penn Manor Family Fund, which provides food, shelter, transportation and medical assistance for families in need. An $1,800 grant is funding a program to distribute books to preschool children in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods.
That grant also supports an effort to purchase a new Lancaster County Bookmobile so children not served by a public library can have access to books over the summer.
The PMEF Strong & Healthy initiative was established in response to the increasing needs of families in the Penn Manor community, where more than 40 percent of students now qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. The Strong & Healthy initiative was seeded with a $25,000 contribution from the Education Foundation and additional donations totaling more than $12,000.
“Thanks to the generosity of our district, Strong & Healthy Families is already a vital part of PMEF,” said Anne Kinderwater Carroll, Foundation executive director. “It adds a valuable dimension to what the Foundation provides to our school community.”
“Experiencing the growth of supporting PMEF’s mission to provide opportunities has been humbling,” she said.
The Strong Grants are in addition to PMEF’s existing Venture Grant program for classroom teachers and its scholarship program for graduating Penn Manor High School seniors.
Penn Manor community members can support Strong & Healthy Families by contributing to the PMEF general fund. For more information, contact the executive director’s office at contact@pennmanoredfoundation.