At an awards ceremony on Tuesday, June 4th, the Carbon County Community Foundation presented nearly $85,000 in grants and scholarships to nonprofit organizations, community groups, educators, and students in the region. This year’s awards bring the Foundation’s cumulative grantmaking to more than $1 million invested into the Carbon County community since 2016.
Commenting on the milestone during her opening comments, Sharon Alexander, President of the Community Foundation, said, “In 2015, a small group of community members noticed that all of the counties around Carbon County had a community foundation, and we didn’t. Our founders recognized the value of a community foundation and worked to establish ours, contributing their own money to get started because they believed so strongly in the work. Since then, we have grown by leaps and bounds. In addition to the $1 million that we have given away, we administer nearly 50 charitable funds under our umbrella with total assets of nearly $2 million that has been endowed to serve as a permanent pool of money to serve the charitable causes right here in Carbon County.”
Nearly 75 people gathered at the Lehighton Orioles Community Center for the program which has become an annual celebration for the Community Foundation. Of the awards given out, $26,000 came from the Fund for Carbon County, the Foundation’s most flexible grantmaking fund. These grants included support for vital equipment for the Lehighton Ambulance Association, furniture improvements for the Penn Kidder Library, a humane trap for the Palmerton Cat Project, the expansion of the Nesquehoning Community Garden, and more.
Additional grants were awarded from the Penny Allison Early Childhood Fund, which provides micro-grants to educators and organizations offering early childhood education services; the Scouting Support Fund, which provides campership and program support for area Boy and Girl Scout troops; the Educational Improvement Tax Credit Fund; and several Donor-Advised Funds established by private individuals.
The Foundation also awarded a record $35,000 in from 12 different scholarship funds to students graduating from Carbon County school districts this year. Scholarships ranged from awards of $500 to $8,000.
“It is our privilege to serve as a permanent resource for Carbon County, stewarding contributions from people who care and investing with a long-time horizon so we can continue to build and endowment that will award grants for the benefit of Carbon County, year after year, forever,” said Ms. Alexander.
Community members who are interested in contributing to an existing fund or who want to establish their own fund are encouraged to contact the Carbon County Community Foundation.
“It starts with a conversation,” said Ms. Alexander, “and can lead to the next million dollars for our community.”
The following grants were awarded from various funds this cycle:
| Fund | Grantee | Amount | Purpose |
| Fund for Carbon County | Cancer Support Community of the Greater Lehigh Valley | $1,500 | Cancer Support Programming in Carbon County |
| Fund for Carbon County | CareNet Carbon County | $1,500 | BrightCourse Program |
| Fund for Carbon County | Family Promise Carbon County | $2,000 | Shelter Resource Center |
| Fund for Carbon County | Lehighton Ambulance Association | $2,600 | ELK Lifting Cushion + Airflo 24 |
| Fund for Carbon County | Lehighton American Legion Post #314 | $2,000 | Hero Home Rehabilitation Project |
| Fund for Carbon County | Lehighton Downtown Initiative | $1,500 | Sgt Stanley Hoffman Blvd Beautification Project |
| Fund for Carbon County | Miller Keystone Blood Center | $2,200 | Training Aids |
| Fund for Carbon County | Nesquehoning Community Garden | $1,000 | Garden Expansion |
| Fund for Carbon County | Palmerton Cat Project | $560 | Humane Trap Acquisition |
| Fund for Carbon County | Penn Kidder Library | $1,700 | Furniture Improvements |
| Fund for Carbon County | Penn Kidder Ministerium After School Program | $2,000 | Childcare Scholarship & Financial Aid |
| Fund for Carbon County | SHINE Program | $2,500 | Summer Programming |
| Fund for Carbon County | St. Peters Community Resource Center | $3,000 | Renovations & Repairs |
| Fund for Carbon County | St. Vincent de Paul Society | $1,500 | Neighborly Nourishment |
| Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) Fund | Carbon Career & Technical Institute | $5,000 | Non-Traditional Summer Camp |
| Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) Fund | Panther Valley School District | $5,000 | STEAM MakerSpace |
| Joseph & Debra Kay Bennett Charitable Fund | Lehigh Valley Children’s Centers | $2,000 | Summer Enrichment Programs |
| Nothstein Hometown Proud Support Fund | Palmerton Booster Club | $2,000 | Equipment for Football Team |
| Quiet Hills Lavender Farm & Agriculture Fund | Bach & Handel Chorale | $2,000 | Orchestra Accompaniment for a Concert |
| Scouting Support Fund | Boy Scout Pack 63, Cub Scout Pack 63, Troop 772 | $250 | Campership |
| Scouting Support Fund | Boy Scout Troop 145 | $200 | Camping Equipment |
| Scouting Support Fund | Boy Scout Troop 209 | $250 | Fishing Gear |
| Scouting Support Fund | Boy Scout Troop 25 | $350 | Facilities |
| Scouting Support Fund | Girl Scout Troop 30137 | $300 | Campership |
| Scouting Support Fund | Girl Scout Troop 30903 | $400 | Campership |
| Scouting Support Fund | Olivia Rosenberger, Troop 30137 | $200 | Girl Scout Gold Award Project |
| Penny Allison Early Childhood Fund | Lehigh Valley Children’s Centers | $1,200 | Summer Programs |
| Penny Allison Early Childhood Fund | Penn Kidder Ministerium After School Program | $600 | PKMASP Scholarship & Financial Assistance Program |
| Penny Allison Early Childhood Fund | LB Morris/Erica Chapman | $600 | Early Literacy in the Classroom |
| Penny Allison Early Childhood Fund | LB Morris/Shawn Bierman | $600 | At-Home Learning Bags |
| Penny Allison Early Childhood Fund | Penn Kidder/Korin Strohl | $600 | Multisensory Opportunity for Building Foundational Literacy Skills |
| Penny Allison Early Childhood Fund | Panther Valley Elem/Kara Krajnak | $600 | Book Into Students’ Hands |
| Penny Allison Early Childhood Fund | Panther Valley Elem/Tori Koerbler | $600 | Learning through Science & Literacy |
| Penny Allison Early Childhood Fund | Panther Valley Elem/Heather Wagner | $636.72 | Social Emotional Learning with Little Spot |
| Penny Allison Early Childhood Fund | Weatherly/Christine Peiser | $600 | PreK Counts Program |
| Anastasia Susko Memorial Scholarship Fund | Ada Finsel, Jim Thorpe | $1,500 | Scholarship |
| Coach Carroll Memorial Scholarship Fund | Ben Goldberg, Jim Thorpe | $500 | Scholarship |
| Coach Carroll Memorial Scholarship Fund | Drew Kokinda, Panther Valley | $500 | Scholarship |
| Coach Carroll Memorial Scholarship Fund | Kaidence Krapf | $500 | Scholarship |
| Coach Carroll Memorial Scholarship Fund | Kiara Ginopolas | $500 | Scholarship |
| D&P Hawk Scholarship Fund | Jacob Hall, Lehighton | $5,000 | Scholarship |
| D&P Hawk Scholarship Fund | Synceray Behler-Hoffman, Lehighton | $5,000 | Scholarship |
| Eugene “Peck” Armbruster Memorial Scholarship Fund | Roberto Magobet, Jim Thorpe | $500 | Scholarship |
| Friends of CCTI Scholarship | Kylee Whiteman, CCTI | $500 | Scholarship |
| Friends of CCTI Scholarship | William Trach, CCTI | $500 | Scholarship |
| Glenn Eisenhower Memorial Scholarship Fund | Haley Kuehner, CCTI | $500 | Scholarship |
| Hunter’s Heroes Memorial Scholarship Fund | Melina Schwartz, Jim Thorpe | $500 | Scholarship |
| Keys to Your Future Award Fund | Megan Matsko, Palmerton | $500 | Scholarship |
| Leadership Carbon “Spirit of Volunteerism” Scholarship | Gracie Heintzelman, CCTI | $500 | Scholarshipo |
| Orioles Scouting Scholarship Fund | Cora Wentz, Palmerton | $500 | Scholarship |
| Susan J Tisiker Memorial Scholarship Fund | Cora Wentz, Palmerton | $8,000 | Scholarship |
| Susan J Tisiker Memorial Scholarship Fund | Alex Saas, Palmerton | $8,000 | Scholarship |
| Tyler Strong Memorial Scholarship Fund | Olivia Rosenberger, Jim Thorpe | $500 | Scholarship |
