Author: Chris Shaw

Allentown, Pa., June 11, 2020—Lehigh Community Foundation recently received a Pennsylvania Census 2020 Outreach Grant for $25,000 in partnership with Lehigh and Northampton counties to increase the census count in the region.  The results of Census 2020 will determine the level of federal funding the Lehigh Valley receives over the next ten years.

The grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) is supporting a variety of promotional activities in Lehigh and Northampton counties including Spanish language radio advertising, public service announcements on Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority (LANta) buses, television and online advertising, and social media outreach.

“The people of Northampton County are responding to Census 2020 at a high rate so far. The stakes are very high and our folks know that an accurate count is the difference between a bright future and a much brighter future for us all,” said Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure, Jr.  “We’ve been pleased to collaborate with the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation and Lehigh County in an effort to highlight just how important responding to Census 2020 is to the Lehigh Valley.”

Data from the Census 2020 will affect the annual allocation of over $800 billion in federal funds for 300 federal programs which include infrastructure, education, healthcare, and emergency services. Programs in the Lehigh Valley that rely on census data for the allocation include $10 million for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and $6.7 million in Community Development Block Grants each year. An undercount in the Lehigh Valley puts these and numerous other federal programs at risk for underfunding.

“As Lehigh County Executive, I am pleased to be in partnership with Northampton County and the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation as we continue our efforts to promote the 2020 Census,” said Phil Armstrong. “Together, the grant funding received from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development will allow us to broaden our voices and raise awareness for the Census. The efforts we put in today will impact our communities for the next ten years, and I am grateful for this collaboration and opportunity to further promote the Census in Lehigh County and its surrounding neighborhoods.“

One project funded by the grant will include a marketing campaign through Viamedia. A 30-second television spot will run over 900 times for the next two months on major cable networks on Service Electric Cable TV. In addition, an OTT or (Over-The-Top) campaign will generate over 150,000 impressions in the Lehigh Valley on streaming services such as Roku, Amazon Fire, AppleTV, etc.  Utilizing a premium pre-roll campaign, the ad will populate over 120,000 times when internet users in the Lehigh Valley access video content from a variety of news and sports networks.

“When the COVID-19 hit we had to pivot from face-to-face community outreach and census awareness raising events to a digital approach,” said Michael Wilson, director of communications at LVCF. “The focus of the grant is to encourage people to complete the census by reaching them primarily in their homes when listening to the radio, watching television, surfing the web, or viewing social media. Our message is clear. Completing the census is easy, safe, confidential, and important.””

Census 2020 can be completed online at: https://my2020census.gov/.  The 2020 Census asks a few simple questions about households and everyone living there on April 1, 2020. To see an image of the questionnaire, and for more information on answering each question, please visit Questions Asked.

The Community Foundation is Matching Gifts to the Fund to Support Upper Bucks

Allentown, Pa., June 5, 2020—Lehigh Valley Community Foundation has established the Upper Bucks COVID-19 Response Fund for immediate needs in the wake of the crisis. The Fund will deploy resources to nonprofits providing assistance (primarily, safety net services) to Upper Bucks County residents. 

Through the Edwin J. & Gertrude K. Neusch Fund, LVCF will match 100% of all donations to this fund, up to a total of $10,000. “We recognize the power of partnership in our community and in times of crisis.  LVCF established the Upper Bucks COVID-19 Response Fund to unite with individuals, businesses, and other organizations who have an interest in giving back to their local community during this time of crisis,” said Erika Riddle Petrozelli, vice president for philanthropy.   100% of all contributions to the Fund will go directly to support the Fund’s mission.

Grants from the fund will be directed by the Upper Bucks Advisory Board which is an important philanthropic arm of the Community Foundation. Their intimate knowledge of the people and organizations which serve the community is extremely valuable and results in careful and thoughtful grantmaking in Upper Bucks County.

“In a fast-moving situation, the ability to flexibly respond, in an informed way, to changing circumstances is vital,” Riddle Petrozelli continued. “Gifts to this Fund will play a key role in the response and recovery in the short, medium and long-term.”

To learn more about LVCF actions and communication in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, please visit our dedicated COVID-19 page – click here.  Nonprofit organizations serving the residents of the Upper Bucks area in the Palisades and/or Quakertown school districts, please apply – click here

Make a Gift to the Fund

Gifts can be made by submitting a check, payable to the Upper Bucks COVID-19 Response Fund, to the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation, 840 W. Hamilton Street, Suite 310, Allentown, PA 18101. 

Gifts can also be made via credit card by clicking the PayPal ‘Donate’ button below.  A PayPal account is not required to make an online gift to the Fund at: https://www.lehighvalleyfoundation.org/upper-bucks-covid-19-response-fund

Lehigh Valley Community Foundation recently conducted a casual survey to identify area banks offering free stimulus check cashing as of April 28, 2020.  Check with your local bank. If there are banks offering this service that would like to be included on this list, email michael@lvcfoundation.org(link sends e-mail).

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Allentown

Wells Fargo
Need two forms of ID
702 N. 7th Street Allentown PA 18102
(610) 821-2380

Fulton Bank
Drive-through but they DO allow people to walk up to drive-through
Need one form of ID
Limit $3,000.00
1928 Hamilton St Allentown PA 18104
(610) 355-6470

BB&T
Need two forms of ID
If two people are named on the stimulus check (IE, if it’s a joint check) both people need to be present

Multiple locations:

1139 Hamilton St Allentown PA 18101
(610) 439-0446

835 Hamilton St Allentown PA 18101
(610) 871-0900

645 Hamilton St Allentown PA 18101
No phone number listed

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Bethlehem

Wells Fargo
Drive through only—Can only utilize with vehicleNeed two forms of valid ID
301 Broadway Bethlehem PA 18015
(610) 861-1741

Fulton Bank
Drive-through but they DO allow people to walk up to drive-through
One form of primary (state-issued) ID OR two forms of secondary ID (EG, Medicare, Social Security card)
One East Broad Street and New Street One East Broad Building
Bethlehem PA 18018
(610) 814-6071

BB&T
One form of ID
44 E Broad St Bethlehem PA 18018
(610) 861-7843

PNC Bank
Drive-through but they DO allow people to walk up to drive-through (use caution)
Two forms of ID
901 Evans St Bethlehem PA 18105
(610) 317-4640

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Easton

PNC
Drive-through—Recommend having a vehicle for safety purposes but some people have been walking through
Two forms of ID
61 N 3rd Street Easton PA 18042
(610) 515-0973

BB&T
Drive-through but they DO allow people to walk up to drive-through
Current photo ID (primary/state-issued) and secondary ID (EG, Medicaid, student ID)
101 S 3rd Street Easton PA 18402
(610)746-7220

Allentown, PA, April 27, 2020—Greater Lehigh Valley COVID-19 Community Response Fund has issued more than $320,000 in emergency funding to 43 nonprofit agencies serving the residents of Lehigh, Northampton and Carbon counties.

“Our local nonprofits have responded to this public health crisis in extraordinary ways. We’re witnessing new adaptations, innovations and collaborations to continue and even expand services,” said Jill Pereira, Vice President, Education and Impact, United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley (UWGLV). “The work continues in earnest, but there is still much to do and a long journey ahead of us. The grants will provide direct and immediate support of ongoing efforts to help our neighbors disproportionately impacted by the effects of COVID-19.”

The one-time, operational grants range from $500  to $20,000 and aim to strengthen safety-net services throughout the tri-county area. The initial phase of funding includes:

• Services providing food access
• Services for unsheltered residents and those at risk of homelessness
• Supports for those who are economically vulnerable to mitigate the effects of reduced hours or lost jobs

The COVID-19 Community Response Fund includes pooled funds from partners including Air Products, The Dexter F. and Dorothy H. Baker Foundation, Capital Blue Cross, Carbon County Community Foundation, Crayola, The Donley Foundation, Dun & Bradstreet, Highmark, Just Born Quality Confections, Lehigh Valley Community Foundation, PPL Foundation, Talen Energy, United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley, Wells Fargo, UWGLV Women United and individual donors. Award decisions were made by a Strategic Response Team made up of community leaders representing funding organizations, local government, grassroots community organizing groups, community health and other sectors.

Full list of grant recipients:

• Benders Mennonite Food Bank
• Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center
• Care Net of Carbon County
• Casa Guadalupe Center
• Catholic Charities – Diocese of Allentown
• Center for Vision Loss
• Champion Center
• Children’s Home of Easton
• Cohesion Network
• Easton Area Neighborhood Center
• Family Connection of Easton, Inc.
• Family Promise of Carbon County
• Domestic Violence Service Center
• Grace Community Church Panther Valley Food Pantry
• Greater Valley YMCA
• Hispanic Center Lehigh Valley
• Housing Association & Development Corporation Allentown
• Jewish Family Service of the Lehigh Valley
• Lehigh Valley Center for Independent Living
• Meals on Wheels of the Greater Lehigh Valley
• New Bethany Ministries
• Northeast Community Center
• Northern Lehigh Food Bank
• Pinebrook Family Answers
• ProJeCt of Easton
• Promise Neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley
• Resurrected Community Development Corporation
• Ripple Community Inc.
• Safe Harbor Easton
• Shepherd House
• Slater Family Network Foundation, Inc.
• St. Peter’s Community Resource Center
• Summit Hill Heritage Center
• The Lehigh Conference of Churches
• The Salvation Army of the Lehigh Valley
• Third Street Alliance, on behalf of Regional Homeless Advisory Board
• Turn to Us
• Turning Point of the Lehigh Valley
• Valley Youth House
• Via of the Lehigh Valley
• Victory House of Lehigh Valley
• Volunteer Center of the Lehigh Valley
• West End Food Pantry

Two additional grants of $10,000 each were approved to support community mobilization and leadership efforts in the region.

More information about the Greater Lehigh Valley Community Response Fund is available at www.unitedwayglv.org/COVID-19.

Allentown, Pa., April 15, 2020—Earlier in 2020, the Upper Bucks Community Fund issued $33,800 in grants to area nonprofit organizations. The Fund consists primarily of two area-of-interest funds. The Richard E. Gasser Fund and Erwin J. and Gertrude K. Neusch Fund are for organizations and programs primarily serving the Palisades, Pennridge and Quakertown School Districts in the Upper Bucks area.

These grants were made at the recommendation of the advisory committee for the Upper Bucks Community Fund, a geographic affiliate of the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation.

“The Upper Bucks Community Fund Advisory Group carefully considered each application in accordance to the fund’s priorities,” said Megan Briggs, director of community investments at the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation. “After a very thorough discussion about all of the excellent applications, the Advisory Group worked together to recommend the final grant awards. Each member contributed their own depth of knowledge about the Upper Bucks region to award projects and programs that will increase the quality of life for Upper Bucks residents. We are looking forward to seeing the impact of these grants on the region.”

The following organizations received grants for programs from the fund in spring of 2020:

• National Inventors Hall of Fame, Inc.
  Camp Invention STEM, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Programs in Upper Bucks County – $4,730
• Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center
  LGBT Cultural Competency Trainings for Parents and Educators of LGBT Youth in Upper Bucks County – $3,000
• Heritage Conservancy
  1798 Glass Tax Map of Springfield Township – $10,000
• Heritage Conservancy
  Final book printing costs – $500
• Lenape Chamber Ensemble
  Concert in the Round for Children ages 4 – 12 by the Lenape Chamber Ensemble – $1,500
• National Inventors Hall of Fame, Inc.
  Camp Invention STEM, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Programs in Upper Bucks County – $270
• Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival
  FreeWill – $2,500
• Phoebe Richland Health Care Center
  Arts Adventures Program – $2,400
• Quakertown Alive!
  20th Annual Arts Alive! Fine Arts Festival – $1,900
• Quakertown Band
  Purchase of a new energy efficient heating system for the Quakertown Band’s rehearsal hall – $3,000
• Riegelsville Public Library
  Art for Kids in the Summer Camp  – $1,000
• Quakertown Community Center
  The Drop at the Quakertown Community Center – $1,000
• Valley Choral Society
  Bringing the Faure Requiem with an Orchestra to an Underserved Region – $2,000

Learn more about the Upper Bucks Community Fund on the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation website.

About the Upper Buck Community Fund

The Upper Bucks Community Fund of the Lehigh Valley, a geographic affiliate of Lehigh Valley Community Foundation, consists primarily of two area-of-interest funds. The Richard E. Gasser Fund and Erwin J. and Gertrude K. Neusch Fund are for organizations and programs primarily serving the Palisades, Pennridge and Quakertown School Districts in the Upper Bucks area. Recently added to Upper Bucks umbrella, The Bucks County Free Library Endowment Fund is an agency fund that benefits the seven-branch county library system with locations in Bensalem, Doylestown, Langhorne, Levittown, Perkasie, Quakertown, and Yardley-Makefield.

Allentown, Pa., April 10, 2020—Lehigh Valley Community Foundation recently named R. Nicholas Nanovic,  partner at Gross McGinley, LLP, to its Board of Governors. Nanovic will serve on the Community Foundation’s Community Relations Committee. Nanovic leads Gross McGinley’s Wills, Trusts & Estates Group. He is an Accredited Estate Planner^® by the National Association of Estate Planners & Councils and has extensive background in estate planning, trusts, estate administration, taxation, and business.

Nanovic has over ten years of experience advising individuals and business owners on their estate planning and tax needs. He designs comprehensive and customized estate plans for individuals and business owners as well as navigating complex tax matters, utilizing various types of trusts to ensure assets are protected for future generations.

Active in the community, Nick volunteers and serves as a regional coordinator with the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Wills for Heroes program that provides free basic estate planning documents to first responders and military veterans in Pennsylvania.  He currently serves as Coordinator for Lehigh and Northampton Counties.  He also served on the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation’s Board of Associates.

Pennsylvania Super Lawyers Rising Stars has named Nick in its annual listing for the past five years, a distinction awarded to less than 2.5% of attorneys across the state. He was also recently named to Lehigh Valley Business’ 2020 Forty Under 40 list.

He earned his LL.M. in Taxation (2008) and his J.D. (2007) from University of Miami School of Law. Nanovic attended the University of Notre Dame, earning his B.B.A. in 2004. A devoted alumnus, Nick serves as President of the Notre Dame Club of the Lehigh Valley.

The Board of Governors at the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation provide administrative, programmatic, and fiscal oversight in support of the organization’s mission. Members of the Board serve as ambassadors, promoting the Community Foundation as a vehicle for philanthropy and a leader of community improvement.

About the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation

For five decades, the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation has helped donors with their charitable contributions with a simple, powerful, and highly personalized approach. LVCF is a philanthropic hub for the Lehigh Valley—who knows and navigates the landscape of the Lehigh Valley’s community needs to connect people who care to causes that matter.

With a diverse and respected Board of Governors, the Community Foundation is a tax-exempt 501(c)3 organization located in Allentown, Pennsylvania.  The Foundation is cause-neutral and supports all areas of community needs in the Lehigh Valley and beyond in compliance with the National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations. To learn more, visit: www.lehighvalleyfoundation.org.

The Community Foundation has several strategies to partnering with nonprofits and community leaders in addressing the COVID-19 health pandemic.

The Community Foundation has partnered with other funders and leaders to create the Greater Lehigh Valley COVID-19 Community Response Fund, which aims to strengthen safety-net services for community members who are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 in Lehigh, Northampton and Carbon counties. This includes older adults, people who are experiencing poverty or homelessness, families who live paycheck to paycheck, communities of color and those who speak English as a second language.

This Community Response Fund provides a rapid, informed and coordinated approach to assessing community need and getting dollars where they are needed most. Learn more about the fund: Click Here.
 

COMPLETE A COVID-19 SUBMISSION FORM

Form submission is open, since the fund is on a rolling-basis. However, to be considered for the first round of funding, please share your organization’s needs on this form. 
 

LVCF’s Matching Fund Campaign! 

We have utilized our own Foundation-directed grant pool to launch a matching campaign for our own fundholders. LVCF has established the LVCF COVID-19 Response Fund to unite with individuals who have an interest in giving back to our local community during this time of crisis. Funding raised will support the Greater Lehigh Valley COVID-19 Community Response Fund, as well as other immediate needs identified by our stakeholders. We are also continuing to encourage fundholders to directly support their favorite organizations with an unrestricted grant recommendation through their established fund at the Community Foundation. Please read about the matching campaign click here.

Providing Flexibility for our Foundation-directed Grant Strategy

LVCF also recognizes the importance of unrestricted and immediate funding for nonprofit organizations during this time. We have shifted current and future grants on our Foundation-directed grants platforms to meet need. We have provided flexibility to grantees, converted some project-based grants into operational, and released restrictions where possible and applicable.  To the extent allowed, we have aligned our grants strategies for this fiscal year and next to support the nonprofit sector in the best way possible in the wake of this crisis. LVCF will continue to seek out ways we can partner with nonprofits to respond to the COVID-19 health pandemic.

LVCF will continue to seek out ways we can partner with nonprofits to respond to the COVID-19 health pandemic.

Funders pool their resources and voices to strengthen the Greater Lehigh Valley safety net and support the community’s most vulnerable.

Allentown, PA, March 30, 2020—In partnership with Crayola, PPL Foundation, Wells Fargo Foundation, Lehigh Valley Community Foundation (LVCF) and Carbon County Community Foundation (CCCF), United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley (UWGLV) has convened a coalition of funding partners and launched an emergency fund to address the COVID-19 crisis.

The Greater Lehigh Valley COVID-19 Community Response Fund aims to strengthen safety-net services for community members who are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 in Lehigh, Northampton and Carbon counties.

“This Fund provides a rapid, informed and coordinated approach to assessing community need and getting dollars where they are needed most. We especially want to thank Crayola, PPL Foundation and Wells Fargo Foundation for their leadership as the first corporate partners to support the Community Response Fund,” said UWGLV President David Lewis, LVCF President and CEO Bernie Story and CCCF President Amber Breiner in a joint statement.

More than $150,000 has been allocated to support this effort. Some contributions will be used as matching funds to attract additional investment from other funders. One hundred percent of the funds will support agencies serving residents of Lehigh, Northampton and Carbon counties.

“I am encouraged and reassured that so many capable people and organizations are out there working to support our region,” said Amber Breiner, President, CCCF. “We’re going to be more efficient and have a much greater impact by working together to respond to rapidly evolving local needs.”

“We know that the effects of this pandemic will disproportionately impact older adults, people who are experiencing poverty or homelessness, families who live paycheck to paycheck, communities of color and those who speak English as a second language,” said Jill Pereira, Vice President, Education and Impact, UWGLV. “Our goal is to ensure the agencies that form a critical safety net for our most vulnerable can respond to the immediate and long-term needs including food, housing, education, child care, healthcare, utility assistance, job training, transportation and violence prevention.”

Guided by a community-led Strategic Response Team, pooled funds will be used to respond to emerging needs and be implemented in phases. “The first phase will focus on providing rapid and direct support to organizations that provide critical safety-net services in our community and those who serve populations disproportionately affected by COVID-19,” explained Megan Briggs, Director of Community Investments at LVCF.

This includes:

• Services that provide food access
• Housing
• Income supports
• Services for unsheltered residents and those at risk of homelessness
• Supports for those who are economically vulnerable to mitigate the effects of reduced hours or lost jobs

Coalition members have also committed to use their influence and voices to advocate for policies that will swiftly and effectively address gaps in community needs and provide resources to community members who are negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

More information about the Greater Lehigh Valley Community Response Fund is available at www.unitedwayglv.org/COVID-19

Mission of United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley
The mission of United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley is to provide the leadership, convene the partnerships, and develop the resources and solutions that improve our community.  We remain committed to these goals and sincerely appreciate the continued support of partners, program providers and donors throughout the Lehigh Valley. www.UnitedWayGLV.org

About the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation

For more than five decades, the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation has helped donors with their charitable contributions with a simple, powerful, and highly personalized approach. LVCF connects people who care to causes that matter, grow their charitable legacies, and fund nonprofit organizations to improve the quality of life in the region. Learn more at: www.lvcfoundation.org.

About the Carbon County Community Foundation

Founded in 2015, the Carbon County Community Foundation works to improve the quality of life for residents of the region by staying in touch with community needs and supporting nonprofits through professional development and grants to help meet needs. The Foundation promotes organized, efficient philanthropy by encouraging people of all backgrounds to become donors to existing funds or create their own funds to support the causes that matter most to them. Learn more at www.cccfoundpa.org.