Allentown, Pa., December 1, 2022—The Upper Bucks Community Fund of the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation issued $35,600 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.
Two of the grants will address the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) problem in the region. The invasive insect native to northeastern Asia was first discovered in Michigan in 2002 and since has devastated the Ash Tree population in the United States. In 2012, the Emerald Ash Borer was confirmed in Bucks and Montgomery counties. EAB is very destructive and kills Ash trees quickly, within 1 -2 years. The leafy canopy of infested ash trees will begin to look thin. EAB chews through the tree’s water and nutrient-conducting tissues, strangling the tree. If there is a high population of EAB in the tree, the leafy canopy in ash trees will start to die. A third to a half of the branches may die in one year. The Bucks County Horse Park and the Heritage Conservancy are receiving 2022-23 grants from the Upper Bucks Community Fund at LVCF that will support efforts to remediate the problem by removing affected trees in the region.
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 with the fund’s priorities,” said Megan Briggs, Director of Community Investments at the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation. “After a very thorough discussion about all 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 again this year to award projects and programs that will increase the quality of life for Upper Bucks residents.”
The following organizations received grants for programs from the fund’s 2022-23 grant cycle. The funded programs are listed as well.
- Bucks County Horse Park
Bucks County Horse Park, Inc. Emerald Ash Borer Remediation
- Durham Historical Society
Archival effort to protect, display and share historical artifacts
- Heritage Conservancy
Ash Tree Remediation and Forest Stewardship Project at Fuller-Pursell Nature Preserve
- National Inventors Hall of Fame, Inc.
Camp Invention STEM, Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship Programs in Upper Bucks County
- Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival
FreeWill and WillPower Tour to Upper Bucks (Quakertown and Palisades School Districts)
- Riegelsville Public Library
Art for Kids in the Summer
- Valley Choral Society
Bringing the Faure Requiem with an Orchestra to the Upper Bucks Area
- YMCA of Bucks County
Quakertown Branch After School Arts Program
About the Upper Buck Community Fund of the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation
The Upper Bucks Community Fund of the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation, 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.
Learn more about the Upper Bucks Community Fund on the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation website.