News Releases

With help from the PPL Foundation, the Union Snyder Work Skills program will be able to give 25 adults another chance to succeed.

The Work Skills program in Union and Snyder counties focuses on getting participants marketable employment skills and living-wage jobs.

“Empowering community success starts with individual success and we’re happy to be able to award $25,000 to this program,” said Ryan Hill, president of the PPL Foundation. “Those who will be helped by this program already face many obstacles.  Be it poverty, lack of literacy skills, or another barrier, the goal is to provide support for them to become self-sufficient and resilient.”

The grant announced for the Work Skills program is part of $450,000 in grants announced today (6/28) for more than 70 nonprofit organizations to support their efforts to improve education, develop the future workforce and revitalize communities.

More than $100,000 of this funding is being donated to nonprofit organizations in the central Pennsylvania region of Clinton, Lycoming, Columbia, Montour, Northumberland, Union, Snyder and Perry counties.

In addition to the Central Susquehanna Community Foundation grant, other examples of the initiatives and projects that received support through the PPL Foundation Sustaining Grant program include:

• Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble received a $5,500 grant to support the theatre’s ongoing programs, which include a main stage production, traveling school shows and partnerships with other regional organizations.

• Central PA Business & Education Association received $3,500 to provide leadership training and mentorships for high school students in the Susquehanna Valley region.

• Friends of the Columbia County Traveling Library Inc. received a $20,000 grant to help replace its 20-year-old bookmobile to effectively serve rural Columbia County with no-cost library services.

• Pennsylvania College of Technology received an $8,000 grant to develop a space to engage students in creativity and innovation outside of class.

• Susquehanna Greenway Partnership received a $10,000 grant to provide technical assistance to Danville and Bloomsburg to make them more walkable and bikeable communities.

In addition, grants went to the organizations below for the listed mission or program:

• Penn College Community Arts Center ($5,000) — educational programming and outreach

• 203 West Main Street Inc. – The Exchange ($5,000) — sound system for educational programs

• Merrill Linn Land & Waterways Conservancy ($3,000) — land and waterway protection efforts

• Billtown Blues Association, Inc. ($5,000) — festival support

• Williamsport Symphony Orchestra ($3,500) — Support for 2017-18 concert season

• Lewisburg Children’s Museum ($3,000) — STEM workshops

• Community Theatre League ($3,000) — support of The Penguin Project program at the league’s educational branch

• Juniata County Library ($1,500) — summer reading program

• League of Women Voters of PA. Lewisburg ($1,000) — voter services

Additionally, contributions were made to John R. Kauffman a.k.a. Degenstein Public Library, Orangeville Public Library, Juniata County Library and other libraries and literacy-focused organizations in support of Cover to Cover, the PPL Foundation’s new initiative to improve child literacy through reading and summer learning programs.

A complete list of grant recipients is available online.

PPL is committed to supporting communities across its 29-county service area and providing tools that help empower economic vitality.

The PPL Foundation awards grants in spring and fall. The next grant cycle, for major grants, begins in August. To be considered for a grant, all organizations must apply online.

Please visit www.pplcares.com to learn more.

About the PPL Foundation: Through strategic partnerships, the PPL Foundation supports organizations that are doing innovative and groundbreaking work to create vital, sustainable communities and empowering each citizen to fulfill her or his potential. The PPL Foundation contributes more than $2 million annually to a wide variety of nonprofit organizations in north and central Pennsylvania.