JFS Mae S. Gelb Food Pantry Receives Donation The Temple Israel of Scranton Donates $1,450 to the Jewish Family Service of Northeastern Pennsylvania Mae S. Gelb Food Pantry. The Temple Israel of Scranton Mitzvah Committee, consisting of Suzy and Rick Jacobson, Karen and Robby Pollock, Marian and Gary Beckhorn, Victoria Geyfman, Annie Monsky, Rabbi Miriam Spitzer, Paulette Okun and Geordee Pollock provided 85 Mishloach bags to area Congregants. Proceeds from the purchased bags were donated to the Mae S. Gelb Food Pantry at JFS!
Space Time Mead & Cider Works Pledges 1% of Annual Sales to Environmental Causes Space Time Mead & Cider Works joined 1% for the Planet, pledging to donate 1% of annual sales to support The Lackawanna River Conservation Association. “When we started our winery, one of our core principals was to do what we could to protect our natural environment. Afterall, our wine depends on clean air, water, soil and biodiversity”, said Dan Schreffler, President of Space Time Mead & Cider Works. “We could think of no other local organization that has done so much for Lackawanna County’s quality of life by protecting and cleaning up the Lackawanna River and surrounding lands.” “Currently, only 3% of total philanthropy goes to the environment and, only 5% of that comes from businesses. The planet needs bigger support than this, and our growing network of business members is doing its valuable part to increase giving and support on-the-ground outcomes. We’re excited to welcome Space Time Mead & Cider Works to our global movement,” says Kate Williams, CEO of 1% for the Planet. By contributing 1% of their annual sales, thousands of 1% for the Planet members have raised over $265 million to support approved environmental nonprofits around the globe. Nonprofits are approved based on referrals, track record and environmental focus. Thousands of nonprofits worldwide are currently approved. “The biggest challenge we face in our work of river conservation and watershed stewardship is the lack of locally available funding to match state and federal grants and to help sustain our everyday operations,” said Bernie McGurl, Executive Director of the Lackawanna River Conservation Organization, (LRCA). “Having a dedicated fund like 1% for the Planet and a local business, like Space Time Mead & Cider Works reach out to us can be a real game changer to help advance our mission in the Lackawanna Watershed. We gratefully welcome the support of Space Time and look to their example as an encouragement to other local businesses to join with them in supporting 1% for the Planet and the LRCA.”
FNCB Bank Donates $20,000 to the SLHDA L-R: Katie Blake, SLHDA Community Development Coordinator; Richard Drust, FNCB Bank Senior Vice President, Retail Banking Officer; Deb Kennedy, FNCB Bank Vice President, Retail Market Manager; Jim Wansacz, SLHDA Executive Director; and Jerry Champi, FNCB Bank President and CEO. FNCB Bank, locally-based for over 111 years, recently donated $20,000 through the Pennsylvania Neighborhood Assistance Project Tax Credit Program, to the Scranton-Lackawanna Human Development Agency for their Pre-Kindergarten Center of Excellence project. FNCB’s donation helped the SLHDA purchase the historic former Holy Rosary School in Scranton. The organization’s goal is to start offering in-person pre-school education services to children of low-income families this fall. The donation represents part of FNCB’s larger Community Caring initiative. Through outreach programs, donations and an employee volunteer network, FNCB is committed to helping the communities they serve.
NeighborWorks Northeastern Pennsylvania Receives $10,000 Donation from FNCB Bank FNCB Bank, locally-based for over 111 years, recently donated $10,000 through the Pennsylvania Neighborhood Assistance Project Tax Credit Program, to NeighborWorks Northeastern Pennsylvania for their Beautiful Blocks Program. The Beautiful Blocks Program provides matching grants of up to $1,000 per property to groups of 5 or more Scranton residents to help them make exterior improvements to their homes. Grants are awarded annually through a competitive application process. Applications for the 2021 program year are now open at www.nwnepa.org. The support of NeighborWorks Northeastern Pennsylvania is part of FNCB’s larger Community Caring initiative. As a true, local community bank, FNCB is making a difference through volunteerism, donations and outreach programs.
The Dime Bank Donated $8,000 to Support Students of Pike & Wayne County The Dime Bank donated $8,000.00 through the Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program to the Pennsylvania Council on Financial Literacy (PennCFL). PennCFL provides to all students in grades 3-12 in Pennsylvania a world-class, web-based stock simulation platform and curriculum. Students can learn how to trade all year long by using the whole curriculum, courses, and more, including two ten-week competitions. The competitions are held in the classroom, by county and state-wide. The platform provides lessons, assignments, and grading for seamless teacher management. The cutting-edge, real-time stock game is derived from Stock-Trak’s University Platform, which is used in over 80% of the top business schools in the United States. Teachers and students get access to our extensive experiential education teaching and learning tool designed by Stock-Trak, the world’s leading provider of investment portfolio simulations for colleges and schools. It offers an entire standards-aligned curriculum library and a distance learning-optimized lesson plan database which includes a Google Slides presentation library, teacher training webinars, a student video library, a full personal finance course and a teacher’s dashboard for student assignments, progress reports, and grading. PennCFL President Alan W. Dakey stated “Thank you for again supporting the Wayne Pike Stock Market Program and for increasing your support. The Dime Bank was one of our early sponsors when we were first getting started a few years ago, and your support was a great help in getting us launched in our early years. During the past school year over 20,000 students participated in our financial literacy programs and we have dramatically expanded our online resources particularly in light of the pandemic. Thank you for being one of our founding sponsors.”
VNA Hospice and Home Health Community Sock Donation Drive Success Every year the Christmas holiday tends to bring out the best qualities in our human race. A time for giving, placing others needs before our own, and donating a priceless gift of volunteered time. In November, our Volunteer Coordinator, Marina Pambianco, and our amazing volunteer network organized a local donation drive requesting pairs of socks to be distributed in the month of December along with Meals on Wheels food delivery. Our goal at VNA Hospice and Home Health was to collect 1000 pair of socks for those in need. This year the Visiting Nurse Association ASKED and our community ANSWERED loud and clear. We are overwhelmed with the tremendous community response. The total number of sock pairs collected for our VNA “Sox in the Box” donation collection was 3,410 pairs of socks. Yes, three thousand four hundred and ten beautiful, whimsical, uplifting, warm, and loving pairs of socks donated from various schools, patrons, churches, and community organizations in our local area. We are humbled and grateful to share this news and are especially thankful to the students and faculty who embraced this request at St Mary’s in Dunmore, LaSalle Academy in Jessup, parishioners from Queen of Angels in Jessup, Christ the King in Archbald and Eynon, Our Lady of Mt Carmel in Dunmore, Holy Cross in Olyphant and Sacred Heart in Peckville. There are so MANY WONDERFUL community members who donated to this great request and we have planned on sharing this sock bounty across Lackawanna County. Meals on Wheels will receive 2,000 pairs of socks. Therefore, each client will get 2 pairs of socks for Christmas and the rest will be distributed to local nursing homes and support agencies to brighten and uplift others this holiday season. This is a great introduction to the newly implemented, “VNA Smiles for Miles Project” which will begin for all VNA patients, families, and caregiver staff with recent funding provided by the Scranton Area Community Foundation. What a tremendous reflection of our community’s kindness and generosity! VNA Hospice and Home Health would like to wish you all good health and happiness this holiday season. May your hearts always be filled with love and kindness and your feet always be warm! United we stand, Onward and Upward we Achieve.
Northeast Regional Cancer Institute Receives $2,335 Donation The Plains Township Police Department collaborated with Futuristic Innovative Graphics in Kingston to specially design t-shirts as a breast cancer awareness fundraiser in October 2020.They raised $2,335.33 to support the Northeast Regional Cancer Institute, a local organization focused on easing the burden of cancer in northeastern Pennsylvania. It was important to the organizers to keep the proceeds local. Community members were able to purchase t-shirts online through Futuristic Innovative Graphics website. The fundraiser was promoted on social media through the police department, graphics company and the Cancer Institute’s designated pages. The Plains Township Police Department plan to host this fundraiser again in fall 2021.
Geisinger Receives Donation for Fresh Food Farmacy™ Program Area families will get the gift of nutritious food, thanks to The GIANT Company’s gift to Geisinger’s Fresh Food Farmacy™ program. Because the COVID-19 pandemic has strained on food banks and food-insecure families across the state, the $200,000 gift from The GIANT Company will help sustain and expand the program. Education, diet and wellness coaches and assistants give Fresh Food Farmacy patients and families a “whole health” approach to their nutritional needs. Geisinger also plans to offer more wellness coaching through an app that will be created for patients of the program. Through partnerships with local food organizations the Fresh Food Farmacy provides fresh, healthy food to patients and their families for up to 10 meals per week. Patient education is also an important factor in the program, which addresses two key factors, including food insecurity and uncontrolled diabetes. Patients in the program have shown remarkable results with weight loss, lower blood pressure and improved measurements of triglycerides and cholesterol. Recent data shows that Fresh Food Farmacy patients have collectively achieved nearly $1.5 million in healthcare savings. “The GIANT Company’s gift will help us to reach even more patients and their families,” said Allison Hess, vice president of health, Geisinger Steele Institute for Health Innovation, said. “For example, we plan to expand to include patients with conditions other than diabetes. There are many disease states that show improvement in patients who eat healthy, fresh foods. And with the results we’ve seen with patients who have diabetes, we look forward to exploring those new avenues.” The GIANT Company has a long history of generosity to Geisinger and Children’s Miracle Network at Geisinger. Early this year, GIANT provided $250,000 in donations for COVID relief to five children’s hospitals including Geisinger Janet Weis Children’s Hospital. The company also provided meals for many of Geisinger’s frontline workers during the pandemic. “Working with our incredible network of community partners, we continue to bring our new brand platform, For Today’s Table, to life in the communities we serve,” said Nicholas Bertram, president of The GIANT Company. “Like The GIANT Company, Geisinger believes that every family should be able to share a healthy meal. Since its launch, their Fresh Food Farmacy program has helped remove barriers to accessing nutritious, good-tasting food and we are honored to be able to support its expansion, bringing it to even more families.” Since 2017, Geisinger’s Fresh Food Farmacy has provided more than 706,000 meals to 4,828 families in the Lewistown, Shamokin and Scranton areas. To make a donation to the program, visit donations.geisinger.org and select Fresh Food Farmacy in the dropdown menu.
