Doylestown, PA (October 19, 2011) – Over 150 community service leaders, non-profit organizations, and local governmental leaders attended the Foundations Community Partnership (www.fcpartnership.org) “Partnership in Youth Services” luncheon ceremony held at the Doylestown Country Club in Doylestown yesterday.  The event honored 12 non-profit community programs in Bucks County that are making a difference in the lives of local children with monetary grants of $3,000 each.

The keynote speaker was Darell Hammond, author of The New York Times bestselling book KaBOOM!: How One Man Built a Movement to Save Play. Darell is the Founder and CEO of KaBOOM!, a not-for-profit based in Washington, DC dedicated to saving play by making sure there is a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America.  KaBOOM! works with communities and corporations to build playgrounds in all 50 states where there are none.  Founded out of Hammond’s apartment in 1996, KaBOOM! has raised $200 million, rallied a million volunteers, led the hands-on construction of 2,000 playgrounds, and inspired a movement for the child’s right to play.

Foundations executive director Ron Bernstein, keynote speaker Darell Hammond, Bucks County Commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia and Dr. Joseph Stella, Chairman of the Foundations Board presented plaques and checks to the 12 local non-profit organizations.  Among the community programs receiving grants were:
Central Bucks School District- Doylestown, PA Central Bucks School District will use the grant to fund their program “TREK”, Together Rewarded by Establishing Kinship” which is a collaborative program between Central Bucks School District and Delaware Valley College. The TREK program will provide (40) forty Central Bucks special needs students, aged 19-21 with a functional curriculum focused on employability skills, social and emotional learning, and work-based learning.  The students will be developing and refining social and emotional skills with Delaware Valley College mentors through team-building activities, mentor trainings and daily peer interaction between the two student groups.

Friends of Silver Lake Nature Center- Bristol, PA The Bucks Outdoor Group will use the grant to support up to (30) thirty local “at risk” students in grades six through nine with weekly activities at Silver Lake Nature Center. These activities are designed to help increase physical activity, augment constructive social interaction, increase positive self-image, develop leadership skills, enhance knowledge of diverse ecosystems, and raise consciousness of environmentally family friendly activities within Bucks County.

Indian Valley Boys & Girls Club- Souderton, PA The Indian Valley Boys & Girls Club provides after-school programs to help young people with homework, participate in educational/recreational activities, or just a place to talk with friends.  This grant will help support a broad range of programs in five core areas: Character & Leadership Development, Sports & Recreation, Health and Life Skills, Education and Career Development and The Arts. Over 150 students will be able to participate in activities, which include summer day camp, youth leadership, nutrition, cooking, exercise, digital photography and sports.

Planned Parenthood Association of Bucks County- Bristol, PA The Planned Parenthood “Girlfriends Club 2012” is a weekly after-school program for teen girls ages 12 – 17 who reside in the Venice-Ashby subsidized housing development in Bristol Township. Girlfriends Club 2012 provides sexuality and life skills education, mentoring and role modeling support, team building exercises, leadership training, access to educators and licensed medical staff, and recreational/cultural activities in a safe and healthy environment.  The program provides education and tools to enhance self-esteem, resist peer pressure, train in leadership, prevent pregnancy and STD’s, learn life skills, and have fun.

Valley Youth House- Warminster, PA The grant will be used to fund the “Synergy Project” which provides comprehensive street-based services to address issues related to youth homelessness.  Services include outreach, education, counseling, survival aid, and referral, crisis intervention, access to 24-hour shelter care, case management, and follow-up for youth who are runaway, homeless or at risk of separation from the family. Valley Youth House provides counseling to help strengthen family relationships and to interrupt the pattern of alienation, flight from home, sexual exploitation, drug abuse, and other forms of self-destructive behavior.  The grant is expected to serve 130 runaway and homeless youth.

Bucks County Council, Boy Scouts of America – Doylestown, PA “Scoutreach” is a program of the Boy Scouts of America that focuses on providing young boys from grades 1 through 8 with healthy leisure skills, especially children and adolescents in at-risk and underserved communities in Lower Bucks County. The Scoutreach program will use the grant to help develop life skills reinforced by the time-tested programs of the Boy Scouts of America by earning rank and activity badges and belt loops, as well as camping, work on pinewood derby cars, and service activities throughout the community.  Scoutreach is expected to serve 171 youth in Lower Bucks County.

Camp Kirby – Upper Black Eddy, PA<br /> Lions Camp Kirby provides a safe, fun, and educational camp for deaf and hard of hearing children in Upper Bucks County.  Camp Kirby will use the grant to provide camping scholarships for twelve deaf/hard of hearing children from Bucks County who have never attended Camp Kirby and who need financial assistance in order for them to attend this specialized summer camp program. Many campers have additional disabilities, such as learning, and behavioral/emotional problems. The camp provides activities such as archery, crafts, swimming, baking, nature activities, water slides, campfires and even a dance. Camp Kirby is the only one of its kind in Eastern Pennsylvania.

Teen Connect- Levittown, PA Teen Connect in Levittown provides a safe haven for latch-key children by offering tutoring in math and science, helping to protect children from bullying and street violence, and helping to prevent teen substance abuse by emphasizing the values of physical activity, good health, academic success and community service. Teen Connect will use the grant for its “After-School Tutoring Program” for (50) fifty children who are struggling to keep up with math and science schoolwork. Tutors will provide math and science tutoring and activities designed to promote positive social interactions in a safe, supervised environment.
LifePath/RidgeCrest- Sellersville, PA LifePath will use this grant to purchase assistive technology/adaptive devices for 33 children who live at Ridgecrest, its pediatric facility. These 33 children rely on switch devices to aid in basic communication throughout their day. These switch devices allow individuals to play with adaptive toys, activate a blender when baking, turn on the TV or even to say “hello”. The new technology will offer children a greater level of independence by allowing them to increase control of their environment.

CB Cares- Doylestown, PA CB Cares of Doylestown, works as a coalition with community leaders, agencies, businesses, schools and families for the purpose of improving the quality of life in Central Bucks County.  CB Cares will use the grant to implement their “Y2C Youth to Community Arts Series” which will promote the talents of youth in the areas of performing visual and vocal arts and which serves to strengthen the positive bonds between youth and the community at large. The purpose of the program is to promote youth pro-social activities in the community, to recognize and reward them for such activities, and to deter them from becoming involved in risky or anti-social activities.  The grant will serve 85 youth who will be involved in 60 performance venues.

Council Rock School District- Newtown, PA Council Rock School District will partner with Lenape Valley Foundation to implement a program titled: “Meeting the Needs: Understanding and Supporting Students with Behavioral Disorders in the Classroom”.  The grant will support training for staff working with approximately (45) forty-five elementary emotional support students. The grant will help provide staff with the necessary awareness and knowledge to help kids with emotional and behavioral disorders be successful in school.

Gilda’s Club Delaware Valley, Inc.- Warminster, PA Gilda’s Club Delaware Valley provides support for everyone living with cancer- men, women, teens and children and to ensure that all people impacted by cancer are empowered by knowledge, strengthened by action, and sustained by community.  The grant will help support “Noogieland” a program that works with children ages 4 to 12 who have cancer themselves or who have a parent, grandparent, other family member, or friend with cancer. Noogieland is a place where children and teens can learn, play, and share in peer support groups, hands-on workshops, and social events. It will also assist the “Str8 TLK about Cancer Program ” for teens that gives high school students the opportunity to meet peers at their school who have cancer in their lives and form a peer support network. The program is expected to serve 325 youth.

The Morris M. Davis Award is an award and $1,000 scholarship given annually to a student intern whose contributions to the community are judged to be an outstanding example. The award was presented to Langhorne resident Peter Jacoby, who worked with Ridge Crest Pediatric Services in Sellersville through Foundations Community Partnership’s Summer Youth Corps.

“Foundations is a philanthropic grant-making foundation supporting the behavioral health and human service needs of children and young adults in Bucks County. We are proud to offer grants for the 13th year through the Partnership in Youth Services program,” said Bernstein. “Foundations also provides grants and technical assistance to non-profit organizations, awards scholarships to Bucks County high school seniors, subsidizes service learning internships for college students, underwrites community education programs and supports behavioral health education and research.”

Sponsors of the program included: Theodora B. Betz Foundation, Bishop & Associates, Inc., Davis Trachtenberg, Inc., First Niagara Bank, The Carl Koenig Family, Merrill Lynch Doylestown Office, Universal Health Services, AXA Foundation, The Bernstein Family, William E. Boger, CPA, First Savings Banking-Insurance-Investments, Magellan Behavioral Health of PA, Inc., Charles H. Rose, CLU, CHFC, Dr. Joseph Stella & Family, Advanced Furniture Services Group, Bucks County Community College Foundation, Bucks County Herald, Catalyst Center for Nonprofit Management, County Builders, Inc., Limor Goodman, PC, J. Douglas Riva, Ronald J. Smolow, Attorney At Law, Thompson Networks, Advanced Micro Computer Specialists, Inc., Astro Dynamics Print & Graphic Services, The Barbo Family, Brody Public Relations, Bucks County Bank, Bucks County Glass, David Velasco Salon, The DiNatale Family, The Friedman Family, In The Bag Catering, J. Carroll Molloy Realtor, The Moyer Family, Schoolhouse Communications, SportswearPlus, Tilley Fire Equipment Co. Inc., The Weldon Family, The Zagerman Family, and Zateeny Loftus, LLP.