Voiceup Berks Fund
This fund supports the local VOiCEup Berks program, which promotes individual and community growth by connecting people and organizations with meaningful volunteer and service learning opportunities.
For more information on VOiCEup Berks, click here.
New Journey Community Outreach, Inc. Endowment Fund
Grants from New Journey Community Outreach, Inc. Endowment Fund will be distributed to New Journey Community Outreach, Inc. to support general operation of the soup kitchen and food pantry and other charitable activities of the organization.
Building Industries Exchange of Reading and Berks County Fund
The purpose of the fund is to support Berks County residents who are pursuing post-secondary education to pursue careers in the building trades and/or construction design technology. Such careers include, but are not limited to, architecture, drafting or engineering related to the construction industry, or Trade Prep Certificate Programs, or Apprenticeship Programs related to the construction industry including, but not limited to, HVAC, carpentry, plumbing or electrical.
Students are eligible to receive up to $1,000 a year for expenses such as: tuition, books, application fees, tools, equipment, or clothing required for the program. Students may reapply in a subsequent year.
GRIP Dreamer Scholarship Fund
This fund was established in 2013 to provide college scholarships to immigrants who are not eligible for Federal and/or Pennsylvania financial aid. Applicants must be seniors at or graduates of a high school located in Berks County, Pennsylvania; and the applicant’s current primary home at time of application must be located in Berks County, Pennsylvania. Applicants must be age 30 or under at time of application.
Applicants who are high school seniors or who have not yet attended college must have obtained a high school cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale. Applicants who are currently attending college or who previously attended college must have obtained a college cumulative GPA of 2.5 or above in order to apply.
Previous recipients must reapply each year if they want to be considered for another scholarship from this fund.
Robert Welliver Memorial Fund
Grants support camperships, repairs and maintenance at the Pennsylvania Beacon Lodge Camp for children and adults with special needs.
Diversity Alliance Endowment Fund
Grants support and strengthen projects or programs that address issues affecting the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in Berks County.
HISTORY
In Berks County, we’re fortunate to have people who support the Diversity Alliance Endowment Fund of Berks County Community Foundation.
Thanks to the generosity of its supporters, this fund awards grants that strengthen projects that address issues affecting the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community in Berks County.
Here are some examples of projects that have been supported by the Diversity Alliance Endowment Fund:
• The Children’s Home of Reading held workshops to identify, recruit, and train LGBT families to become resource, or foster, parents, and the Children’s Home also trained existing resource families about LGBT issues and advocacy in order to improve the lives of the disproportionate number of LGBT youth who are in the foster care system.
• Diakon Adoption & Foster Care conducted a workshop to provide participants with the awareness and knowledge that would enable them to work with LGBT youth and adults.
• Diakon also set up a resource library for LGBT adoption and foster care at Reading Public Library.
• Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center created a Berks County-based LGBT Women’s Health Awareness Program to address the 20% local health disparity for LGBT women who were not receiving cervical pap smears on time and the 9% local health disparity for LGBT women who were not receiving mammograms on time.
• Kutztown University began a program that gave university representatives the knowledge, tools and resources to create a sustainable Safe Space program on its campus.
• Co-County Wellness Services instituted a “Take Pride” program to provide a safe and supportive environment for LGBT youth/young adults in Berks County.
• The LGBT Center of Greater Reading established a parents support group for those who struggle with a child’s sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.
• Albright College had Jeff Chu as the speaker for the annual James J. Gallagher Memorial Lecture because of Chu’s background as a gay Christian. His pain and struggle echoes in the lives of so many LGBT individuals and their families across the country and in Berks County.
• Reading Theater Project put on a Fringe Festival that produced a theatrical evening of short, original pieces by local artists examining and discussing topics facing the LGBT community.
• The Yocum Institute for Arts Education was awarded a grant to stage a local production of Be More Chill, an Off-Broadway show that is headed to Broadway in 2019.
Be More Chill is an honest, edgy, and humorous look at growing up in the digital age, set to some of the most exciting songs in contemporary musical theater. This original musical comedy looks at modern issues like depression, bullying, anxiety, and sexuality through the lens of sci-fi films of the ‘50s, horror flicks of the ‘80s, and teen movies of the ‘90s. The musical is already beloved by millions of theater fans because of its best-selling Billboard Top 10 cast recording.
Funding from the Diversity Alliance Endowment Fund provided takeaway educational material, including facts and local resources available for parents of questioning teens, as well as facilitated conversations with audiences following specific performances.
These programs have meant a great deal to the progress of the LGBT community. These types of programs are essential to making Berks County a healthy and accepting community.
Youth and Philanthropy Fund
The Youth and Philanthropy Fund provides grants to Berks County programs that address youth-related issues that are considered critical needs by Berks County Community Foundation’s Youth Advisory Board, which is managed in conjunction with the Youth Volunteer Corps of Reading, a program of VoiceUp Berks. The Youth Advisory Board will provide up to $15,000 in grants in 2024 to organizations and programs that support, or promote awareness of, youth experiencing food insecurity in Berks County, with preference given to programs that provide access to healthy foods or nutrition education.
Note that applicants may be asked to participate in a site visit with YAB members. Site visits will occur in February and March. Decisions will be made in April, and funds will be available in May.
In April 1998, the Board of Directors of Berks County Community Foundation approved the creation of a Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) in order to give interested Berks County youth a hands-on experience in philanthropy. Berks County Community Foundation strongly believes that young people should be able to participate in community decisions that affect them and their peers. Members of YAC had the annual responsibility of making decisions about the distribution of $15,000 in grants from Berks County Community Foundation’s Youth and Philanthropy Fund to programs and projects that serve Berks County teens.
In 2019, YAC merged with another program to become the Youth Advisory Board, a program of Berks County Community Foundation and the Youth Volunteer Corps of Reading. Grants are now distributed from the Youth and Philanthropy Fund of Berks County Community Foundation through the Youth Advisory Board, which is run by VOiCEup Berks.
The new Youth Advisory Board program combines the grant-awarding component of YAC with the service-learning component of the Youth Volunteer Corps of Reading. The Youth Volunteer Corps of Reading is an affiliate of a national program. VOiCEup Berks runs the local affiliate.
From 1998 to 2021, the Youth and Philanthropy Fund of Berks County Community Foundation distributed 117 grants totaling $368,258.
Richard D. and Linda Reed McCrae Clothing Fund
Grants support the purchase of clothing, accessories and other items that promote good grooming for students in 6th, 7th and 8th grades at Muhlenberg Middle School.
Tara D’orazio Milligan Family Foundation Fund
Grants support families that lost a parent in an untimely fashion, leaving adolescent children behind.
Camella Maggs Client Memorial Fund
Grants help Berks County children who are under the age of 18 with physical or learning disabilities discover their strengths and reach their full potential with dignity, in honor of the clients of Lyn Camella and Mark Maggs. A parent, guardian, teacher, social worker, caseworker, or court official may complete the application on a child’s behalf to be considered for a grant.
