READING, PA (June 15, 2021) – The mission of the former First United Church of Christ in Reading continues. A charitable fund that the church established before closing has awarded nine grants totaling $40,245.
The First United Church of Christ Mission Fund of Berks County Community Foundation recently released its fourth annual round of grants. The beneficiaries were organizations that feed and clothe those in need and provide activities for children and seniors.
In 2017, after 264 years of serving the community, First United Church of Christ closed. The church transferred its endowment to the Community Foundation to continue the church’s mission.
Since the fund was established, it has awarded more than $150,000 in grants to local organizations.
This year’s grant recipients, award amounts, and programs supported:
- The Salvation Army of Reading: $8,000 for its summer day camp to maintain and increase educational skills among children.
- Olivet Boys & Girls Club of Reading and Berks County: $5,000 for Olivet Hubs of Hope, which provides hygiene packs, clothing, shoes, backpacks, bed sets, grocery gift cards, and mental health counseling to youth who have lost a parent or guardian.
- GoggleWorks Center for the Arts: $5,000 for its After School Arts Program (ASAP) where professional artists and teachers offer hands-on, collaborative, equitable art projects to youth at no cost to their families, many of which face significant disadvantages.
- New Journey Community Outreach Inc.: $5,000 to provide food, clothing, and support to those in need.
- Berks Youth Chorus: $4,500 to cultivate joy for choral singing, leadership, confidence, friendship, and creativity in young singers through various programs.
- New Bethel Church: $4,000 for its “Projecting Our Faith!” program that will use a screen and projector so text and videos are visible to all members, including those worshipping from home via online services.
- Immanuel United Church of Christ: $3,220 to provide need-based scholarships to children ages 3 to 5 for the preschool Summer of Fun Enrichment Camp.
- Bethany Children’s Home: $3,000 to encourage youth to achieve specific behavior goals while planning summer incentive trips and campus programs.
- Reading Public Library: $2,525 to provide literacy care packages to residents of subsidized senior housing in Reading.
In addition, the fund supports St. Peter’s United Church of Christ of Wilshire and the First Senior Center of St. Peter’s through multiyear commitments. The grant to St. Peter’s UCC Wilshire supports its Opportunity House Service Group, which serves hot, nutritious meals to the homeless residents of Opportunity House in Reading. The First Senior Center of St. Peter’s offers meals and opportunities for socialization, education, and exercise to seniors.
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Berks County Community Foundation is a nonprofit corporation that serves as a civic leader for our region by developing, managing and distributing charitable funds aimed at improving the quality of life in Berks County. More information is available at www.bccf.org.
READING, PA (June 4, 2021) – An anonymous donor has significantly increased the strength and capacity of Berks Nature by establishing the Berks Nature Endowment Fund of Berks County Community Foundation to benefit the operating needs of this regional conservation organization. This gift – together with continued support from Berks Nature’s annual donors and volunteers – enhances Berks Nature’s ability to provide leadership on environmental and conservation initiatives and issues.
The team at Berks County Community Foundation feels honored whenever we can help a donor create a charitable fund that will be truly transformational for an organization. Learn how to start a charitable fund and other ways to give here.
An anonymous gift of $25 million to Berks County Community Foundation established the Berks Nature Endowment Fund. This fund will annually disburse money to Berks Nature to support the organization’s new strategies and vision to enhance its environmental and conservation education programs; increase and diversify its team; and expand its land protection, watershed restoration, and recreation activities.
An additional gift of $3.5 million from this anonymous donor will fund a significant addition to The Nature Place, which serves as Berks Nature’s headquarters, education center, and preschool in Reading’s Angelica Creek Park.
The addition will include a new second-floor rooftop deck and classroom that will together accommodate groups of around 300 visitors or students on field trips for programs and events.
Click here to read the complete remarks of Kim Murphy, president of Berks Nature, upon the establishment of the Berks Nature Endowment Fund of Berks County Community Foundation.
You can read an article about the announcement of these gifts by clicking the image below.
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Berks County Community Foundation is a nonprofit corporation that serves as a civic leader for our region by developing, managing and distributing charitable funds aimed at improving the quality of life in Berks County. More information is available at www.bccf.org.
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READING, PA (February 2, 2021) – The Met-Ed / Penelec Sustainable Energy Fund will distribute $238,000 in grants throughout the Pennsylvania service territories of the Met-Ed and Penelec energy companies in 2021 for projects and programs that support the development and use of clean energy technologies and energy efficiency.
Grants will range from $2,000 to $50,000 depending on the scope of the projects. Applications in both the Met-Ed and Penelec territories are now open and will be accepted through March 15, with decisions to be made in May 2021. Please note that there will be no fall grant round for the Met-Ed / Penelec SEF this year.
Previously, grant applications for the Met-Ed / Penelec Sustainable Energy Fund were accepted year-long on a rolling basis. Note that these are no longer rolling grant opportunities. Applications must be completed online by the deadline to be considered.
While the fund primarily provides grants for nonprofits, it may also consider making program-related investments from time to time, providing capital that must be paid back (loans). In particular, program-related investments are often considered over grants for for-profit businesses. The benefit of a program-related investment is the ability to receive a larger amount of capital for a project than what is available through the grant program. Program-related investments range from $25,000 to $500,000.
Eligible applicants must be located and/or serve residents within the territories of the Met-Ed and Penelec electric companies in Pennsylvania. Grant funding is prioritized for nonprofit entities, however commercial or industrial organizations may apply. Individuals/residents are not eligible to apply.
More information, as well as maps and zip codes of areas serviced by Met-Ed and Penelec, is available at www.bccf.org/sustainable-energy-fund/.
To apply in the Met-Ed territory, click here.
To apply in the Penelec territory, click here.
For previously-funded projects, see this map.
The mission of the fund is to support:
- the development and use of renewable energy and clean energy technologies.
- energy conservation and efficiency.
- sustainable energy businesses.
- projects that improve the environment in the companies’ service territories, as defined by their relationship to the companies’ transmission and distribution facilities.
The Met-Ed / Penelec Sustainable Energy Fund is administered by Berks County Community Foundation and the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies.
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The Metropolitan Edison Company Sustainable Energy Fund of Berks County Community Foundation and the Pennsylvania Electric Company Sustainable Energy Fund of the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies distribute money in the form of grants and investments for a variety of projects within the territories originally served by the two electric companies. The two funds share an advisory committee and are known in the singular as the Met-Ed / Penelec Sustainable Energy Fund.
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Contact: Jason Brudereck, Director of Communication, jasonb@bccf.org, 610.685.2223
READING, PA (January 25, 2021) – The Met-Ed / Penelec Sustainable Energy Fund awarded a $340,000 grant to a Berks County company developing an innovative solar dish concentrator capable of delivering clean, inexpensive thermal energy for a wide range of applications.
Solarflux Energy Technologies Inc. in Bern Township will use the grant to improve the efficiency of constructing the parabolic dish concentrators.
Berks County Community Foundation and the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies (CFA) administer the Met-Ed / Penelec Sustainable Energy Fund, which provides financial support to promote renewable and clean energy, energy conservation and efficiency, and sustainable energy businesses.
“With this funding, we plan to increase production speed and capacity, and dramatically reduce unit costs,” said Naoise Irwin, chairman of Solarflux.
“By making an investment that allows Solarflux to refine the research and development of its solar concentrator dish, the Met-Ed / Penelec Sustainable Energy Fund is helping advance technology that will ultimately give people another option for renewable power,” said Heidi Williamson, Senior Vice President for Programs and Initiatives at Berks County Community Foundation. “Supporting this kind of innovation in Pennsylvania is an important part of the fund’s mission.”
CFA Associate Director Angie Berzonski said the project was an ideal fit for the aims of this Met-Ed / Penelec Sustainable Energy Fund grant opportunity.
“This grant was part of a strategic investment opportunity that our advisory committee identified after researching categories of clean energy development in need of funding in order to move forward,” Berzonski said. “It sought to support research and development efforts that would ultimately help to close the gap on the cost difference between traditional energy technologies and renewables.”
Made from low-cost, resilient aluminum reflectors, the FOCUS parabolic reflector dish follows the sun on two axes throughout the day, maximizing the capture of solar radiation. Solar radiation reflects off the concentrator onto a central receiver, heating a circulating thermal fluid. The heated fluid then passes through a heat exchanger to create hot water, high temperature steam or other high enthalpy fluids.
With 50% of global energy consumption in the form of heat, the market for thermal energy is vast. The FOCUS provides a clean, inexpensive source of thermal energy for a wide range of applications, including industrial process heat, space heating and cooling, hot water, water desalination and purification, and remote and distributed power applications.
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The Metropolitan Edison Company Sustainable Energy Fund of Berks County Community Foundation and the Pennsylvania Electric Company Sustainable Energy Fund of the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies distribute money in the form of grants and investments for a variety of projects within the territories originally served by the two electric companies. The two funds share an advisory committee and are known in the singular as the Met-Ed / Penelec Sustainable Energy Fund.
More information, as well as maps and zip codes of areas serviced by Met Ed and Penelec, is available at www.bccf.org/sustainable-energy-fund/. Or you can go to www.bccf.org, click on “Our Work” in the menu, and choose “Sustainable Energy Fund.”
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