Straub Brewery Scholarships Awarded

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Recently, the management at Straub Brewery met with the students from Elk County Catholic High School and St. Marys Area High School to congratulate them on winning the $1,000 Straub Brewery Scholarships this year. Bill Brock, President of Straub Brewery stated; “The quality of our youth and young adults is one of the characteristics that impresses me the most about St. Marys. It is a combination of family support, our schools and faith. Regardless of whether our recent high school graduates are heading to college, trade-schools or into the workforce, our community and companies are proud of their accomplishments and thankful for their determination. The Straub scholarships are designed to recognize the accomplishments of local students, and at the same time, help to cover the cost of higher education.

Straub Brewery would also like to thank the Elk County Community Foundation for their continued hard work and dedication in managing this endowment; and for their effort in ensuring that the Straub Scholarships are matched to the right students.”

The Straub Brewery Scholarships are administered by the Elk County Community Foundation, an affiliate of the Community Foundation of North Central PA. These scholarships recognize high school seniors who have displayed outstanding qualities in academic achievement, leadership, and community service. In addition to this award the Community Foundation is involved with the Partnership for Access to Higher Educations (PATH) and will nominate all students who receive a scholarship from them to the PATH program. Last year the Foundation had nearly $54,000 matched to 49 students in our area.

The Elk County Community Foundation Board extends their gratitude to Straub Brewery who has seen a need and believes in the youth of today. Anyone interested in establishing a scholarship can contact the Foundation at 814-834-2125 or get more information from the website, www.elkcountyfoundation.com

The recipients and Straub Brewery management are from left to right, Vince Assetta, GM, VP and Brewer ,Cathy Lenze- Director of Sales and Marketing, Matt Bobby, Elk County Catholic High School, Camille Smithbauer, Elk County Catholic High School, Joshua Burns, St. Marys Area High School, Richard Burns, Bill Brock, President/CEO, Mary Anderson, Corporate Controller and Shane Burns . Missing from the photo was Amy Orr, St. Marys Area School District.

Nursing Scholarships Awarded

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Recently the Penn Highlands-Elk Foundation formerly the Elk Regional Health System Board transferred two Scholarship funds to the Elk County Community Foundation. This years awardees met with Rose Campbell, President of Penn Highlands-Elk. The Kathryn Kilhoffer Walsh Nursing Scholarship awarded $725 to Leah Kucinski a graduate of Elk County Catholic High School and the Elk Diabetes Nursing Scholarship awarded $500 to Ashley Fabiano from Johnsonburg Area High School. Leah will be attending Edinboro University while Ashley will attend the University of Pitt at Bradford.

Penn Highlands–Elk Foundation moved their scholarship funds to the Community Foundation this past spring to take advantage of the PATH (Partnership for Access To Higher Education) program for their scholarship recipients. As a PATH partner, the Community Foundation can nominate their scholarship recipients for a matching grant to this program administered by PHEAA. Last year 49 local students received over $54,000 in matching grants through the Community Foundation’s scholarship program.

The Elk County Community Foundation, an affiliate of the Community Foundation of North Central PA currently administers 110 funds and of those 67 are scholarship funds. If you are interested in establishing a fund please contact the Elk County Community Foundation at 814-834-2125 or check out their website at ww.elkcountyfoundation.com.

Pictured L to R

Ashley Fabiano, Rose Campbell, Leah Kucenski

Christian Cordero Memorial Scholarship

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Alex O’Neill, on the right, is the 2014 recipient of Christian Cordero Memorial Scholarship, administered by the Elk County Community Foundation. Alex is the second recipient to receive this award and he is the son of Mike and Gale O’Neill of St. Marys. The $500 Christian Cordero Memorial Scholarship is awarded to an 8th grade Cavalier basketball player who shows real enthusiasm for the game just as the late Christian Cordero did, and will be attending Elk County Catholic High School as a freshman the next year. Christian, “CC”, know to his friends, was a former Cavalier player and later returned as volunteer assistant coach. “I know he felt it a privilege to be able to give back to a program that he truly loved.” Said EJ Crowe, one of his classmates who had last year spear headed a Facebook awareness about the Scholarship. Each year the Cavalier Coaches will select an 8th grade player who best reflects the spirit of CC to receive the award

St. Marys Catholic Middle School Principal John Schneider accompanies O’Neill in the photo. The Cavalier Boosters, who created the scholarship fund in the memory of their former player, are encouraging donations in hoping to make this award permanent. Donations can be sent to the Elk County Community Foundation at P.O. Box 934, St. Marys, PA 15857, or can be made online at our website www.elkcountyfoundation.com. If you have any questions please call us at 814-834-2125.

Ridgway Area School District Receives Funding

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Over $18,000 was distributed to Ridgway School Districts from the Elk County Community Foundation. As an approved Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program (EITC) partner the Foundation receives donations from qualified businesses to provide innovative educational programing with in the public schools K-12 school.

The Ridgway School District was able to purchase for each of their two buildings, HD video conference equipment, HD screen/projection devise and streaming continent input device. Their goal is to continue to enhance the technology experiences of their students. Recently representatives from the Community Foundation, Advantage Sales Company and Farmers National Bank, both contributors to the EITC visited Ridgway Area High School to check out the new equipment and to have a presentation of the new equipment. Students have been able to go on virtual field trips with this new technology. Dan Brocious, the Technology Director explain that there were a number of the virtual field trips/video conferences that their students have participated including a trip to NASA, San Diego Zoo, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Texas State Aquarium, Grand Teton National Park and the Holocaust Memorial Center, where the local students were able to interact with Holocaust survivors via video conferencing. The school also is utilizing the systems for recording and conferencing with school board meetings and presentations.

Kim Jacques from Advantage Sales Company was on hand and talked about how she found the EITC program a great vehicle for her company to make donations to her community and receive tax dollar credits. Other companies that contributed to the programs this year were: Northwest Savings Bank, EQT Production Co.; Highmark Casualty Insurance Company, Synder Trucking Company, Susquehanna Wire Rope and Rigging and PNC Bank. Any entity authorized to conduct business in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and subject to certain taxes is eligible to apply to be involved with the EITC program. Tax credits are limited to 75% of the business’ contribution with a maximum of $750,000 annually. If a business agrees to make the same contribution for two consecutive years, it may receive a tax credit equal to 90% of its contribution. Interested participants must submit a brief application to the DCED. The application can be found at www.inventpa.com. Jacques indicated how easy the application was and is willing to assist others with the business application process.

Pictured from left to right are:

Foundation Board Member Gennaro Aiello; Kim Jacques representing Advantage Sales Company; Paula Fritz Eddy, Executive Director of the Foundation; Craig Carrow and Heather Serafini from Farmers National Bank; Donna Sidlinger, the district Business Manager; Dr. O’Brien, superintendent; Lisa Connely Board President; Dan Brocious, Technology Director and Judith Manno Stager, Foundation Board member.

New Fund Established to Support Catholic Education

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New Fund Established to Support Catholic Education

The Elk County Community Foundation recently made the first distribution of the R. Thomas and Mary Rita Valentine Charitable Fund for the Elk County Catholic School System (ECCSS). Tom and Mary Rita had both worked and retired from Stackpole Carbon Company. They were members of Queen of the World Church, devout in their faith and active in their community.

Tom and Mary Rita were supportive of Catholic education and together they made provisions in their estate plans to provide funding for this purpose. They chose to come to the Elk County Community Foundation to ensure that funds would be available for the Catholic schools in our area for generations to come. Each year going forward a portion the R. Thomas and Mary Rita Valentine Charitable Fund will be awarded with half of the gift being allocated for tuition assistance and the other half benefiting the general operations of the Elk County Catholic School System.

Tom Wagner, the Valentine’s lawyer and estate planner of Meyer & Wagner Law Offices, and Tom Fledderman, the couple’s financial advisor and Trust Officer from Northwest Savings Bank, were on hand for the first distribution of the fund. Both gentlemen worked with the Valentines as they created their legacy. Attorney Wagner said that once he realized the Valentines wanted to support their community he began to help them fulfill their charitable goals. A gift through the Community Foundation seemed to best accomplish Tom and Mary Rita’s objectives of keeping local control of the funds while supporting Catholic education. Tom Fledderman also said that educating his clients about their options is so important in financial planning. Fledderman commented “when long term gifts are the objective, I try to inform them about the Community Foundation and how it can help them give a gift that will give back to the community forever.”

Sam MacDonald, ECCSS president, commented that a gift to the Community Foundation complements the school system’s endowed funds to help ensure there will always be Catholic education in St. Marys. More tuition assistance means more help for our families, and operating dollars certainly help keep the cost of tuition low. “Words cannot adequately express our schools’ appreciation for the Valentines contribution,” said MacDonald.

The mission of the Elk County Community Foundation is to strengthen our region through development, stewardship and grant making as donors achieve their philanthropic goals. Its vision is to connect people who care with causes that matter. The Foundation assists donors in starting a Fund to benefit nearly any charitable organization or cause that they have a vested interest in, whether as a named fund or in the memory of a deceased family member or friend. The R. Thomas and Mary Rita Valentine Charitable Fund for the Elk County Catholic School System is one of 110 different funds the ECCF manages. Interested parties are encouraged to contact the Foundation’s Executive Director, Paula Fritz Eddy at 814-834-2125 or emailing eccf@windstream.net. More information can also be found at www.elkcountyfoundation.com.

Pictured from left to right are Tom Fledderman, Sam MacDonald, Paula Fritz Eddy, and Tom Wagner