Nearly $1 million went to dozens of local Lehigh County nonprofits Wednesday after approval by the Board of Commissioners.
The $904,000 in question came from the $72 million provided through the American Rescue Plan Act 2021 and through the Lehigh County COVID-19 Relief Nonprofit Grant Program.
Chief Executive Geoff Brace said county chief executive Phillips Armstrong intends to frontload additional appropriations through the grant program, although no timeline is available.
Frank Kane, Lehigh County’s director of community and economic development, said that extra money would go to agencies that have already applied, but it’s too early to say which ones.
The organization that received the largest amount of money from this third round of relief funding was United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley with $150,000.
Carmen Bell, director of healthy aging at United Way, helped the county manage the application process and said she was grateful for the county’s trust in her organization.
Bell said the $150,000 United Way received was used not only to cover its own operating costs, but also to distribute some of the money to other nonprofits in the Lehigh Valley.
Kane said the district received more than $7 million in applications from 110 organizations.
Kane added that previous rounds of funding were taken into account when he and Commissioner Ron Beitler made recommendations for this round, with the ultimate goal of keeping the process fair while prioritizing the organizations with the most successful track records of helping local residents.
While much of the funding has been awarded for COVID-related assistance, grants have also been awarded for homelessness prevention, mental illness treatment and education programs.
Organizations such as United Way, the LGBT Community Center and the Syrian Arab American Charity Association also received funding in the previous round in 2021.
Here is an overview of all organizations that have received funding:
- Allentown Art Museum Allentown Art Museum, $10,000
- Arts Quest, $25,000
- Boy Scouts of America Minsi Trails Council, $15,000
- Allentown Inc. Boys and Girls Club, $25,000
- Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center, $15,000
- Cancer Relief Community of the Greater Lehigh Valley, $25,000
- Catholic Charities Diocese of Allentown $9,000
- Cedar Crest College, $3,000
- Center for Humanistic Change Inc., $1,000
- Cetonia Ambulance Corps Inc., $25,000
- Communities in Schools of Eastern PA, $3,500
- Community Action Lehigh Valleym $25,000
- Community Bike Works, $5,000
- Community Fire Company of New Tripoli, $25,000
- Community Services for Children Inc., $2,500
- Emmaus Historical Society, $5,000
- Lehigh Valley Family Pledge, $1,000
- Fine Feather Foundation Inc., $2,500
- Holy Family Senior Home, $25,000
- I-LEAD Inc., $1,000
- Lehigh Valley Jewish Day School, $25,000
- Lehigh Valley Jewish Family Ministry, $25,000
- Jordanian Lutheran Church, $25,000
- KidsPeace, $10,000
- Lehigh Carbon Community College Foundation, $25,000
- Lehigh Conference of Churches, $25,000
- Lehigh County Historical Society Inc., $25,000
- Lehigh Valley Zoological Society, $25,000
- Lily’s Hope Foundation, $25,000
- Miller-Keystone Blood Center, $25,000
- Mother2Mother, $1,000
- New Bethany Ministries, $25,000
- Operation Address the Homeless, $25,000
- PBS39 Let Kids Learn in Whitehall-Coplay School District, $25,000
- PennState Extension, $1,000
- Pinebrook Family Responses, $25,000
- Risen Community Development Corp. James Lawson Freedom School, $2,500
- Shanthi Project Mindfulness Programming, $2,500
- Sights for Hope, Assisted Transport for Seniors with Sight Loss, $5,000
- Syrian Arab American Charity Association, $18,000
- The Tree School of Art, $5,000
- The Pledge of the Century, $5,000
- The Volunteers of the Children’s Center of America, $3,000
- The Greater Valley YMCA, $25,000
- The Hillside School, $1,000
- The Kindness Project, $5,000
- The Neighborhood Center, $5,000
- The Foundation for Preventive Measures, $1,000
- The Lehigh Valley Salvation Army, $1,000
- Touchstone Theater, $1,000
- Treatment Trends Inc., $2,500
- Turning Point by Lehigh Valley Inc., $25,000
- United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley, $150,000
- Valley Youth Home, $1,000
- Via Lehigh Valley Inc., $25,000
- Lehigh Valley Volunteer Center, $20,000
- VFW Egypt Post 7293, $5,000
- Whitehall Coplay Hunger Initiative, $5,000
- YWCA Allentown, $5,000
