PNC Commits $55,000 to Early Childhood Programs
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — The PNC Foundation has pledged eight grants that total $55,000 in support of early childhood education and development.
The Youngstown and Eastern Ohio regional president of PNC Bank, Ted Schmidt, made the announcement this morning at the Millcreek Children’s Center, one of the recipients.
The center will receive funding that allows its students to take field trips to the Akron Zoo, the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh, the White House Fruit Farm in Canfield and the Living Treasures Wild Animal Park in Lawrence County, Pa.
On hand was Bob Hannon, president of United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley, who noted the grants will fund youth programs for science, technology and arts education as well as field trips, summer preschool and home services for children and their families.
Other recipients:
- Junior Achievement of the Mahoning Valley to continue its Financial Education for Young Children program. The program, begun in 2012, has helped 250 preschool children learn some of the basics of financial literacy.
- D&E Counseling Center in support of Upstream, a program designed to provide home-based literacy and social-emotional development services to preschoolers in the Youngstown school district.
- Trumbull County Community Action Program to expand its Head Start STEM (science, technology, engineer and mathematics) program, specifically adding technology in its curriculum.
- Oh Wow! The Roger & Gloria Jones Children’s Center for Science & Technology to develop its Wow! on Wheels program.
- Easter Seals Society of Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana Counties to support a summer program for children with disabilities and special needs.
- YWCA of Youngstown to support its STEAM program, a STEM program PNC supported that now includes art.
“Our support of these organizations and their school-readiness programs for Mahoning Valley preschoolers is a strategic investment in the future of our area,” Schmidt said. “[PNC knows] that children who are ready for kindergarten are more likely to graduate from high school and strive toward higher education aspiration and contribute to society later in life.”
Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
