Summertime can mean hunger for children whose families depend upon free or subsidized school meals
QUAKERTOWN, Pa. (June 10, 2019) – Penn Community Bank, the region’s leading independent, mutual financial institution, is proud to join St. Luke’s University Health Network in sponsoring a free summer meals program for underprivileged children, aged 18 and younger, living in the Quakertown area.
More than half of the children enrolled at Quakertown Elementary School – 157 of 287 students in 2017 – 2018 – qualify for free or reduced-price school meals, according to a report from the Quakertown Community School District. During the summer, those children are at higher risk to miss a meal because they no longer have access to the food available at school. St. Luke’s Summer Meals Program is designed to help meet that need.
“No child should face the summer with dread because they are worried about going hungry,” said Penn Community Bank President and CEO Jeane M. Vidoni. “Our entire team at Penn Community Bank was proud to work with St. Luke’s to launch this program, so food insecure kids in our community have access to healthy meals this summer.”
Penn Community Bank donated $15,162 to launch the summer meals program, which is new to the local Quakertown community and will be based out of St. Luke’s Quakertown Campus. An initial pledge of $10,000 from the Penn Community Foundation was supplemented with $2,581 in donations from individual Penn Community Bank team members at their annual team member dinner, which was then matched by the bank’s foundation.
“The health and welfare of our community is always top of mind at St. Luke’s,” said Dennis Pfleiger, President of St. Luke’s Quakertown Campus. “Through the generosity of Penn Community Bank, we are able to enhance the summer meals program and have an even greater impact on our neighbors in the Quakertown community.”
From June 17 to August 30, lunch will be served Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the ground floor vending area of St. Luke’s Quakertown Campus, 1021 Park Avenue, Quakertown, PA (meals not available Thursday, July 4). Every Friday, children will be provided with a backpack of food to help sustain them through the weekend. To learn more about the program, contact Kathy Ramson, Network Director, Healthy Living and Chronic Disease for St. Luke’s at 484-526-2301 or kathy.ramson@sluhn.org.
Created in 2016, the Penn Community Foundation is the charitable giving arm of Penn Community Bank. Each year, the independent, mutual bank distributes up to 5 percent of its net income through the foundation to local organizations that focus on its four priorities: food insecurity, affordable housing, economic self-sufficiency and financial literacy.
About Penn Community: Penn Community Bank holds more than $2 billion in assets, employs more than 325 people, and offers banking, lending, insurance and investments at 25 bank branches and two administrative centers throughout Bucks and Montgomery counties, Pennsylvania. As an independent, mutual financial institution, Penn Community Bank is not publicly traded and operates with its long-term mission in mind: to help businesses grow and prosper, to provide financial resources to individuals and families throughout their lifetimes, to strengthen the local economy, and to partner with local organizations to act as a catalyst for positive growth in every market it serves.
