PPL Foundation awards $185,000 in Powering Equity grants

Allentown, Pa. (May 24, 2023) - The PPL Foundation this month completed the first of three planned grant cycles for 2023, awarding $185,000 in grants to 24 nonprofit organizations working to build stronger communities in eastern and central Pennsylvania.

In all, the PPL Foundation expects to award nearly $1 million in grants this year to support the Foundation's focus areas: education; diversity, equity and inclusion; and sustainable communities.

Funds from the first round of grants will be used to facilitate community conversations on diversity and inclusion, improve equity in access to higher education, and support innovation and entrepreneurship among underrepresented residents in our communities.

"Through its grants, the PPL Foundation invests in innovative approaches to address critical social challenges and help build stronger, more sustainable communities," said Ryan Hill, president of the PPL Foundation. "We're proud to support nonprofit organizations working to improve lives and promote greater equity and inclusion in the communities we serve."

The recent Powering Equity grants, ranging from $2,500 to $15,000, were awarded to:

• Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania, Bethlehem
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Capital Region, Harrisburg
• Children's Museum, Bloomsburg
• Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center, Allentown
• Community Action Committee of The Lehigh Valley, Bethlehem
• Employment Opportunity & Training Center of Northeastern Pennsylvania, Scranton
• Fulton Theatre Company, Lancaster
• Geisinger Health, Danville
• Greater Valley Young Men's Christian Association, Allentown
• Greater Wilkes-Barre Association for the Blind, Exeter
• Hand in Hand Family Resource Center, Berwick
• Leadership Northeast, Wilkes-Barre
• Leadership Susquehanna Valley, Shamokin Dam
• Lehigh Carbon Community College Foundation, Schnecksville
• Lehigh Valley Inter-Regional Networking & Connecting Consortium, Bethlehem
• LGBT Center of Greater Reading
• Light House Rehabilitation Center, New Holland
• Marywood University, Scranton
• NEPA Rainbow Alliance, Wilkes-Barre
• The Cooperage Project, Honesdale
• Touchstone Theatre, Bethlehem
• United Way of Lancaster County, Lancaster
• Volunteer Center of the Lehigh Valley
• Weis Center for the Performing Arts, Lewisburg

The Foundation's next round of grants - Empowering Communities - is focused on enriching the vitality of the community through programs that support environmental stewardship and education, economic development and workforce development. Applications for Empowering Communities grants are being accepted through June 15.

For more information, please visit www.pplcares.com.