Therapeutic horseback riding, crisis response training and cancer research on laboratory mice were among 16 projects benefiting Tuesday from the legacy of Lee Hospital.
“These are 16 organizations which improve the life and health of our residents,” said John Augustine Sr., chairman of Lee Initiatives Inc., in announcing $200,002 in Lee’s Health and Wellness Endowment Grants.
The grants will give some impoverished Johnstown youths a chance to earn wages while learning about the value of finishing their education, Executive Director Diane Knupp said of Career Exploration Mission’s $2,850 grant. The Coopersdale nonprofit hires high-school age students to mentor younger children and work in the mission’s facility.
“We help them know they can be productive members of society,” Knupp said during the awards program at the City View Bar and Grill in Westmont.
Career Exploration Mission received the smallest grant, which ranged up to Alternative Community Resource Program’s $35,200 for an intervention program for children who set fires.
This is the second year for the grants. They are the earnings from the $9 million Lee Initiatives received from UPMC to settle a lawsuit to block the sale of UPMC Lee Regional to Memorial Medical Center.
Recipients were culled from 54 applicants seeking $1.5 million, Executive Director Anita Faas said.
Total disbursements were well below last year’s $350,000 due to a “challenging cycle” for investments, Augustine noted, explaining grants are made from profits.
“Our investment will never be exhausted,” he said.
Ironically, some of this year’s money will be going back to UPMC. Radiation Oncology Research Lab of the UPMC Cancer Center in Johnstown received $29,035 to grow pure antibodies for testing on lab mice at Pitt.
Grant recipients
Here is a breakdown of the 16 Lee Initiative Health and Wellness Endowment Grants:
• Alternative Community Resource Program: $35,200 for its Juvenile Fire Setter Intervention and Home Safety Program.
• Radiation Oncology Research Lab of UPMC: $29,035 for cancer study using antibodies in mice.
• Skills of Central Pennsylvania: $17,326 to help developmentally disabled adults develop use of their senses.
• Johnstown Free Medical Clinic: $15,000 for a health and wellness education kiosk.
• The Learning Lamp: $15,000 for a tutoring effort for those with developmental issues.
• Easter Seal Society of Western Pennsylvania: $13,960 for audiology equipment.
• New Day Inc.: $12,000 to strengthen its after-school services.
• St. Francis University: $10,995 for a trailer to carry community outreach health programs.
• National Association for the Mentally Ill, Cambria County Affiliate: $9,500 for police training to improve response to those in crisis.
• Conemaugh Valley Regional Ambulance Association: $8,960 for state-mandated airway monitoring equipment.
• Windber Hospice Palliative Care Foundation: $8,200 for household needs kits for home-bound patients.
• Greater Johnstown Career and Technology Center: $7,010 for computers and testing costs of certified nurse’s aide training.
• Conemaugh Township Emergency Medical Services: $5,800 for state-mandated airway monitoring equipment.
• Best of Friends: $5,000 for equipment and animal care for its therapeutic riding program.
• Lutheran Camp Association: $4,166 to improve emergency response at Camp Sequanota near Jennerstown.
• Career Exploration Mission: $2,850 for its after-school program.
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16 projects win $200G in Lee endowments
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