News and updates about charitable funds making a difference in our communities!
Fruits & Roots Community Refrigerator at Valley Community Library
Fruits & Roots Community Fridge at Valley Community Library (739 River St., Peckville) is Lackawanna County’s first community refrigerator that opened earlier this month. It is focused on supporting neighbors by providing supplemental access to fresh fruits and vegetables.
Fruits & Roots Community Fridge is a volunteer-run, mutual aid project that makes fresh food available to communities via open-access refrigerators. Located in the Valley Community Library in Peckville, Fruits & Roots will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Community members are invited to donate fruits, vegetables, water, and juices, and to take whatever is needed.
The Fruits & Roots Community Fridge Project Fund was established at the Scranton Area Community Foundation in August 2023 by the founders of the project to support community refrigerators in Lackawanna County. The Fund was created to help make refrigerators available in the community, stock the refrigerators, and spread awareness in the community about the project.
The community refrigerator is in need of new stock every two or three days. For large produce donations or to volunteer, email fruitsandrootscf@gmail.com .
The Scranton Area Community Foundation is proud to administer the Fund.
Combating food insecurity…
As part of a hunger task force assembled by Scranton’s Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti, the Scranton Area Community Foundation is helping to combat the growing problem of food insecurity in the region through our Community Needs Fund.
The Hunger Task Force is aimed at improving healthy eating and reducing hunger. The effort is part of a White House challenge to build healthy communities.
The task force includes organizations such as Friends of the Poor, Maternal Family Health Services, the Scranton Area Community Foundation, and the United Way of Lackawanna, Wayne & Pike Counties.
Read more about this issue, and the community’s efforts to address it, in a recently published article in the Scranton Times-Tribune.
Harry P. McGrath Memorial golf event to benefit YMCA’s Summer Learning Loss Prevention Program
NEPA Invitational Charity Event hosted by Pro Golfer Brandon Matthews this September
The third annual NEPA Invitational charity event, hosted by professional golfer Brandon Matthews, will be held at the Country Club of Scranton on September 23 – 24, 2023.
The event raises support for the NEPA Invitational Fund at the Scranton Area Community Foundation.
The NEPA Invitational is a pro-am golf tournament that hosts professionals, high-level amateurs, and golf aficionados. Spectators are welcomed and encouraged.
Brandon Matthews, a professional golfer on the PGA Tour, was born and raised in Northeastern Pennsylvania. A Pittston Area graduate, Matthews established the NEPA Invitational Fund at the Scranton Area Community Foundation in 2021 to raise money for charitable endeavors.
“The Scranton Area Community Foundation is proud to work with Brandon Matthews through the NEPA Invitational Fund,” stated Laura Ducceschi, President and CEO of the Scranton Area Community Foundation. “We are grateful Brandon chose to partner with the Scranton Area Community Foundation to help carry out his charitable goals. His desire to give back is truly making a difference right here in our communities,” she added.
To date, the NEPA Invitational has raised over $150,000 to support local charities including the Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeastern Pennsylvania, Children’s Advocacy Center of NEPA, Meals on Wheels of NEPA, Inc., Outreach, Geisinger Janet Weis Children’s Hospital, and the United Way of Lackawanna and Wayne Counties.
This year, proceeds from the NEPA Invitational will support Geisinger Janet Weis Children’s Hospital.
Additionally, the NEPA Invitational Fund also provides a scholarship to support a junior golfer who exemplifies the character that the late William Lawler taught junior golfers in the area throughout his entire life.
Tickets to the NEPA Invitational are available at www.nepainvitational.com. Sponsorships and donations are welcome.
The Scranton Area Community Foundation administers the NEPA Invitational Fund.
Bogeys for Burkey Golf Tournament to Support the Frank L. Burke Foundation
To celebrate and commemorate the life of Frank L. Burke IV, the Frank L. Burke Foundation is hosting the 2nd annual Bogeys for Burkey Golf Tournament on Sunday, September 3, 2023, at the Pine Hills Country Club in Taylor.
Funds raised will support Make-A-Wish through the Frank L. Burke Foundation to help make life-changing wishes possible for a local child or children.
The Frank L. Burke Foundation is administered by the Scranton Area Community Foundation. Established by Frank’s family in May 2022, the Frank L. Burke Foundation supports the causes, activities, and organizations that honor his memory.
Donations to support this fund are welcome. To learn more about the upcoming Bogeys for Burkey Golf Tournament, please click here.
Cody Barrasse Memorial Foundation Holds 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament Fundraiser
On Saturday, August 12, 2023, The Cody Barrasse Foundation held its two pillar events that incorporate Cody Barrasse’s competitive spirit and the Foundation’s mission to financially assist organ transplant patients in the area.
The 11th Annual Cody Barrasse Memorial Basketball Tournament was held at Scranton Prep’s Xavier Center on Wyoming Avenue. Cody’s family has hosted the tournament since his death in 2013, and they have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Cody was an organ donor, and the money from the benefit supports organ donors and recipients in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Additionally, the event funds a full scholarship for a student to attend Scranton Prep.
On the evening of August 12, the Cody Barrasse Memorial Foundation held The Continue Cody’s Commitment Event at the Scranton Cultural Center, which raises awareness for organ donation.
The Scranton Area Community Foundation administers the Cody Barrasse Memorial Foundation Fund.
Created in 2013, the Cody Barrasse Memorial Foundation honors the life of Cody Barrasse and his legacy by working to promote organ donor awareness and provide services to those awaiting transplantation. To date, the Fund has helped over 50 families going through transplantation, including hotel stays, travel expenses, specialized meal plans, oral health procedures needed due to complications with transplantation medicine, childcare expenses, and copays and prescription drugs. The Cody Barrasse Academic Scholarship has been awarded to five recipients and will award the sixth scholarship this year.
More information about the event can be found here: www.codybarrassefoundation.com.
