Saturday
June 29, 2024 
The Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center in Buckingham is growing its teaching lab with a $120,000 donation from Café with Soul, a nearby nonprofit restaurant.
The donation was announced in March. The funds are being spent now and students in the Central Bucks School District will benefit from an expansion of the lab.
Café with Soul is a restaurant founded by Joel Zazyczny in Plumstead Township.
“The gift to PABC is a testament to my positive interactions with the student group and professors,” Zazyczny said. “As a scientist and executive within the chemicals and industrial minerals industries for over 30 years…I felt compelled to financially support and enable innovation with future generations of scientists that will positively change the world.”
According to the PABC website, “The teaching lab’s primary users are juniors and seniors in Central Bucks School District’s three high schools who are enrolled in the Advanced Placement (AP) Chemistry course taught by award-winning teacher Mark Hayden. The lab also is used for a summer program at the PABC for students across Bucks County and beyond.”
These funds have already been applied to the growth of the teaching lab.
Edward Tate, chief communications officer of the Hepatitis B Foundation, Baruch S. Blumberg Institute, and PABC said, “With the generous donation from Café with Soul, Dr. Scott Willett...has begun ordering new equipment for the teaching lab. First up is some new analytical instruments and a de-ionizing water filtration system.”
Willett is director of academic affairs at the Blumberg Institute and a Professor of Experimental Therapeutics and Translational Medicine.
Zazyczny also said, “It is hopeful that the donation from Café with Soul will have a three-fold impact on the community. One, funds will allow advanced programming to educate students at a level that will not only be a bedrock to engage in a scientific discipline, but to inspire them to observe, research, hypothesize, develop and create new to the world technologies from inception to commercialization that will improve lives.”
“Second, as students from within the community complete the program at PABC, graduate from university, become gainfully employed in scientific disciplines, and succeed in delivering impactful discoveries as industrial scientists or entrepreneurs, younger students will hear of the successes and embark on STEM education and careers.”
“Third, as the success and excitement of STEM infiltrates the community, it may spark additional philanthropic funding that will expand these scientific programs to allow the next generation of students to be globally competitive and ultimately successful in advancing scientific discovery.”
Café with Soul has been open in Doylestown since 2019, and it hopes to “transform the lives of children, teens and young adults by creating opportunities for students by working closely with the Central Bucks community to offer resources to promote STEM and music education that will proactively drive inspiration, transformation and sustainable progress toward rewarding careers that improve the world.”
Join our readers whose generous donations are making it possible for you to read our news coverage. Help keep local journalism alive and our community strong. Donate today.