Sunday
May 5, 2024 
The Middle Bucks Institute of Technology’s Philanthropy Today Club is the recipient of the Norman Raab Foundation Grant and the Heenan Foundation Grant. This is the ninth year that the students have been honored with this educational opportunity and grant renewal.
The purpose of the Philanthropy Today Club at MBIT is to teach students about charity, how to give responsibly through grant allocations and learn how to identify our community needs. The students are given a specific challenge each year from the Heenan Grant. With the Raab Grant, the students conduct a needs assessment of their community. They develop a mission statement, research and visit to determine which local non-profits align with their mission before providing the grants to the selected nonprofit organizations that make a difference in the community.
The students created and shared the 2023 mission statements:
Raab Grant Mission Statement: MBIT Philanthropy Today Club will help members of the community facing struggles with mental health, sexual abuse, and addiction to prevent further damage and obstacles.
Heenan Grant Mission Statement: Middle Bucks Institute of Technology’s Philanthropy Today Club’s mission with the Heenan Challenge Grant is to redesign, refurnish and redecorate two adjacent victims’ waiting rooms on the fourth floor of the Bucks County Courthouse. The students in the public safety, commercial art and advertising design, computerized drafting and engineering technology, early childhood care and Education, and multimedia technology students collaborated to create the new space.
The room was dedicated on May 17 and District Attorney Matthew Weintraub and the victim’s team recognized their efforts at the courthouse. Commissioner Robert Harvie was also in attendance.
The Philanthropy Today Club visited and reviewed 11 different Bucks County organizations and came to consensus to fund five of them.
Grant recipients include:
Good Friends Inc. – $2,000. The grant money will go toward renovation of the living facilities for the residents at Good Friends Inc.
The Council of Southeast Pennsylvania Inc. – $1,000. The funds are for landscaping and fencing around the generator in the Women’s Recovery Center.
NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) – $2,500. The grant money should be directed specifically to NAMI´s small talk program geared toward elementary age students.
A Woman’s Place – $2,500. The grant money is designated to be used for a new safe house. It is the first pledge for this new effort.
NOVA – $2,000. The grant money is to provide safe transportation of victims to appointments, court, back home, etc.
The Philanthropy Today students recently hosted a breakfast for the local community organizations who received a combined total of $20,000 in grants, and presented their findings and final report to the selected organizations’ founders and CEOs. They were also recognized by First Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Schorn.
Coordinating and advising the Philanthropy Today students at MBIT is Pamela Swoyer, work-based education teacher, who gives support to the students, grantors and organizations to make this program possible.
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.