HEADLINES:
Pennstar Pledges To EMHS Campaign
Pennstar Supports County Library
Farm Bureau Welcomes County New Year Baby
St. Paul's Supports Interfaith, Food Bank
Another Successful Year For The United Way
Community Foundation Receives K-12 Donation

Pennstar Pledges To EMHS Campaign

Pennstar Bank recently announced that it is pledging $12,500 to the Capital Campaign of the Endless Mountains Health Systems for its new healthcare facility. Pennstar Bank is committed to helping maintain this crucial health care service in Susquehanna County. Pictured (l-r) are: Rex Catlin (EMHS), Chris Caterson (EMHS), Rick Soden (VP and Commercial Lender, Pennstar Bank), Bob Welch (VP and Regional Sales Manager, Pennstar Bank).

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Pennstar Supports County Library

Pennstar Bank has pledged $12,500 to the Capital Building Fund for the construction of a new Susquehanna County Library building.

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Farm Bureau Welcomes County New Year Baby

New Year’s Day is a time of new beginnings. At 11:29 p.m. on New Year’s Day, 2008, the Jeffrey Bell family of Springville received a special blessing with the arrival of their seventh child, a second daughter named Lucienne Marie. “I told her that she made it just in time to be a New Year’s baby,” said her mother, Amy Bell, referring to the late hour of Lucienne’s debut at Tyler Memorial Hospital.

Pictured (l-r) are: front – mother Amy Bell holding Lucienne, sister Sarah (hiding behind Mom), brothers Porter and Benjamin, Zack Matulevich, Susquehanna County Farm Bureau Young Farmer/Rancher; back – father Jeffrey Bell, brothers Samuel Hyrum, and, in spirit, Joseph.

Weighing all of six pounds, six ounces, Lucienne Marie soon met her siblings: brothers Hyrum, Samuel, Benjamin and Porter (big brother Joseph passed on, three years ago). And then there is Sarah, no longer the youngest Bell child, but now a helpful big sister. All of the Bell children are helpful in this happy household, putting their toys away after play, assisting with making sandwiches for lunch, and completing chores with plenty of time left to play outside and climb a tree.

Samuel and Benjamin were busy exploring a tree in their yard, enjoying the unseasonably warm weather, when Susquehanna County Farm Bureau members arrived, delivering a basket of diapers, baby food, story books and clothing to welcome the New Year baby. “Every year, we wait for news of a New Year baby from our county,” said Cheryl Matulevich, SCFB Women’s Leadership Committee chairwoman, “but in the past ten years,  we’ve only had three babies born on January first (reported to us by members); all girls, whom we were thrilled to present with a welcome basket.”

This year, the presentation was made by Cheryl’s son, Zack Matulevich, a SCFB Young Farmer/Rancher, on behalf of the women’s committee.

Susquehanna County Farm Bureau is a nonprofit farm and rural organization, comprised of farmers and affiliate members, that strives to advance agriculture and provides cost saving services for its members. For information, contact Al Roszel, Membership Chair, at 278–2433, or Donna Williams, SCFB President, at 942–6348.

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St. Paul’s Supports Interfaith, Food Bank

St. Paul’s Church, Montrose, has made a year-end contribution to both Interfaith and the Susquehanna County Food Bank. “2007 was a year of many blessings for St. Paul’s,” reports Rachel Warriner Bartron, senior warden of the parish. “We are very pleased that at year’s end, the Finance Committee reported an oversubscription to our parish outreach budget. At their recommendation, we decided to share the blessings and not carry the funds into 2008, but share them with those agencies in our county addressing the basic needs of our neighbors. We are making an immediate contribution to Interfaith for home heating, and to Food Bank to address emergency food distribution.”

Pictured, Rachel Warriner Bartron (center) presents checks from St. Paul’s Church, Montrose, to Brenda Loubet (L) of Interfaith, and Lynn Senick (R) of the Susquehanna County Food Bank.

“When the Finance Committee of St. Paul’s met to close the books on 2007,” reports Richard Schwab, chair of the committee, “we were pleased to find that the contributions to our outreach budget were over budget. We faced the decision to roll the excess into the 2008 budget, or distribute the funds in respect to the intentions of the donors. Knowing the incredible need and strains of the winter months upon our community, we recommended that the funds be donated for home heating and food needs in Susquehanna County.”

Upon the advice of its Finance Committee, the Vestry (Governing Board) of the parish voted to follow the recommendation for immediate donation to Interfaith and the area Food Bank. The Parish donated $1,000 to Interfaith, and $625 to the Food Bank.

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Another Successful Year For The United Way
Submitted by Amy Steinberg, Executive Assistant

The United Way of Susquehanna County held its annual celebration luncheon at the Montrose Bible Conference, January 16, to celebrate the fantastic results from the 2007-08 campaign. They are happy to report that they raised $301,000 to help support 19 local agencies and United Way’s OASIS program. Among those invited were major businesses contributors, leadership givers, board members, participating agencies and many others who helped make this year such a success.

This has been a very busy year for the employees and volunteers of United Way.

The United Way is currently staffed with two employees, Ruth Donnelly, Executive Director and Amy Steinberg, Executive Assistant. They also have an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer who works full time as well as two dedicated, retired individuals who come in one day a week. They couldn’t have achieved such success without the help of their 17 board members including Debbie Dissinger, Executive Vice President/COO/CRO at Peoples National Bank. Debbie did an outstanding job as the 2007-08 Campaign Chairman for United Way, and was an integral part of starting the OASIS program. With everyone working together, they approached new businesses, agencies and civic groups for a total of 55 new presentations this past fall. They also attended presentations for their annual donors and were very successful. The average annual donor increased their pledge by over 35%. The campaign incentive prizes were a huge contributor to this increase. The winners of the incentive prizes are: 2007 Pontiac G5 from MotorWorld – George Richard; laptop computer from Golden Business Machines – Joann White; Wegman’s shopping spree – Ray Pascual; dinner for 20 at Mambo Italiano – Joe Obuhosky; $750 in free gas from Pump-n-Pantry – Gail Honeywell; and the overnight stay package at Mohegan Sun – Linda Walton. Congratulations to these fine individuals to gave generously to the United Way.

The United Way had several fundraisers this year. This fall began with a Murder Mystery Dinner at the Summit Tea Room, where proceeds from the event benefited the United Way’s new program, OASIS. In December, ten area restaurants participated in Restaurant Days to benefit the United Way Campaign. This was a fun way to support the United Way while enjoying a great meal. This winter is proving to be a tough one for area residents, so the United Way also raised money through “Project Warmth” help keep families warm. And last but not least was the Annual Punt Pass and Kick with Chris Snee last June. The third annual Punt Pass and Kick events were very successful. Many people enjoyed meeting and talking with Chris Snee and Rich Seubert at the Tailgate Party held at Green Gables Pavilion. The contest was held the next day, and children from several counties came to test their skills at punting, passing, and kicking the football. Upcoming dates for the 2008 Punt Pass and Kick events are May 31 for the Tailgate Party at Green Gables, and June 1 for the fourth annual PPK contest at the Montrose High School. There are plans to make this event bigger and better than ever!

The United Way of Susquehanna County is very pleased with the success and growth of their United Way. They are looking forward to another great year in 2008 as they strive for a new goal of $325,000 with the help of this year’s Campaign Chairman, Bob Welch, Vice President and Regional Sales Manager for Pennstar Bank.

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Community Foundation Receives K-12 Donation

Waste Management has made a $5,000.00 donation to The Community Foundation of Susquehanna and Wyoming Counties to help support a scholarship program for local, low to moderate income families who send their children to tuition-based kindergarten through twelfth grade schools and programs. For the current school year, more than 120 students attending nine schools in four counties will receive financial aid. In the five years The Community Foundation has provided these K-12 scholarships, in conjunction with pre-school scholarships, more than $500,000.00 has assisted nearly 600 students attending 40 schools.

Pictured (l-r) are Joe Williams, Manager of Apex Waste Services in Dunmore, and Peter Quigg, Director of Development, The Community Foundation.

Community Foundation Director of Development, Peter Quigg, states, “These scholarships have proven very beneficial to families in our two-county service area, and we greatly appreciate Waste Management assisting us this year. The corporation has shown genuine concern for local education.” Joe Williams, of Apex Waste Services/Waste Management adds, “We are very pleased to contribute to these very worthwhile scholarships, and we wish all of the students well in their endeavors.”

For more information about The Community Foundation visit www.community-foundation.org.

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