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Issue Home May 27, 2009 Site Home

HEADLINES:
Engagement Announced Nilsson-Lin
It’s A Boy!
Dealing With Sudden Crisis Of Elder Care
Community Foundation Staff Appointed
It’s A Girl!
Loan Program To Help Businesses
Local Attends National Security Forum
Mt. View Garden Club Update
United Way Celebrates AmeriCorps Week

Engagement Announced Nilsson-Lin

Mr. and Mrs. Clifford Nilsson, Susquehanna, PA are happy to announce the engagement of their son, Dr. Scott Nilsson to Dr. Jessica Lin of Maryland.

Jessica & Scott

The Prospective groom is a 1996 graduate of Susquehanna High School. He earned a BS in Biology with a minor in chemistry from Mansfield University. He also received a Doctorate of Optometry from Pennsylvania College of Optometry in Philadelphia.

Jessica is also a Doctor of Optometry and also a graduate of PCO.

The couple reside in Staunton, VA. A fall 2010 wedding is being planned.

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It’s A Boy!

Debby and John Benson, Susquehanna, are excited and very proud to announce the birth of their grandson, Beau Alexander. Beau was born on March 6 and weighed 8 pounds, 7 ounces and was 21 1/4 inches long.

Beau’s great grandparents are Virginia Benson, Susquehanna and Gerald Benson, Mt. Plymouth, FL.

Congratulations go out to the new parents Jill and Kyle.

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Dealing With Sudden Crisis Of Elder Care
Submitted

Health care providers and human service professionals who deal with the general public know from experience that the need for long term care services can often arise without warning. In many cases, desperate caregivers are frantically trying to find services and solicit advice for care funding sources to help their loved ones with unexpected long term care needs. This sudden need for help often occurs when the older loved one needing care has recently demonstrated unsafe behavior, there has been an injury or sudden illness or there is a pending release from nursing home rehab or the current caregiver can no longer cope. Help must be found right away.

Unfortunately, many of these caregivers who are typically operating in crisis mode are not aware of the services available through their local Area Agency on Aging Office. The Area Agency on Aging in your local community offers information on available long term care services and entitlement programs, assistance in arranging for in-home care or alternative living arrangements, and helping older persons and their family members/caregivers make informed decisions of available care options.

Your local Area Agency on Aging is located at 35 Spruce Street, Montrose at (570) 278-3751 (locally) or 1-800-634-3746 (toll free).

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Community Foundation Staff Appointed
Submitted

Two senior staff members of The Community Foundation of Susquehanna & Wyoming Counties have recently been asked to serve on state-wide committees regarding charitable endeavors. Foundation Chairman, Earle Wootton, has been selected by the Community Foundations for Pennsylvania to chair the newly formed Marcellus Committee. This committee is investigating the benefit that oil and gas exploration has had upon non-profit and charitable organizations in various locations of the United States. Two topics of interest include partnering with gas companies for community projects, and also providing tax benefits to those leasing their mineral rights and how they can also benefit the communities in which they live. To date, organizations in Texas have been contacted for information about how they best manage charitable donations related to petroleum exploration. More specifically, in recent months The Community Foundation itself has received $138,000 in gas related donations that enhanced, or established endowments supporting a local hospital, a library, two churches, a college scholarship, and The Foundation’s low-income K-12 Scholarship Program.

Additionally, Community Foundation President, Peter Quigg, has been asked to a three-year seat on the Pennsylvania 4-H Development Council whose purpose is to work toward endowing Pennsylvania 4-H forever through the creation of local and statewide endowments. The council’s current project is to increase members in the 4-H Keystone Society, which recognizes donors who make gifts to any Pennsylvania 4-H endowment. This appointment is seen as an important opportunity to serve our rural area as a partner with Penn State University on this project. Mr. Quigg will be responsible for development projects in Lackawanna, Luzerne, Susquehanna, Wayne, and Wyoming Counties. “Peter brings fundraising expertise from the community foundation perspective which will help to strengthen the 4-H youth development program,” noted Eric McGinnis, head of fundraising for Penn State Cooperative Extension. “We are excited to bring him into the fold.” The Community Foundation is very pleased to participate in these state and national projects to help better serve our local communities. For more information about The Marcellus Committee and The 4-H Development Council please contact The Community Foundation at 570-278-3800 or Foundation@epix.net.

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It’s A Girl!

Douglas and Tara Ruckle are proud to announce the birth of their daughter, Izzy Marie, born April 8, 2009 at Lourdes Hospital, Binghamton, NY. Izzy weighed 6 pounds, 7 ounces and was nineteen inches long.

Izzy Marie was welcomed home by her big brother Nolan.

Her maternal grandparents are Joseph and Ruth Burke of Susquehanna. Her great-grandparents are Lynnie French and Maurice Burke both of Susquehanna and Mary Burke of South Yarmouth, MA.

Her paternal grandparents are Stephen and Emily Ruckle of Bloomsburg, PA. Her great-grandparents are Dr. Thomas and Jeanette Holtzman of Harrisburg, PA and Arthur and Marie Ruckle of Bloomsburg, PA.

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Loan Program To Help Businesses

WASHINGTON – Small businesses suffering financial hardship as a result of the slow economy may be eligible to receive temporary relief to keep their doors open and get their cash flow back on track through to a new loan program announced by SBA Administrator Karen G. Mills.

Beginning on June 15, SBA will start guaranteeing America’s Recovery Capital (ARC) loans. ARC loans are deferred-payment loans of up to $35,000 available to established, viable, for-profit small businesses that need short-term help to make their principal and interest payments on existing qualifying debt. ARC loans are interest-free to the borrower, 100 percent guaranteed by the SBA, and have no SBA fees associated with them.

“These ARC loans can provide the critical capital and support many small businesses need to make it through these tough economic times,” said Administrator Mills. “Together with other provisions of the Recovery Act, ARC loans will free up capital and put more money in the hands of small business owners when they need it the most. This will help viable small businesses continue to grow and thrive and create new jobs in communities across the country.”

As part of the Recovery Act, the ARC program was created as a no-interest, deferred payment loan to help small businesses that have a history of good performance, but as a result of the tough economy, are struggling to make debt payments.

ARC loans will be disbursed within a period of up to six months and will provide funds to be used for payments of principal and interest for existing, qualifying small business debt including mortgages, term and revolving lines of credit, capital leases, credit card obligations and notes payable to vendors, suppliers and utilities. Repayment will not begin until 12 months after the final disbursement. Borrowers don’t have to pay interest on ARC loans. After the 12-moth deferral period, borrowers will pay back the loan principal over a period of five years.

ARC loans will be made by commercial lenders, not SBA directly. For more information on ARC loans, visit www.sba.gov.

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Local Attends National Security Forum

Rev. Ralph Christianson, of the First Universalist Church of Brooklyn, received and accepted a personal invitation from the Secretary of the Air Force to attend the 56th Annual National Security Forum (NSF) at the Air War College, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. The purpose of NSF is to expose influential citizens to senior U.S. and international officers and civilian equivalents in order the engage each other’s ideas and perspectives on Air Force, national and international security issues.

During the week of May 18-22, approximately 130 civilian leaders in business, education and government from all over the U.S. met with senior military leaders to explore current and future national security issues facing our nation. The NSF provided great opportunity for an open and candid exchange of ideas among these guests, senior military and civilian leaders, and our Air War College students. Rev. Christianson attended lectures, met in seminars for in-depth discussions and participated in several social events including an air power demonstration and barbeque.

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Mt. View Garden Club Update
Submitted

The 5th annual Plant Exchange and Market Place sponsored by the Mountain View Garden Club will be held Sunday, June 7 at Russ and Cherrie Swetter’s, 47 Main St. Clifford. The event will be from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. You can bring two perennials or come and purchase plants at very reasonable prices. This year’s event will feature over twenty vendors selling watercolors, jewelry, hand carved signs, garden items and much more.

Members are reminded of work sessions scheduled for June 3 and 5 to prepare for this event.

Members of the Garden Club helped beautify Forest City with the planting of twenty barrels along Main Street.

Next month look for our announcement of Book Scholarships to be awarded a student from Mountain View and Forest City High Schools.

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United Way Celebrates AmeriCorps Week
Submitted By: Amy Steinberg

As part of National AmeriCorps Week, AmeriCorps members were celebrated at events across Pennsylvania during the week of May 11. Locally, to celebrate AmeriCorps Week, the United Way of Susquehanna County and its AmeriCorps Vista members offered a seminar for local Non-profits on May 9 at the Community Foundation Building in Montrose.

Pictured (l-r) are: Jennifer Losier, AmeriCorps VISTA for Big Brother / Big Sister Program; Sharee Hutchinson, AmeriCorps VISTA for United Way of Susquehanna County; Lavonne Lewis, AmeriCorps VISTA for Susquehanna County Literacy Program; Tish Mogan, PANO representative and guest speaker; Amy Steinberg, Executive Assistant for United Way and AmeriCorps VISTA member; Ruth Donnelly, Executive Director for United Way of Susquehanna County.

The United Way invited special guest speaker, Tish Mogan from PANO to speak. PANO, Pennsylvania Association of Non-Profit Organizations, is the statewide membership organization serving and advancing the charitable nonprofit sector through leadership, advocacy, education and services in order to improve the quality of life in Pennsylvania. Tish presented the Non-profits with a Standard of Excellence program which provided outstanding information and resources to the 18 attendees representing some of our local Non-profit Agencies.

The AmeriCorps Vista program is alive and well in our County, where local individuals are serving at Non-Profits throughout the area, and the United Way is looking to expand the program filling 8 new service positions within the year. “AmeriCorps VISTA provide(s) highly effective ways to engage Americans of all ages and backgrounds in citizen service,” said Governor Rendell. “In a recession, service programs like AmeriCorps become an even more valuable resource for participants to gain skills and money for their education, and for nonprofit organizations to gain helping hands they desperately need,” he continued. “Events taking place across the commonwealth during AmeriCorps Week highlight the constructive work being done throughout the year by Pennsylvanians engaged in citizen service.”

For more information on the AmeriCorps Vista program in our County, contact the United Way of Susquehanna County at (570) 278-3868 or go online at www.UnitedWayofSusquehannaCounty.org.

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