Univest Announces First Round of Local Grants

Univest Corp. has handed out more than $172,000 in the first round of its new "Committed to Local" grant making program.

On Tuesday, bank officials gathered with representatives from some of those nonprofit groups in Doylestown. They spoke at the Central Bucks Family YMCA's Teen Center to announce the first quarter allocations of the program, which it announced last year.

In November, Univest of the hugely popular Univest Grand Prix bike race and its second leg, the Doylestown Criterium, that coincides with Doylestown’s September Arts Festival. Instead, the bank said it would start the "Committed to Local" program, focusing on youth education and wellness development, two areas supported previously through the Univest Grand Prix.

In the first round, has committed $172,500 to 30 nonprofit organizations in Bucks, Montgomery, Chester and Lehigh counties.

“Nonprofits locally are losing funding streams at the same time the demand for services increases,” said K. Leon Moyer, Univest Bank and Trust Co.’s president and chief executive officer.

Moyer added that this particular program “is our way of responding to the growing needs this economic climate has brought to our local community.”

The Y in Doylestown is just one of the nonprofits that got money from the Univest program. The Y used the donated funds to help support a new initiative to offer free memberships to seventh graders. The Y saw a surge of young teens taking advantage of the program.

Take Cassidy Tulio of Doylestown, for instance. This is her first year as a Y member, and she’s participating in a number of youth offerings. She belongs to a fashion club and has taken cooking classes at the facility.

“The Teen Center is a great place to come after school and just hang out,” Tulio said Tuesday.

Noah Cweiber of Chalfont latched on to the sports aspect that the Y offers – basketball.

“It’s fun to get physically active and let off steam … the staff is great … there’s not much else to say – it’s just a great place to come.”

Zane Moore, the Y's president and CEO, said the response to the free membership for seventh graders was “overwhelming.”

Looking at the numbers of teens who responded to other programs offered elsewhere, Y officials predicted they would get about 200 or so respondents.

“We had 445 seventh graders that joined and are taking advantage of this program … it’s incredible,” Moore said.

The program provides opportunities for teens at a challenging time of their life, he said, giving them opportunities to empower them as they grow and move ahead.

“We not only want to be there at this time of need, but also to provide these students with the knowledge, skills, character and passion to be more active in the community as adults.”

Other Bucks County nonprofits that benefited from Univest donations included the Ann Silverman Community Health Clinic, CB Cares, Quakertown Christian School and Delaware Valley College.

Univest support will help the nonprofits fund new programs, keep existing programs running, offer scholarships and provide needed medical services for uninsured people.

Aside from the “Committed to Local” support, Univest officials said they plan to contribute just over $1 million to the local community and volunteer more than 10,000 hours to area nonprofit groups.

Officials announced too that members of the community can vote for their favorite nonprofit each quarter through a Facebook poll.

Area community colleges are the subject of the first quarter poll, with Bucks, Montgomery and Lehigh-Carbon being on the list. The winner will receive $1,000 from Univest.

Polls are open now through April 15. To vote, go to www.facebook.com/univestcorporation.

The 30 nonprofits that received funding from Univest include:

• Central Bucks YMCA
• Mission Kids
• Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Lehigh Valley
• Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Bucks County
• CB Cares
• Harleysville Baseball
• Nor-Gwyn Baseball/Softball
• Souderton Indians Basketball
• Penn View Christian School
• Philadelphia Mennonite High School
• Montgomery County Community College
• Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center
• Blue Bell Rotary - Montco Wellness Expo
• Central Perk Youth Association
• Indian Valley Soap Box Assn
• Perkiomen Valley School District
• Towamencin Youth Association
• Upper Perk Valley YMCA
• Ann Silverman Health Clinic
• Devereaus
• Souderton Borough - Chestnut Street Playground Community Cares - Revitalization Effort
• North Penn Area Scholarship Fund Association, Inc.
• Doylestown Athletic Association
• Pennridge Little League
• Pennridge Yellow Jackets Soccer
• Plumstead Baseball
• Quakertown Christian School
• Upper Perkiomen Youth Baseball Assn