Keystone Region Organizations Receive $305,000 From Comcast Foundation

EXTON, Pa., June 25, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Seventeen nonprofit organizations in Comcast's Keystone Region have been awarded $305,000 in grants from the Comcast Foundation to support programs focused on community service, digital literacy and empowering tomorrow's leaders. Comcast's Keystone Region includes portions of northeastern, central and western Pennsylvania, the Maryland panhandle, eastern Ohio and northern West Virginia.

"Most of the young people we serve are from low income families, with little or no access to computers, and just as important, no one to help them navigate their use of the technology. The Comcast Foundation grant has provided us the resources for those kids to be connected to the high technology society in which we all live," said James T. Barry, Jr., director of Larosa Boys and Girls Club in McKeesport.

James Smith, executive director for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Berks County, noted that the Comcast Foundation grant was critical in expanding the agency's SMART (Students & Mentors Achieving Results Together) mentoring program from three schools in two school districts to six schools in four districts. "We more than doubled the number of youth served by a one-on-one mentor in our school-based program, and we could not have done so without the Comcast Foundation as a partner in our efforts," he said.

The organizations receiving Comcast Foundation grants include:

• Big Brothers Big Sisters of Berks County ($10,000)
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of Jefferson County, OH ($10,000)
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Pittsburgh ($35,000)
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of York & Adams Counties ($10,000)
• Boys & Girls Club of Central Pennsylvania ($15,000)
• Boys & Girls Club of Chambersburg ($15,000)
• Boys & Girls Club of Lancaster ($20,000)
• Boys & Girls Club of Northeastern Pennsylvania ($15,000)
• Boys & Girls Club of Somerset ($15,000)
• Boys & Girls Club of Western Pennsylvania ($15,000)
• Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh ($5,000)
• Hope Station Opportunity Area, Carlisle ($8,000)
• I-Lead Charter School, Reading ($20,000)
• Mountaineer Boys & Girls Club, Morgantown ($25,000)
• Spanish American Civic Association, Lancaster ($25,000)
• Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh ($50,000)
• YWCA Greater Pittsburgh ($12,000)

Jim Samaha, Comcast regional senior vice president, said: "These outstanding organizations are making a difference in their communities every day, taking an active role in improving the lives of their residents. We are proud to help them achieve their goals and create brighter futures across the region."

About the Comcast Foundation
The Comcast Foundation was founded by Comcast Corporation in June 1999 to provide charitable support to qualified non-profit organizations. The Foundation primarily invests in programs intended to have a positive, sustainable impact on their communities. The Foundation has three community investment priorities—promoting service, expanding digital literacy, and building tomorrow's leaders. Since its inception, the Comcast Foundation has donated more than $123 million to organizations in the communities nationwide that Comcast serves. More information about the Foundation and its programs is available at www.comcast.com/community.

SOURCE Comcast Foundation