New fund of Berks County Community Foundation awards $14,653.90 to seven K9 units

READING, PA – A new fund of Berks County Community Foundation has awarded its first grants, giving $14,653.90 to seven K9 units in the region.

The Richard Groff and Meda Kern K9 Corps Endowment Fund was established to assist K9 units in Berks, Chester, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Montgomery, and Schuylkill counties.

Meda Ann Kern died November 9, 2015, at age 79. Her husband, Richard E. Groff, died September 30, 1995, at age 58. Both were Berks County natives.

The initial grants from the fund are to purchase bulletproof armor, or similar protective equipment, for law enforcement K9s and their handlers.

This year’s grantees and grants:

City of Reading Police Department, Berks County, $4,020Upper Merion Township Police Department, Montgomery County, $2,981.78Whitehall Township Police Department, Lehigh County, $2,505.02Lower Merion Township Police, Montgomery County, $1,562.10West Penn Township Police Department, Schuylkill County, $1,300Office of the Lehigh County Sheriff, $1,200Lower Heidelberg Township Police Department, Berks County, $1,085

Berks County Community Foundation is a nonprofit corporation that serves as a civic leader for our region by developing, managing and distributing charitable funds aimed at improving the quality of life in Berks County. More information is available at www.bccf.org.