READING, PA – The Governor Mifflin Area Charitable Program is providing funding to expand services for five programs that offer educational opportunities and emotional and nutritional support to local residents, Berks County Community Foundation announced Tuesday.
The program was established at the Community Foundation through the Russell L. Hiller Charitable Trust to supply grants in the community served by the Governor Mifflin Area School District. Five organizations will receive a total of $30,400 in grants from this annual distribution from the program.
The grants:
$8,500 to the Berks Military History Museum to construct a brick sidewalk at the museum and to improve access to the adjacent Mohnton Memorial Park.$6,835 to The S.P.A.R.K.S. Foundation to bring hands-on classroom science experiments to all fourth-grade students in the Governor Mifflin district. The S.P.A.R.K.S. (Science Projects are Really Kid’s Stuff!) Foundation is a Mohnton-based nonprofit that promotes science literacy for children through hands-on programs that provide enrichment in every area of science, including biology, chemistry, physics, astronomy, and earth science.$6,500 to the Reading Public Museum to bring the Feed Their Imagination Program to Governor Mifflin students. Students will receive a tour of either a special exhibition or a selection of the museum’s galleries before participating in hands-on learning activities. Students will participate in talks and activities that directly relate to what they are learning in the classroom.$4,500 to Mifflin Community Library to support the Mindfulness for Youth stress-reduction program. Mindfulness for Youth will provide children and teens with positive strategies to cope with the many stressors they encounter in their daily lives.$4,065 to the Greater Berks Food Bank to support the Gouglersville Mobile Market, which distributes healthy foods to families in need. The Mobile Market program was established by the Greater Berks Food Bank in April 2016. Due to the immediate success of a pilot site, the Mobile Market program spread to three additional monthly sites throughout 2016. Further expansion in 2017 resulted in three more program sites, for a total of seven, including the Gouglersville site. The Gouglersville site operates monthly from the parking lot of Wyomissing United Church of Christ in Gouglersville. It distributes 1,500 pounds of food monthly to at least 50 families.
The Hiller Fund was established in 2003 by bequest of U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Russell L. Hiller. Hiller, a 60-year resident of Shillington, passed away in May 2003 at the age of 97. He spent 26 years as a federal bankruptcy judge in Reading.
Throughout his years in Shillington, he often walked to the Shillington Borough park and relaxed on a bench overlooking the Governor Mifflin schools. The pursuit of education was Hiller’s lifelong passion.
