Annville, PA - The Shapiro Administration announced today it has awarded $800,000 through the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMVA) Veterans’ Trust Fund (VTF) to county directors of veterans affairs, non-profits and Veteran Service Organizations. The $800,000 in state funding, combined with matching grants secured by VTF awardees, will result in more than $3.5 million for veterans’ initiatives in Pennsylvania over the next two years – for everything from ensuring military veterans and their families can have healthy, nutritious food to providing service dogs and expanding transportation services for veterans across the Commonwealth.
The VTF is funded by generous Pennsylvanians who voluntarily make a $5 donation when applying for or renewing their driver’s license, photo ID, or a motor vehicle registration. Additionally, the VTF receives proceeds from the sale of the Honoring Our Veterans and Honoring Our Women Veterans license plates and private donations. Since the grant program began in 2013, a total of $7,482,860 has been awarded to organizations that serve Pennsylvania veterans.
“Our veterans have served our country and fought for our freedoms, and my Administration has their backs,” said Governor Josh Shapiro. “The Veterans’ Trust Fund, supported through Pennsylvanians’ generous donations, provides vital resources for the county, nonprofit, and Veteran Service Organizations that support Pennsylvania’s 700,000 veterans and make sure they can put food on the table, have transportation to get where they need to go, and receive the benefits they earned through their service. We will continue to work to ensure that the brave men and women who protected our freedoms have the opportunity to succeed and can prosper here in the Commonwealth.”
“Nonprofit organizations, Veteran Service Organizations and county Veterans Affairs Offices do an incredible job developing programs and services with these grants. They help improve the quality of life for veterans and their families,” said Maj. Gen. Mark Schindler, Pennsylvania’s adjutant general and head of the DMVA. “Our agency is committed to connecting veterans to these programs, so they receive the services they earned while serving.”
DMVA has directed $145,670 in grant funding for new, innovative, or expanded programs or services provided by county directors of veterans affairs or the Pennsylvania Association of County Directors of Veterans Affairs. The area of emphasis for grantees in this category was veterans’ outreach. The grantees, the specific award amounts, and the programs supported are as follows:
- Bucks County Office of Veterans Affairs: $15,000 to support and expand outreach services to veterans
- Chester County Office of Veterans Affairs: $15,000 to provide outreach and awareness services to veterans
- Delaware County Office of Veterans Affairs: $15,000 to expand outreach services to veterans
- Fayette County Office of Veterans Affairs: $15,000 to support and expand outreach services to veterans
- Franklin County Office of Veterans Affairs: $15,000 to support a service dog program
- Jefferson County Office of Veterans Affairs: $5,670 to provide outreach services to veterans
- Juniata County and Mifflin County Office of Veterans Affairs (joint application): $30,000 to expand veteran outreach to include mobile outreach in the region
- Montgomery County Office of Veterans Affairs: $2,500 to support and expand outreach services to veterans
- Montgomery County Office of Veterans Affairs: $12,500 to provide transportation services to veterans
- Montour County Office of Veterans Affairs: $10,000 to support outreach services to veterans
- Warren County Office of Veterans Affairs: $10,000 to support outreach events
DMVA also identified $654,330 in funding available to Veteran Service Organizations with 501(c)(19) status and non-profit, 501(c)(3), charitable organizations with a mission of serving Pennsylvania veterans. Funding priorities for grants in this category were transportation services, food insecurity, housing insecurity, behavioral health/mental health or suicide prevention initiatives, legal assistance. The grantees, the specific award amounts, and the programs supported are as follows:
- Alpha Bravo Canine, Philadelphia (Philadelphia County): $24,540 to provide service dogs to veterans
- Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, Harrisburg (Dauphin County): $40,000 to support the MilitaryShare program (designed to provide fresh, nutritious foods for military families)
- Community Action Agency of Delaware County, Boothwyn (Delaware County): $40,000 to provide supportive services to veterans
- Community Action Committee of Lehigh Valley, Nazareth (Northampton County): $40,000 to support the MilitaryShare program
- Community Food Warehouse of Mercer County, Sharon (Mercer County): $40,000 to support the MilitaryShare program
- Leroy O. Buck VFW Post 7863, Duboistown (Lycoming County): $39,600 to support the MilitaryShare program
- Lycoming-Clinton Counties Commission for Community Action, Williamsport (Lycoming County): $40,000 to provide transportation services to veterans
- Metro-Erie Meals on Wheels, Inc., Erie (Erie County): $39,049 to provide food services to veterans
- Monroe County Habitat for Humanity, Tobyhanna (Monroe County): $40,000 to provide housing needs to veterans
- Operation Troop Appreciation, McKeesport (Allegheny County): $35,000 to provide financial assistance to veterans
- PA Wounded Warriors, Camp Hill (Cumberland County): $35,000 to provide supportive services to veterans
- PACT for Animals, Gladwyne (Montgomery County): $17,503 to provide foster care for pets of veterans
- rabbitCARES, York (York County): $39,900 for transportation services to veterans
- Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest Pennsylvania, Erie (Erie County): $39,000 to support the MilitaryShare program
- Standing Stone VFW Post 1754, Huntingdon (Huntingdon County): $15,000 to support the MilitaryShare program
- Veterans Brotherhood, Pennsburg (Montgomery County): $34,000 to provide housing services to veterans
- Veterans Coalition of Pennsylvania, Reading (Berks County): $38,962 to provide transportation and housing services to veterans
- Veterans Multi-Service Center, Philadelphia (Philadelphia County): $39,000 to provide supportive services to veterans
- Women Veterans Empowered and Thriving, Inc., Allentown (Lehigh County): $17,776 to assist veterans with the transition from military to civilian life
All grant awards are contingent upon the completion of a fully executed grant agreement.
The DMVA is authorized to solicit and accept donations to the VTF on behalf of the Commonwealth. Tax-deductible donations can be made online at www.donate.dmva.pa.gov or mailed to: PA Veterans’ Trust Fund, Bldg. 0-47, Fort Indiantown Gap, Annville, PA 17003.
To learn more about the VTF, visit www.vtf.pa.gov or follow DMVA on Facebook at www.facebook.com/padmva.
MEDIA CONTACT: Joseph Butera, jobutera@pa.gov -
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