{"id":124474,"date":"2023-11-01T21:49:04","date_gmt":"2023-11-02T01:49:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=124474"},"modified":"2023-11-01T21:49:04","modified_gmt":"2023-11-02T01:49:04","slug":"communities-in-schools-of-eastern-pennsylvania-hosts-40th-anniversary-celebration-raises-1m-to-expand-programs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=124474","title":{"rendered":"Communities In Schools of Eastern Pennsylvania Hosts 40th Anniversary Celebration, Raises $1M to Expand Programs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ciseasternpa.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-124477 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/CIS_Eastern_Pennsylvania_Horizontal_CMYK-1-1-300x134.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"134\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/CIS_Eastern_Pennsylvania_Horizontal_CMYK-1-1-300x134.png 300w, https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/CIS_Eastern_Pennsylvania_Horizontal_CMYK-1-1-1024x459.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/CIS_Eastern_Pennsylvania_Horizontal_CMYK-1-1-768x344.png 768w, https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/CIS_Eastern_Pennsylvania_Horizontal_CMYK-1-1-1536x688.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/CIS_Eastern_Pennsylvania_Horizontal_CMYK-1-1.png 1692w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>Pat Browne, Diane Scott, Charlie Marcon, and Bob &amp; Sandy Lovett were recognized for their significant service and support of the nonprofit.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>BETHLEHEM, Pa. (November 1, 2023) &#8211; <\/strong>Communities In Schools of Eastern Pennsylvania (CIS of Eastern PA) hosted 320 guests at its Building Bright Futures 40th Anniversary Celebration on Thursday, October 26, 2023, at Olympus Corporation of America.<\/p>\n<p>The event culminated CIS of Eastern PA\u2019s year-long Building Bright Futures celebration to increase awareness of the nonprofit\u2019s work and to support its future goals of serving a greater number of students throughout Eastern Pennsylvania. At the event, CIS of Eastern PA revealed the campaign\u2019s total raised so far: $1,059,138.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve been running our 40th Anniversary campaign since January. Over the last ten months, our committee has worked tirelessly to accomplish the goals of the campaign, which were clear: raise funds to provide services in 25 new schools where students need us most,\u201d said Maria Esposito, vice president of advancement at CIS of Eastern PA.<\/p>\n<p>The \u201cBuilding Brighter Futures\u201d campaign raised funds to sustain and expand CIS of Eastern PA\u2019s current programs, deepen relationships in the high-need school districts it serves, and cultivate new relationships with additional school districts.<\/p>\n<p>Key figures involved with CIS National and CIS of Eastern PA who spoke at the event included: Ray Salda\u00f1a, president and CEO of CIS National; Tim Mulligan, president and CEO of CIS of Eastern PA; Michelle Schmidt, Ph.D., CIS of Eastern PA board chair; Joetta, 4-time Olympian, CIS of Eastern PA board member; Genesis Ortega, communications manager for the City of Allentown; Esposito; and Ellen Kern, vice president of community engagement at Lehigh Valley Public Media, 40th celebration committee chair.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I lead an organization of 110 affiliates, but CIS of Eastern Pennsylvania stands tall, and there&#8217;s a lot of evidence for that. Whether you look at the MacKenzie Scott gift that was received two years ago, or the fact that Steve Ballmer, the owner of the Clippers, said, &#8216;I want to invest in Communities In Schools, but I want you all to invest where they&#8217;re doing the work right,'&#8221; said Salda\u00f1a. &#8220;CIS of Eastern Pennsylvania is a place that\u2019s doing the work right.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bill and Denise Spence, Spence Family Foundation, and Kathleen and J.B. Reilly, City Center Allentown, served as the event\u2019s honorary co-chairs. Bob and Sandy Lovett received the<\/p>\n<p>Lifetime Champion of Education Award. While CIS of Eastern PA annually awards a Champion of Education, this is the first Lifetime Champion of Education recognition. Three individuals were inducted to CIS of Eastern PA\u2019s Leadership Circle, which acknowledges the people who have provided transformational leadership and enduring support for CIS of Eastern PA\u2019s mission over its 40 years. Honorees included State Secretary of Revenue Pat Browne, former Allentown School District Superintendent Diane Scott, and former CIS Board Chair Charlie Marcon.<\/p>\n<p>For more information on CIS of Eastern PA, visit <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ciseasternpa.org\/\">www.ciseasternpa.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h1>About Communities In Schools of Eastern Pennsylvania<\/h1>\n<p>Started in 1983, Communities In Schools of Eastern Pennsylvania is part of the Communities In Schools national network, which consists of independent 501(c)(3) organizations serving over<\/p>\n<p>1.6 million students in 25 states and the District of Columbia. With caring adults serving over 38,000 students in 47 schools throughout Lehigh, Northampton, Chester and Berks counties. The CIS mission is to surround students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life. We ensure students, regardless of race, zip code, or socioeconomic background, have what they need to succeed in school and beyond.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Information provided to TVL by:<br \/>\nAmiee Goldy<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.socialTmarketing.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/www.socialTmarketing.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pat Browne, Diane Scott, Charlie Marcon, and Bob &amp; Sandy Lovett were recognized for their significant service and support of the nonprofit. BETHLEHEM, Pa. (November 1, 2023) &#8211; Communities In &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=124474\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Communities In Schools of Eastern Pennsylvania Hosts 40th Anniversary Celebration, Raises $1M to Expand Programs<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":124475,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[69,482],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-124474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-the-valley","category-press-release-2"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/bright-futures.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124474"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=124474"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124474\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/124475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=124474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=124474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=124474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}