Major Funding Initiative from PNC Bank Will Benefit Alta Head Start

PNC Bank has announced several new programs that will provide major funding to early childhood education in the areas they serve. Alta Head Start will be a major beneficiary of several of them.

At a press conference April 4 at Alta Head Start’s Renaissance Learning Center, PNC Bank representatives Ted Schmidt and Ryan Pastore outlined the initiatives. PNC will partner with crowdfunding site DonorsChoose.org to provide a $5 million grant for projects focusing on early childhood education. Every donation made through DonorsChoose.org will be matched by PNC bank. While donations were previously only targeted for public school projects, PNC has now opened them to Head Start projects as well.

PNC employees in our area have put in many hours volunteering for Alta Head Start, and in recognition of this, PNC is giving Alta a $3,000 grant through its Grants for Great program. Each of these volunteers will also receive a $50 DonorsChoose gift card, with which they can fund the project of their choice. In the Youngstown area, this amounts to 143 employees and a combined donation of $7,000.

Finally, PNC will provide $8,000 in DonorsChoose gift cards to Alta Head Start teachers. Many teachers spend their own money to buy materials for their classrooms. This donation will allow them to purchase more materials without dipping into their own pockets.

At the April 4 event, PNC Bank volunteers presented Alta Head Start kids with hand puppets they had decorated, and also read to children in Head Start classes.

Alta Head Start is very grateful for these generous PNC Bank initiatives.