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Doylestown, PA (October 16, 2008) - Over 100 community service leaders, non-profit organizations, and local governmental leaders attended the Foundations Community Partnership "Partnership in Youth Services" luncheon ceremony held at the Doylestown Country Club in Doylestown yesterday. The event honored 12 non-profit community programs that are making a difference in the lives of local children with monetary grants of $3,000 each.

The Morris M. Davis Award, an award given annually to a local citizen whose contributions to the community are judged to be an outstanding example was presented to Sellersville resident Adam Schultz, who worked with the summer camp at the Upper Bucks YMCA in Quakertown through Foundations Community Partnership's Summer Youth Corps. He is a graduate of Penn Ridge High School and Bucks County Community College.

Keynote speaker was Michael Smerconish, Philadelphia's premier talk host who is heard daily on WPHT, The Big Talker. A Bucks County native, Michael is the author of three books and he writes separate, weekly columns for both the Philadelphia Daily News and Philadelphia Inquirer. Michael is also a frequent guest host for Bill O'Reilly on the nationally syndicated Radio Factor and a familiar face on Fox News, MSNBC and CNN where he provides commentary on current events. Michael new book, "Morning Drive: Things I Wish I Knew Before I Started Talking" is scheduled for release in March.

Foundations executive director Ron Bernstein, Bucks County Commissioner Diane Marseglia and Michael Smerconish presented plaques and checks to the 12 local non-profit organizations. Among the community programs receiving grants were:

• Michener Art Museum/Palisades Middle School, Doylestown
  
The grant would allow the Michener Art Museum to bring in live poets, writers and story tellers to over 570 students, including over 100 special needs children with behavioral problems such as autism, ADHD, depression and anxiety disorders within the Palisades School district. The program allows students at all grade levels to improve self esteem, learn to express emotions in writing and story-telling, become more aware of surrounding cultures and create original written works to be published in a book at the end of the year.
• BARC - Bristol and Warminster, PA
  BARC's mission is to serve and advocate for individuals with developmental disabilities. With the help of this grant, BARC will offer creative arts therapies during the school year to 30 to 40 preschool children at the BARC Learning Centers in Bristol and Warminster to help them increase their ability to communicate, socialize with peers and decrease their disruptive behaviors.
• Camp Discovery - Langhorne, PA
  This grant will support Camp Discovery's one-week overnight camp program for abused and neglected 8-11 year children from Bucks County whose behaviors prevent them from attending other camps. Camp Discovery is provided at no cost to the campers, and counselors and staff are volunteers who serve without pay. The camp's goal is to help enrich the lives of the campers and the counselors each time a personal connection is made.
• Penndel MHC Life Cares Program - Penndel, PA
  The Penndel MHC Life Cares Program provides families who have been unable to access appropriate mental health services with information and support. The grant will allow the Life Cares Program to initiate support groups for children and families, including a social skills group for children and two parent support groups. The award will also help them expand their educational resources library, and update and expand the children's playroom. By better equipping the playroom, parents will have more opportunity to utilize the resources and supports available in the "CARES" drop-in center.
• Refuge Childcare Academy - Bristol, PA
  Refuge Children's Academy is a licensed daycare, preschool and after-school facility located in Bristol Township that provides high quality low-cost day-care to low income children so that the parents can work. The grant will be used to support the "Books Come Alive" program, an interactive reading program designed to teach and reinforce children's reading skills. This program will help children from disadvantaged families enjoy reading, stay in school and avoid negative behaviors.
• Community Conservancy - Doylestown, PA
  The Community Conservatory offers education and performance opportunities in music, drama and art for everyone regardless of circumstances in life, income, age, background or ability. The award will be used to support the "Prelude" program, which offers music, dance/movement and visual arts therapies for children with special needs, including those with autism, Down syndrome, Mental Retardation and Behavioral Health problems.
• Churchville Nature Center - Churchville, PA
  The mission of the Churchville Nature Center is to instill an awareness and appreciation of nature and our environment with a goal of encouraging stewardship of our nature habitats. The Center serves children from all walks of life including those with special needs. The grant will be used to support the Center's lower Bucks County Community Cooperative Watershed Watch program, a hands-on experiential learning project that provides disadvantaged youth with a unique learning experience -- challenging them to improve quality of life in Bucks County.
• Upper Bucks YMCA - Quakertown, PA
  With this award, the Summer Camp program at the Upper Bucks YMCA plans to integrate more special needs children into its standard camp offering throughout the summer. The integration of special needs and typical children is of the utmost importance when it comes to childhood and adolescent development. The Upper Bucks Y will reach out to the special needs community, most notably the Bucks IU, the local Special Olympics soccer program, and the local special needs baseball league in order to increase awareness and enrollment.
• Bucks County Workforce Investment Board - Bristol, PA
  The Youth Council of the Bucks County Workforce Investment Board prepares youngsters to become employable citizens of Bucks County, regardless of special needs or life circumstances. They will use the award for special needs students to have a real world experience outside of the classroom, working with representatives from "Gamesa Wind Energy" in Fairless Hills to better understand alternative forms of energy and build their own wind turbine.
• Tabor Children's Services - Doylestown, PA
  Tabor Children's Services will use the grant to facilitate a new "life skills" group focusing on "soft-skills" (i.e., responsibility, self-esteem, integrity, leadership etc) for adolescents in the foster care system in Bucks County. The "soft skills" group will help kids process their past experiences, learn to identify and appropriately express emotions, and it will teach them skills they will need to become emotionally health adults.
• The Work Based Learning Program at Central Bucks School District -Doylestown, PA
  The Work Based Learning Program at CBSD provides opportunities to develop and refine vital social, communication and employment skills for students with disabilities. The grant will be used to purchase a greenhouse where learning-disabled students can learn up-to-date and future employable skills as well as raising their awareness of resources and sustainability within the community.
• Network of Victims Assistance of Bucks County (NOVA) - Jamison, PA
  The Network of Victims Assistance of Bucks County, Bucks County's comprehensive crime victim service agency provided over 1,335 programs to 34,000 child and youth last year. NOVA will use the grant to help support development of its Internet safety program, including both "Cyber-safety" and the newer "CyberBullying" education program, which cultivates and reinforces practical life skills and values and provides effective tools for "CyberBullying" victims.