On Wednesday evening, March 26, 2014, The Phoenixville Area Regional Chamber of Commerce bestowed upon this foundation the “Community Betterment Award.” As I went to the podium to accept this honor, I felt humbled and proud of all the people who contributed to the success of the Phoenixville Community Education Foundation over the years! The achievements of The Ed Foundation are shared with the community, not just the staff and the Board of Trustees.
Rob Frees and Kelly Connors
As I looked around the room that evening, I realized that just about every one of the 160+ people staring back at me has, at some time in the last 12 years, either donated to, volunteered with, provided services for, sponsored or attended a fundraiser, or hosted an event for this foundation! Without every single one of them and without every single one of you, The Phoenixville Community Education Foundation would not have had such a positive impact on our community.
Thank you to Robb & Lisa Frees, of Frees Insurance, Inc., for ALWAYS supporting The Ed Foundation both financially and through personal participation. Hearing that the Chamber wanted to offer a monetary award for the “Community Betterment” winner, Robb and Lisa immediately donated $500, which will be utilized to support the “Building Classroom Libraries” initiative in the Phoenixville public schools.
Thank you to Phoenixville Federal Bank & Trust for your 12 years of financial support through sponsorships, the EITC program, and for providing us with a very reasonably priced home office for the last 5 ½ years!
I would like to thank the Phoenixville Community Health Foundation for its long time support through nonprofit education, grant support, and mentoring of our leadership team.
Thank you to Jessica and Donald at the Phoenixville Chamber of Commerce office for always being supportive of our initiatives and helping us out with promoting our efforts to the business community.
Thank you to our local politicians, Senator Andy Dinniman, Representatives Warren Kampf and Becky Corbin, and County Commissioners Terence Farrell, Kathi Cozzone and Ryan Costello for their continuous support of education in the community. We thank them for the honor of receiving “Citation of Excellence” awards that evening as well.
To all of you in the community, thank you for your many years of support. You have made this one of the most rewarding and easiest jobs.
In keeping with the inspirational words provided that evening by Senator Dinniman, thank you all for “filling our cup” to the brim! This “Community Betterment Award” belongs to you.
With sincere gratitude,
Kelly Connors
Phoenixville Community Education Foundation
Executive Director