KANKAKEE AREA YMCA RECEIVES GRANT TO EXPAND EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION PROGRAMMING

Grant of $87,000 from PNC enables increased services for local preschoolers

Kankakee, Ill., Nov. 20, 2010 – The PNC Foundation announced today a three-year, $87,000 grant to the Kankakee Area YMCA to enhance preschooler activities and extend the program’s ability to serve more children. 

The program signifies the first major investment the PNC Foundation has made in the Kankakee area through its signature philanthropic initiative, Grow Up Great, a 10-year, $100 million bilingual initiative to improve early childhood education.

The grant is part of a $3.1 million commitment to programs in Northeast Illinois cities by the PNC Foundation, which receives its primary funding from The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.  Recently, PNC announced a Grow Up Great program in Chicago.

“PNC Grow Up Great is one of the most comprehensive corporate-based school readiness program in the nation committed to helping produce stronger, smarter and healthier children, families and communities,” said Joe Gregoire, PNC’s Illinois regional president, speaking on behalf of the PNC Foundation. “By investing in early childhood education, we will put children on the right track to success.”

The funding will help the Kankakee YMCA build on its “Great Beginnings” preschool program, enabling it to triple the number of classrooms to three, expand its schedule to a full day, introduce parent education classes, and obtain national and state program accreditation. 

It will also enable teacher development training in inquiry-based techniques that promote cognitive and behavioral learning and provide for national and state accreditation. 

“The Kankakee Area YMCA is truly grateful for the wonderful partnership with PNC,” said Dirk Langfoss, Kankakee Area YMCA CEO. “This grant will allow us to reach out to more youth in order to build their early learning skills, confidence, and self-esteem.  The generous support from the PNC Grow Up Great grant strengthens our efforts by giving parents of Kankakee County peace of mind, and their children a place to learn, grow and thrive.”

Marc Gerard, PNC’s community executive for Kankakee, said 40 PNC Bank employee volunteers from the area will work with the YMCA to support the program and ensure its success.  In addition, he presented a gift of more than 150 “Happy, Healthy, Ready for School – Math Is Everywhere” activity kits to the Kankakee Area YMCA for each child in their pre-k programs. Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street, created the bilingual, multimedia kits for PNC Grow Up Great as part of a continuing partnership. 

Math is Everywhere materials are available at no charge at all PNC Bank branches, pncgrowupgreat.com, and sesameworkshop.org. The video is available free of charge on Learn Along with Sesame on iTunes (www.iTunes.com) and Amazon VOD.

The PNC Foundation, which receives its principal funding from The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC), actively supports organizations that provide services for the benefit of communities in which it has a significant presence. The foundation focuses its philanthropic mission on early childhood education and community and economic development, which includes the arts and culture.  Through its signature cause, Grow Up Great, PNC has created a 10-year, 

$100 million initiative to enhance early childhood education and school readiness.