PPL announces Bright Lights grant winners
The PPL Foundation has announced the winners of its Bright Lights grants, which honor the people who are working to transform lives in their communities. The PPL Foundation awarded a total of $100,000 in grants to help illuminate the outstanding contributions of individuals working in the nonprofit sector. Bright Lights grants of $10,000 were awarded in recognition of the honorees to the nonprofit agencies they support.
Area recipients of these special, one-time awards are:
■ Sarah “Sally” Casey has led the struggle against domestic violence in Schuylkill County since the grassroots efforts began in 1983. Her dedication and vision ever since to Schuylkill Women in Crisis has developed into a collaborative community response that has helped thousands of victims and their families find safety and healing.
■ Darian Colbert has invested in the Allentown community by engaging in the leadership development of thousands of students, adult leaders and volunteers through the nonprofit agency, Cohesion Network. Its mission is to collaborate with residents, organizations and local government to empower people socially, educationally and economically, and create lasting change.
■ Melissa Fillman founded Kindness is Magic, a Lehigh
Valley organization that improves the education outcomes of public school students by advocating for all students to be provided a nutritious lunch regardless of their economic status.
■ Yamelisa Taveras is the founder of Unidos, an organization in the Lehigh Valley that works to improve the quality of life for underprivileged and marginalized residents by empowering unity and self-investment. The group recently raised funds to provide free laptops to Allentown School District students transitioning to remote learning due to COVID-19.
■ Tim Lee is the driving force behind The Mountain Center, a facility that offers a multitude of services to Monroe County residents. Four years ago, Lee turned an abandoned school building into a community resource center that has assisted thousands of Monroe County residents in 2019.