Some kids in Lancaster, Columbia and Harrisburg are looking at a sad summer vacation. They say they’re devastated because their nonprofit summer program may have to close its doors.
Project Forward Leap has been helping underprivileged kids for 25 years. It allows middle school students to stay on college campuses in the area, giving them a schedule of rigorous classes.
They meet students from other schools who share similar interests, and some of the kids say they make tighter friends there than they do at their own schools.
“That was a place where I could meet friends and be social, something I couldn’t do here because it’s kind of tough,” says 8th-grader Nancy Apenouvon.
Parent Bobby Coffey says both his daughters, who participated in the program, have set high career goals because of it; one wants to join the Air Force, and the other wants to be a pediatrician.
"These are goals thanks to PFL that they can obtain, and their grades prove it because of the extra help that they get," Coffey says.
"The classes that you take there challenge you mentally and emotionally and learn how to stand on your own," says student Aceseyena Addison.
Many of the parents involved, who pledge community service hours in exchange for their kids' participation, did not get to go to college themselves.
Mary Wittemann, the Lancaster-area Saturday academic director, is hoping the program will get donations so that is can stay open this summer. Students would stay at Millersville University for a few weeks. The program costs between $2,000 and $3,000 per child.
"We're not just talking about a summer experience, we're talking about the future of a child," says Wittemann. "That money is an incredible investment that will get 10,000-fold returns when they return to their communities and start to give back to them."
If you would like to help, or sponsor a child, you can contact PFL's president Melvin Allen at mallen@projectforwardleap.org or call at (215) 696-3849.
