Attention Visitors:

We received notification from Penelec that there will be a planned power outage for the museum on Friday, May 31st between 9 AM and 2 PM; some visitor experiences may not be available during that time.

RIDGWAY – The North Central Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission (North Central) has been invited by Grow Rural PA to co-host an Advanced Manufacturing Lunch and Learn presentation that will focus on solar power, mining, and producing hydrogen for the manufacturing process.

Hydrogen Production and Mineral Recovery will be the focus of a Friday, June 7 Lunch and Learn event from noon to 2 p.m. at The Red Fern, located at 421 Old Kersey Road, Kersey. The event is also being co-hosted by the Ridgway Industrial Development Corporation and the St. Marys Area Economic Development Corporation.

Grow Rural PA will discuss the objectives of the U.S. Department of Energy’s grant program for Capacity Building for Repurposing Energy Assets and will explain the initiative’s value to local manufacturers. The event will focus on solar power installation on reclaimed mine land, onsite green hydrogen for local manufacturers, and mineral extraction and conversion for the carbon, graphite, and pressed metals industries.

Special guests include Congressman Glenn “GT” Thompson, Pete Rozelle, Joe Boylan, and Tom Gray.

R.S.V.P. by May 31 to Deborah Pontzer by emailing dpontzer@growruralpa.org or calling 814-594-0905 for more information.

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The North Central Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission is a premier regional development organization that serves the public and private sector through a wide range of economic, community, infrastructure, human services, and technology programs for Cameron, Clearfield, Elk, Jefferson, McKean, and Potter Counties.

 Space is limited to 15 adult participants so please call the library and reserve your spot. Reserve for one class, a few, or the whole session. The library has chairs, please bring a towel and water for yourself. Please wear comfortable clothes, socks, and footwear. 

PHOTO: Through a grant from the Joe DeMott Port Allegheny Community Development Fund, the Samuel W. Smith Memorial Public Library sponsored a series of Senior Lunch & Learn educational programs. One of the programs was an interesting program on the elk herd in Benezette, PA presented by KECA representative, Ben Porkolab, Conservation Education Coordinator.

Joe DeMott Port Allegany Community Development Fund accepting grant applications

The McKean County Community Foundation (MCCF) invites organizations that serve the Port Allegany area to apply for $1,400 in grant funding that is currently available from the Joe DeMott Port Allegany Community Development Fund (JDPACD). Applications are due by July 1, 2024. The application can be found on the MCCF website at https://mckeancountyfoundation.org/open-grants/

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa., May 21, 2024 – When a trauma victim enters the hospital after a life-altering event, his or her future can be uncertain. Car crashes, biking accidents, and head injuries are just a few of the scenarios that can place a person’s life in jeopardy. UPMC recently recognized National Trauma Awareness Month and National Trauma Survivors Day (May 15) by reuniting trauma survivors and their families with the medical teams that took care of them following the accidents that brought them to UPMC Williamsport.

“Since receiving our Level II Trauma Center designation in 2021, our care teams have helped save countless lives. On average, we’ve provided care to 1,300 individuals annually with a 98% survival rate,” said Ronen Elefant, M.D., trauma surgeon and medical director, Trauma Services, UPMC of North Central Pa. “While those are exceptional numbers when it comes to our clinical expertise, the real impact and value of this program is evident in our survivors. Getting to host events like this where we celebrate those who do the hardest work in any trauma program – the survivors and their support persons – helps us realize the value of every life saved. Seeing their faces, talking with them, and observing their recovery reminds us of what our work is about and how even making an impact on one life makes it all worthwhile.”

During the event, Dr. Elefant and other members of the Trauma Services team spoke of the importance of having a local Trauma Center and UPMC Williamsport’s almost decade-long journey to designation. Trauma survivors and their guests in attendance were presented with tulip bouquets and a stained-glass purple tulip handcrafted by Trauma team members.

“The Trauma Survivors Network, a program of the American Trauma Society, uses a red tulip as a symbol of the pain, suffering, and lifestyle changes caused by traumatic injury, not only for the survivor, but also their families, friends, and others that care about them,” said Amanda Raymond, manager, Trauma Services, UPMC in North Central Pa. “As a member of the Trauma Survivors Network, we wanted to use this symbol in a special way for our event. At UPMC, everything is purple, so our team came up with the idea to create purple stained-glass tulips for our survivors. This is our first occasion to celebrate here, and we’re looking forward to many more yearly gatherings to come. We will continue to celebrate individuals who, against the odds, have not just survived but are now thriving.”

UPMC Williamsport is one of just three trauma centers in the 12-county region of north central Pennsylvania. It is UPMC’s sixth accredited trauma center in the Commonwealth. Others include UPMC Altoona, UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, UPMC Hamot, UPMC Mercy, and UPMC Presbyterian

“Years ago, UPMC in North Central Pa. made the bold decision to build a trauma program, and our teams worked tirelessly for years to grow and develop the services we offer today,” said Patti Jackson-Gehris, president, UPMC in North Central Pa. and UPMC Williamsport. “At UPMC, we use the phrase ‘life changing medicine’ a lot and one would only need to look around the room at an event like this and see our survivors to understand what it really means. They have experienced life-altering events and come so far in their recovery which to me is life-changing medicine in action. Access to quality trauma care is not a luxury, it is essential, and I’m proud of what we’re doing here with our program to serve so many communities in north central Pennsylvania.”

Adding trauma service capabilities is part of UPMC’s continuing investment to advance specialty care in the region. For more information on UPMC Williamsport’s Trauma Services, visit UPMC.com/TraumaNCPA.

The Vicious Cycle of Food Insecurity and Poor Health

By Fred Welch

Olean Food Pantry Board Member

(Editor’s note: This is the third in a four-part series by the Olean Food Pantry about solving food insecurity in our communities.)

I spent much of my career as a STEM teacher trying to get kids to see and understand correlation and causation. Whether you’re studying math, science or history as a student, or navigating financial realities as an adult, it’s important to understand the “why” behind our daily experience.

As an Olean Food Pantry board member, it’s eye-opening to see the lines of cars stretching around the parking lot on distribution days. We easily grasp their “why” for being here in record numbers. People are hungry.

But that only scratches the surface.

For many, the “why” behind their hunger results from several related factors – a vicious cycle of food insecurity, poor health and negative life outcomes.

We live at the northernmost tip of Appalachia. That’s an understated fact, and many in our communities don’t realize what that means. We’ve grappled for decades with the highest poverty rates in New York state. The consequences are more severe than people simply lacking money for food.

The impact of poverty on health is undeniable and multifaceted, creating a web of challenges beyond struggling financially. A recent study by the Health Foundation for Western & Central New York (HFWCNY) – titled “Community Health Needs and Opportunities in Western New York’s Southern Tier” – explores these challenges. It reveals how poverty not only limits access to nutritious food, but also to essential resources that make matters worse across the board.

It’s a simple concept: without regular, nutritious meals, our bodies and minds can’t function properly. The effects ripple through every aspect of life, from physical health and mental well-being to the ability to perform at work or school.

The result? A perpetuation of poverty and hunger that’s almost impossible to break. Hungry people get sick. Hungry people miss work. Hungry kids miss valuable lessons in the classroom.  Poor health makes it increasingly difficult to find and maintain employment.

Hunger directly causes a variety of health issues that complicate progress in life:

• Malnutrition: Limited access to a diverse and nutritious diet can lead to malnutrition, affecting both physical and cognitive processes.
• Compromised Immune System: Inadequate nutrition weakens the immune system, leaving people more vulnerable to infections and illnesses.
• Increased Chronic Conditions: Food insecurity is linked to the development and progression of chronic health conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease.
• Mental Health Challenges: The stress and uncertainty associated with hunger contribute to mental health issues including depression, anxiety disorders and substance use.
• Developmental Delays in Children: Children experiencing hunger may suffer from developmental delays and struggle academically.

So many without adequate access to resources must climb mountains just to make progress. What’s worse, generational poverty affects a majority of the roughly 17 percent of Allegany, Cattaraugus and Chautauqua residents defined as living in severe poverty.

Thousands of people take their first breath already at a disadvantage.

Their success isn’t so idealistic as “pulling themselves up by their own bootstraps.” Some days it’s tough enough just to survive. Anyone would have difficulty mapping out a vibrant future while days of struggle become months and years without any sign of hope.

In the Southern Tier, high food insecurity rates have led to a dramatic increase in Olean Food Pantry clients. Entering this year, we had seen a 95.4 percent spike in pantry visitors since 2020. At our last board meeting, we discussed a further 9.7 percent increase in clients, year-over-year, through April.

Those numbers will continue to rise.

While we’re committed to meeting their immediate food needs, our ultimate goal is to solve the hunger issue by addressing root causes. That means solving the “why,” but unfortunately, there’s more than one “why.” Many more reasons than any one organization could tackle single-handedly.

Achieving this vision requires a deep, collective understanding of poverty, hunger and poor health. It requires a commitment to developing proactive solutions and building community relationships to provide people with the tools to systematically emerge from poverty. Olean Food Pantry’s $1 Million Fundraising Campaign aims to do just that. Your donation today is greatly appreciated. Visit www.oleanfoodpantry.org/donate

The North Central Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission (North Central) reminds municipalities in the six-county region that technical assistance with grant applications for the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development’s (DCED) Multimodal Transportation Fund is available at no cost.

North Central provides free technical assistance for municipalities, councils of government, nonprofit businesses, economic development organizations, and public transportation agencies who are applying for DCED’s transportation initiative to better understand the guidelines, supplemental documentation requirements, long-range plan consistency, data, and proofreading before submitting the grant for funding consideration.

The Online Electronic Single Application for DCED’s transportation initiative can be found at https://rb.gy/i6foha. North Central will assist applicants in Cameron, Clearfield, Elk, Jefferson, McKean, and Potter counties.

North Central asks that grant applications, cost estimates, and other supplemental documents be received no later than Friday, July 19. The sooner the information is received the quicker North Central staff can proofread and provide comments on the application if needed.

For more information or to enlist North Central’s assistance with the grant application package, contact Elise Grovanz at 814-773-3162, ext. 3016 or email egrovanz@ncentral.com. If a cost estimate is needed for the project application, please contact PennDOT’s Municipal Service Representative.

The North Central Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission is a premier regional development organization that serves the public and private sector through a wide range of economic, community, infrastructure, human services, and technology programs for Cameron, Clearfield, Elk, Jefferson, McKean, and Potter Counties.