Pottstown High School Alum Aid Foundations Getting Kids Devices

POTTSTOWN, PA — Two Pottstown High School alumni are busy in roles serving two foundations in their home community that are helping students who need Chromebooks get them.

The Foundation for Pottstown Education has added a 2017 Pottstown High School graduate Kenil Patel to its board of directors, and Pottstown graduate Howard Brown has been promoted to Senior Program Officer of the Pottstown Area Health and Wellness Foundation.

Patel is junior at Drexel University majoring in Engineering Technology with a minor in Biological Sciences.

Howard Brown is a graduate of Pottstown High School and Villanova University. "He has proven himself in the classroom, on the basketball court and in service to the community," the Pottstown School District said recently.

The Foundation for Pottstown Education has also recently received a $1,000 check to support its Chromebook Campaign. The Chromebook Campaign was a fundraising response to the need of students in the school district.

The Foundation for Pottstown Education initiated the Chromebook Campaign after Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf closed all schools to help stop the spreading of the COVID-19virus. At the time, one out of every four students in the Pottstown School District had no devices to support their online learning and continuation of their education.

More than 82 donors of the Foundation for Pottstown Education have provided the funding for 785 devices. This campaign was aided by a matching grant from the Pottstown Area Health and Wellness Foundation where every dollar raised up to $100,000 was matched.

Kicking off the matching fund was The Hill School in Pottstown which donated $50,000 from an anonymous alumnus of the school.

At a recent chapter meeting, Pottstown NAACP’s President, Johnny Corson recognized the Foundation for its quick action to raise funds supporting the purchase of Chromebooks for the students of the Pottstown School District.

"We were all amazed by the foundation's swift response to the school district's need for hundreds of Chromebooks and additional resources to keep everyone safe. Thousands of families across the region faced insecurities and digital barriers making education a burden. This is no longer true in Pottstown due to your action and generous support of your donors," said Corson.

The $1,000 check was made in memory of Elder Jannie Brandt and Alexis Artis, who both valued education. The funds were provided by Mr. and Mrs. John Milligan in memory of Corson's mother, Elder Brandt, and Vince Artis in memory of his daughter, along with members of the Pottstown NAACP.