Schools receive grants
MASONTOWN – Four local schools each received $5,000 in donations from Enterprise Rent-A-Car to their pre-school tuition scholarship funds at a presentation Friday at All Saints School, which was among the recipients. Enterprise donated $20,000 to the schools through the Bravo Foundation, a Harrisburg-based scholarship organization, using Pennsylvania’s Education Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) program.
All Saints School, Calvary Chapel Christian School in Fredericktown, Echo Child Development Center in Masontown and Rainbow’s End Learning Center in Waynesburg received the donations.
“It has helped our families tremendously,” said Paula Volansky of All Saints School.
Volansky said this was the second donation the school received through Bravo.
She cited a family who sent one of their children to the school, but couldn’t afford to send their other child.
So the family planned to send both of their children to another school, but the scholarship enabled them to send both to All Saints, she said.
Volansky and representatives from the other schools thanked Enterprise, Bravo and state Rep. H. William DeWeese (D-Waynesburg), who attended the brief presentation program, for the donations.
DeWeese said this is the second consecutive year Enterprise donated to the schools through Bravo and the EITC program.
“The availability of EITC funding has benefited thousands of children throughout Pennsylvania,” DeWeese said. “It is with these dollars that parents in our area can help their children realize the education best suited to meet their needs.”
“We give them money, we get a tax credit back,” said Timothy E. Nettes, vice president and general manager of Enterprise.
Enterprise has three operating groups in Pennsylvania that have donated $1 million to schools through the EITC program, Nettes said. “The EITC program enables companies like Enterprise to connect with local schools so that children get the education they want and deserve. Enterprise will continue to assist in those efforts,” Nettles said.
EITC provides a 75 percent tax credit for money donated to approved non-profit scholarship or education improvement organizations. Companies can receive a 90-percent credit for a two-year commitment.