Donor Spotlight: City Center Allentown

At Communities In Schools of Eastern Pennsylvania, we’re helping students achieve goals in attendance, academics, and life. In the 2020-2021 school year, we served approximately 37,000 students across our network. None of this would be possible without the generosity of our corporate partners. A shining example is City Center Allentown.

Since 2018, City Center Allentown has supported CIS through a variety of initiatives. The organization serves as a United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley Community School Corporate Partner for Allentown School District’s Central Elementary, annually providing a $50,000 grant and approximately 400 employee-volunteer hours from 2019-2021. Central Elementary is now a hub of learning and engagement where students and families can thrive with our community school coordinators by their side. City Center Allentown recently announced it will renew its partnership with Central Elementary for another three years, from 2022 through 2024.

Through its extensive community partnerships, City Center Allentown also provides in-kind donations valued at thousands of dollars to benefit Central Elementary’s students, families, and teachers and coordinates enrichment programs to benefit students each year.

“City Center Allentown is committed to helping create a healthy, thriving community for everyone downtown, and we enjoy sharing our resources with Central’s families with the help of Communities in Schools,” said Jill Brader, Director of Marketing Operations, City Center Allentown. “Central Elementary is our neighborhood school, which has made our employees’ relationships with Central’s students and families especially meaningful.”

City Center Allentown’s employees have volunteered at Central Elementary for jobs including reading to students, organizing the food pantry, and landscaping the playground. Additionally, employees participate in United Way’s Day of Caring every year. In 2021, the organization helped improve the school environment, from cleaning up garbage to painting.

“Communities In Schools of Eastern PA is thankful for the partnership with City Center Allentown, and we look forward to seeing their impact grow in the next three years,” reflected Maria Esposito, Vice President of Advancement for Communities In Schools of Eastern Pennsylvania. “City Center creates enriching learning experiences and strengthens our connection to the many benefits downtown Allentown has to offer.”

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