Greater Scranton YMCA Helps Combat Child Hunger with Summer Food Program As summer approaches, many families look forward to vacations and outdoor activities, but for others, putting food on the table is a daily struggle. The latest report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reveals that 47.4 million people, including 13.8 million children, faced food insecurity last year—a rise of 3.2 million from the year before. As the summer season arrives, it’s crucial to remember that access to nutritious meals is not guaranteed for all, highlighting the need for stronger support programs. According to the USDA, over 30 million kids receive free or reduced-cost meals thanks to the National School Lunch Program. However, once the school year ends, only 15 in 100 eligible kids have access to free, healthy meals and snacks over summer break, leaving many children to go without during the summer months. The Y is working to fill that gap and will help keep children healthy and well-nourished this summer, ensuring that kids reach their full potential. Children enrolled in Early Childhood Education Programs, including daycare, preschool and summer day camp, will receive both food and fun through nutritious meals and snacks, while also enjoying recreational and learning activities aimed at keeping bodies and minds active. Y sites across the country, including the Greater Scranton YMCA, will offer the Summer Food Program. While daycare and preschool operate year-round, the Summer Day Camp Program runs from June 9th through August 22nd. Thanks to the Summer Food Service Program and our sponsor, the Scranton School District, campers will receive a healthy lunch daily. This summer, the Greater Scranton YMCA is estimating to feed 225 children in Summer Day Camp and 250 in daycare and preschool here in our community. To learn more about the Greater Scranton YMCA’s Summer Day Camp, Early Childhood Education and Food Program, contact Tressa Capoccia at tcapoccia@gsymca.org or visit www.greaterscrantonymca.org. “Hunger has a lasting impact on the development of children,” says Rich Surridge, President & CEO, Greater Scranton YMCA. “Giving kids access to nutrition-filled meals allows kids to focus, learn and become empowered to reach their full potential. The Y’s Summer Food Program helps make sure kids can enjoy healthy and delicious meals and snacks all summer long.” During the Greater Scranton YMCA’s 2023-2024 fiscal year, 69,490 meals and snacks were served to children enrolled in summer camp, after school and early childhood education programs. This year marks the program’s thirteenth year and the Y’s ongoing commitment to helping kids achieve their full potential by nurturing their physical, mental and social- emotional development. During the school year, the Greater Scranton YMCA also serves healthy snacks in its afterschool program to provide kids with nourishment and academic enrichment.
Scranton Area Community Foundation, Women in Philanthropy Awards $35,000 to Local Nonprofits Women in Philanthropy (WIP), the initiative of the Scranton Area Community Foundation that focuses on empowering and transforming the lives of women and girls in the Lackawanna County region, proudly announces the recipients of its 2025 grants cycle. After a competitive grant process, $35,000 in grant funding was awarded to seven local nonprofit organizations. The awards were announced during the Women in Philanthropy Spring Grants Meeting held at the Hilton Scranton on Thursday evening, May 8, 2025. The recipients included Penn State Scranton (Financial Literacy Lunch & Learn Series for High School Students), Scranton School District (Girls in STEM), Scranton Primary Health Care Center (Confident Smiles Program), Providence Pregnancy Center (Casa de Maria Renovations), Black Scranton (Black Maternal Health Awareness), CASA of Lackawanna County, and The Philharmonic Society of Northeastern Pennsylvania (RxArts NEPA), all to support innovative projects and programs that work to transform the lives of women or girls across the Northeastern Pennsylvania region. The grant award recipients and amounts were selected during the Spring Grants Meeting by Women in Philanthropy supporters, who had the opportunity to vote after hearing presentations from each nonprofit organization. Women in Philanthropy (WIP) is a collective of more than 125 dedicated supporters committed to transforming the lives of women and girls in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Since its launch in 2014, this initiative of the Scranton Area Community Foundation has raised over $2 million and partnered with nearly 30 community organizations to create a measurable, lasting impact across the region. Women in Philanthropy proudly advances economic mobility in the area by addressing barriers to success, fostering leadership, and helping women build financial stability and independence. To learn more or become a supporter, visit www.supportnepawomen.org. Penn State Scranton accepts a Women in Philanthropy grant to support its Financial Literacy Lunch & Learn Series for high school students. Pictured from left: Amy Betts, Community Impact Manager, Scranton Area Community Foundation; Desiree Voitek, Senior Director of Campus Development, Penn State Scranton; Nonna Sorokina, Assistant Professor, Penn State Scranton; and Laura Ducceschi, President and CEO, Scranton Area Community Foundation. Scranton School District students accept a Women in Philanthropy grant supporting the Girls in STEM program. Pictured from left: Ellen Burkey, Board Chair, Scranton Area Community Foundation; Laura Ducceschi, President and CEO, Scranton Area Community Foundation; students Hazel Pacheco, Aryanee Sanchez, and Mirka Richeme; and Katona Miller, STEM Program Supervisor, Scranton School District. Scranton Primary Health Care Center receives a Women in Philanthropy grant to support the Confident Smiles Program, providing restorative dental care to women in need. Pictured from left: Ellen Burkey, Board Chair, Scranton Area Community Foundation; Laura Ducceschi, President and CEO, Scranton Area Community Foundation; Joseph Hollander, CEO, Scranton Primary Health Care Center; and Amy Betts, Community Impact Manager, Scranton Area Community Foundation. Providence Pregnancy Center accepts a Women in Philanthropy grant to support renovations to Casa de Maria, a safe and supportive housing space for women. Pictured from left: Ellen Burkey, Board Chair, Scranton Area Community Foundation; Anne O’Brien, Heather Murphy, Cecelia Carr, and Jessica Freyne, Providence Pregnancy Center; and Laura Ducceschi, President and CEO, Scranton Area Community Foundation. Black Scranton receives a Women in Philanthropy grant to support Black Maternal Health Awareness programming. Pictured from left: Ellen Burkey, Board Chair, Scranton Area Community Foundation; Glynis Johns, Founder and CEO, Black Scranton; and Laura Ducceschi, President and CEO, Scranton Area Community Foundation. CASA of Lackawanna County receives a Women in Philanthropy grant to support advocacy efforts for children in the foster care system. Pictured from left: Brittany Pagnotti, Director of Donor Relations and Communications, Scranton Area Community Foundation; Donna Kurzweil, CASA volunteer; Joan Peterson, Executive Director, CASA of Lackawanna County; and Laura Ducceschi, President and CEO, Scranton Area Community Foundation. The Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic receives a Women in Philanthropy grant to support the RxArts NEPA program, promoting healing through music and the arts. Pictured from left: Christine Zike, Board of Directors and VP of Development, Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic; Chason Goldschmitz, Executive Director, Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic; and Laura Ducceschi, President and CEO, Scranton Area Community Foundation.
Businesses Reminder of Deadline for Submitting 2025 First Quarter Payroll Preparation Tax Return Entities conducting business within the City of Scranton are reminded that the due date to submit their first quarter tax return for the 2025 Payroll Preparation Tax is May 31, 2025. A person shall be deemed to be conducting business within the City if they engage, hire, employ, or contract with one or more individuals as employees, partners, or is self-employed and, in addition, does at least one of the following: Maintains a fixed place of business within the City; Owns or leases real property within the City for profit; Maintains a stock of tangible, personal property in the City for sale in the ordinary course of business; Conducts continuous solicitation within the City related to such business; or Utilizes the streets of the City in connection with the operation of such business (other than for the mere transportation from a site outside the City, through the City, to a destination outside the City.) Institutions who are exempt from the Payroll Preparation Tax as a result of their status as a nonprofit are required to file quarterly returns claiming their exemption. Returns submitted after May 31, 2025, will be subject to penalty and interest on the balances due. The Payroll Preparation Tax is a tax levied separately by both the Scranton School District and the City of Scranton. The 2025 Payroll Preparation Tax rate for the Scranton School District is 0.7553 percent and the 2025 Payroll Preparation Tax rate for the City of Scranton is 0.2787 percent. The combined 2025 Payroll Preparation Tax rate is 1.034 percent. The City of Scranton and the Scranton School District have both appointed Berkheimer Tax Innovations, Inc. to administer the Payroll Preparation Tax on their behalf. Tax forms are available on Berkheimer’s website at hab-inc.com/pptforms. Additional information, including Frequently Asked Questions, can be found at scrantonpa.gov/payroll-prep-tax-information, https://www.scrsd.org/departments/business-office and www.hab-inc.com/ppt-faq. Please direct all questions regarding the Payroll Preparation Tax to Berkheimer by emailing ebpt@goberk.com or by calling (610) 599-3140.
Fourth Annual Workforce Summit and Carrer Fair Landed Success The Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce and its workforce development affiliate, Skills in Scranton, hosted the SKILLS 2024: Workforce Summit & Career Fair. The event was held at the Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel and served as a platform for connecting high school students, job seekers, and regional employers, facilitating invaluable networking opportunities and fostering career development and pathways education. Lackawanna County was the main event sponsor. The SKILLS 2024 event hosted more than 100 high school seniors looking for employment upon graduation, career pathways exploration, and the opportunity to engage with industry professionals. Additionally, the Summit drew numerous job seekers from across the region, all seeking employment opportunities, with the 50 regional employers in attendance. Scranton School Board President Ty Holmes shared, “The Workforce Summit and Career Fair is a great resource for high school students. I heard one student say, “I didn’t know this…” and it was in reference to a student talking with an employer about their career options.” “We were pleased to have been able to add unique elements to this year’s Workforce Summit. Public employment resources, access to regional workforce data, and connections to students from area high schools added to the core components of the job fair, with over 50 local employers on hand,” shared Robert Durkin, president of The Chamber. Throughout the day, attendees had the chance to interact with representatives from a diverse array of industries, including technology, healthcare, manufacturing, finance, and more. Employers showcased their organizations, shared information about available job opportunities, and engaged in meaningful conversations with prospective candidates. The SKILLS 2024: Workforce Summit & Career Fair not only provided attendees with a platform to connect and network but also featured informative sessions on topics such as resume writing, interview skills, and professional development. Keynote speaker Teri Ooms, president and CEO of The Institute, paved the way for attendees and employers to learn about the status of the workforce. Identify pros and cons; Ooms shared the research The Institute has done to evaluate top-priority careers and the shortage of workers vs. employers. As the event concluded, both employers and attendees expressed enthusiasm about the connections made and the opportunities presented. The Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce and Skills in Scranton look forward to building on this success and continuing to support workforce development initiatives in the region.
Johnson College Offering Computer Information Technology Course to Scranton School District High School Students Johnson College is now enrolling high school students from the Scranton School Districts into a 15-week Computer Information Technology course starting January 18, 2022. The course will be held Thursdays from 3 p.m. to 5:50 p.m. on the Johnson College campus in Scranton, PA. The course costs $500 per student and includes tuition and books. Space is limited. The introduction of JAVA is presented in this course so that students can design and develop dynamic object-oriented programming projects. Some of the topics include inheritance, decision structures, arrays, and the creation of classes using data objects. The languages used to implement object-oriented content are C# and C++. In addition, this course helps to demonstrate strategies and prepare models that can be used as a project foundation so that advanced tools can be further applied to construct application software contents. For more information and to register, contact the Johnson College Enrollment Department at 570-702-8856 or enroll@johnson.edu.
Payroll Preparation Tax Calculator The City of Scranton and Scranton School District have taken steps to eliminate the Business Privilege and Mercantile (BPM) taxes for 2022, in favor of a Payroll Preparation Tax (PPT). While only select businesses are subject to the BPM taxes, the PPT will be applied more broadly to entities doing business in the City of Scranton. By law, this transition must be revenue neutral – which means neither taxing body can generate more total revenue than what is collected under the BPM from the previous year. For some businesses this will result in a decrease in tax liability, while others will see an increase. If fully approved, beginning in January 2022, the PPT will be imposed on a percentage of a business’s total payroll—at a rate of 0.002786775 by the City and 0.008064 by the School District. Likewise, all BPM liabilities will be eliminated. Learn more about the details of this proposed action here. To estimate your anticipated PPT liability, use the calculator below.* PPT Tax Calculator *Please note, calculator is for estimation purposes only.
