The Berks County Bar Foundation ("Foundation") is a non-profit corporation designed to raise and provide funds to support charitable, law-related projects, programs and services in Berks County.

    Scholarships are awarded annually to high school seniors who indicate an interest in pursuing any law-related career.  Awards are granted based upon the applicant’s statement of goals and ambitions in a law-related field, strength of references, academic performance, level of extracurricular activities and financial resources for post-secondary education or training.   In 2009 three such scholarships were awarded to graduating high school seniors from Berks County in a total amount of $4,500.00.

    Also in 2009 the Foundation awarded a $1,500.00 scholarship to an outstanding student entering his senior year in Alvernia University’s criminal justice program, as determined by the faculty.

    In collaboration with the Berks County Community Foundation, which administers the Fund, the Bar Foundation provides funding for one-half of the Bridge Fund.  The concept of the Bridge Fund is that “a little can go a long way to keep a kid out of the legal system.”   Grants from the Bridge Fund are recommended by social workers or agents of the court system and are approved by a judge on a case-by-case basis.  The fund is not meant o provide continual support, but rather to bridge a gap in service and keep a child out of the legal system.

    For example, a single father was worried about losing his three-, four- and six-year-old daughters to foster care.  Each night, he dropped the girls off at the Second Street Learning Center while he worked full-time on the graveyard shift.  While he could pay for their overnight care, he could not afford the extra payments that would allow the girls to stay at the center until noon so he could sleep.   After application by his social worker, a $300.00 grant was awarded that provided five weeks of childcare and allowed the girls to stay together with their father.   The Bridge Fund has also helped several families stay together during the winter months after they exhausted all other funding and programs for free or low-cost heating oil.  In most cases, the families were again eligible for free oil after a waiting period.  The Bridge Fund provided oil during the waiting period, allowing the children to remain in their parents’ care because their homes had heat.

    Also in collaboration with the Community Foundation, the Bar Foundation provides financial assistance for participants of the Berks County Drug and Mental Health Treatment Court.  This is a new program which is just getting up and running and will work similar to the Bridge Fund by assisting those in need with such things as paying for required weekly drug testing.

    The Court Appointed Special Advocate Program (CASA) is actually an initiative of United Way of Berks County but receives funding from the Berks County Bar Foundation. Its mission is to provide advocacy to children who are in the custody of the court system as a result of abuse and/or neglect. The CASA Program works to find a safe and permanent placement for all children involved in the program.

    Specially trained CASA volunteers are appointed by a judge to represent the best interests of a child in court. Volunteers work closely with the child and his/her family members, caseworkers, teachers, health officials and others who are knowledgeable about the child’s history. Volunteers study each case and make recommendations to the court to help the child be placed in a safe and permanent home as quickly as possible.

    Currently, 14 CASA volunteers, who are not lawyers, are serving as the voice in court for local children who have been abused or neglected.

    On an annual basis, the Bar Foundation has been funding the purchase of a new book for each kindergarten student in the Reading School District.  Before the selected book is given to each child, a lawyer or other member of the community reads it to the class.  The project helps the young students to develop their reading skills and assists them in starting their own library.  

    The Young Lawyers’ Section of the Berks County Bar Association has written a publication known as “Stepping Out.”   It is distributed to graduating seniors in schools that participate in the program, which is designed to alert them to issues they face in life after school, such as concerns with landlord-tenant, credit, purchase of a car, etc.  The cost of the booklet’s publication is underwritten by the Bar Foundation.

    In addition, the Senior Citizens Booklet Committee of the Berks County Bar Association has written a publication known as “Older and Wiser.”  It is designed to answer legal questions concerning the rights of senior citizens.  The cost of its publication is also underwritten by the Bar Foundation.

June, 2009

     Since the beginning of the year, the Berks County Bar Foundation has been working to make you, the members of the Berks County Bar Association, and the community as a whole, more aware of the Foundation and what it does.
   
     On March 17, 2009 we held another retreat where we worked on the Foundation's mission statement, its case for support and a strategic plan for 2009.  More work will be done on branding the Foundation.
   
     With respect to grants, so far this year we've provided one to Berks County Treatment Court, which is essentially a DUI court for persons with a third DUI not involving a felony or bodily injuries.  The mandatory one-year sentence is reduced to three months with random and frequent testing thereafter. 
   
     As has been the custom in the past, grants will also be made to the Court Appointed Special Advocates Program (“CASA”) and the Bridge Fund.  CASA volunteers work with children, foster families, biological families, the community and the courts to help children who might otherwise be placed in long-term foster care.  The Bridge Fund meets immediate critical needs for at-risk families, through small grants recommended by social workers or agents of the court system approved by a judge or on a case by case basis.  A few hundred grant dollars can save Berks County thousands.  The Foundation also provided funding for the printing of this year's edition of the Stepping Out booklet.
   
     Many thanks to those of you that made contributions to the "Book 'Em" project and a special thank you to those members of the Bar Association who volunteered to read to the kindergarten students.  We had readers for all 60 classes.

     On May 28, 2009, the Foundation held its annual Scholarship Luncheon at the Berkshire Country Club.  This year, we recognized Alexander Martin from Boyertown Area High School, Kinsey McKenrick from Exeter High School, Janette Nunez from Reading High School and Alvernia University Criminal Justice Program student Sean Buck as the winners of $1,500 scholarships along with the Honorable Albert A. Stallone and Patricia H. Frankel, Esquire as Fifty-Year Members of the Bar.


     As you can see, the Berks County Bar Foundation supports many worthy causes and as such, we strongly urge your support of our upcoming annual fundraising campaign.

     Again, many thanks for your support of the Foundation and have an enjoyable summer!


                                Heidi B. Masano