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About The Lion Foundation's Earl Besch Fund...
Earl Besch (1926-2015) was a long time resident of Camp Hill Borough, who was known for his generosity to others. Earl would regularly reach out to the schools to see if there were families in need. He would offer to buy a bike, a winter coat, pay for camp enrollment or maybe purchase them a Christmas present. In 2015, his family established a memorial fund in his name to continue his legacy of caring. The Earl Besch Fund at The Lion Foundation provides others an opportunity to help those less fortunate in our community through donations to this fund. The Lion Foundation provides each school a grant from the Earl Besch Fund to help meet needs of needy students by covering the costs of field trips, club fees, SAT and testing fees, graduation expenses for things such as caps and gowns, and other unmet needs
Support the Earl Besch ProjectYou can support The Earl Besch Project in a number of ways!
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More about the Earl Besch Project
A few dedicated volunteers began to realize that each year, there are students and families in our Camp Hill community who are struggling to make ends meet. Kids don’t have enough food, don’t have winter coats, and cannot afford fees to participate in activities that are available to others. And so, the Earl Besch Project was formed. One of our visions for the Earl Besch Project during the 2019/20 school year was to be able to support these families with a monthly box of nutritious healthy foods, as well as household necessities to keep their grocery bills low.
In 2019, The Earl Besch Project:
In 2020-2021:
In 2021:
A few dedicated volunteers began to realize that each year, there are students and families in our Camp Hill community who are struggling to make ends meet. Kids don’t have enough food, don’t have winter coats, and cannot afford fees to participate in activities that are available to others. And so, the Earl Besch Project was formed. One of our visions for the Earl Besch Project during the 2019/20 school year was to be able to support these families with a monthly box of nutritious healthy foods, as well as household necessities to keep their grocery bills low.
In 2019, The Earl Besch Project:
- Raised funds through donations from the High School Student Council, a MSHSA/CHEPTO Hersheypark ticket fundraiser, donations from Cornerstone Coffee Shop’s Harvest Hop Corn Hole competition, and a student K-12 Coin War in honor of Earl’s birthday.
- Extended our BackPack program through the summer months by teaming up with local churches to prepare and deliver boxes filled with nutritious healthy foods, as well as, household necessities to help all the families in the BackPack Program that is supported by Camp Hill United Methodist Church. Perishable items were discounted by Karns. West Shore Baptist sponsored and delivered the June food boxes. July boxes were funded by Trinity Lutheran Church, Mt. Calvary Episcopal Church and The Earl Besch Fund. Mt Calvary filled and delivered the July boxes. Camp Hill Presbyterian Church took care of the August delivery.
- Created Caring Closets with snacks and hygiene items at each school.
- Sponsored food drives at all the schools and a gift giving tree for the holiday season. Trinity Lutheran Church provided Thanksgiving meals for all the family members in The BackPack Program.
In 2020-2021:
- Dedicated volunteers formed a partnership with the Central PA Food Bank and began operating a full scale choice food pantry for students and their families.
In 2021:
- Earl Besch Project Leaders are working in partnership with The Lion Foundation, the Camp Hill School District, and Camp Hill United Methodist Church, to develop long range plans to meet the needs of our most vulnerable students and their families.
Do you have gently used clothing you would like to donate to a good cause?
The Lion Foundation and the Camp Hill School District have entered into a partnership with CommunityAid and will be placing a collection bin in the Camp Hill High School/Middle School parking lot. Proceeds from the bin will benefit The Earl Besch Needy Student Fund. As part of the partnership:
- Any donated items placed in this collection bin will be credited to receive a $.04 per pound of clothing donation from CommunityAid to The Lion Foundation Earl Besch Needy Student Fund.
- Community Aid will also donate $300 in store clothing gift cards quarterly per school. We can then give $25 cards to spend in our local thrift stores discretely to our neediest students. This is an easy way to help families struggling to clothe their children.
- Finally, following 12 months of partnership, The Lion Foundation may apply for need-based grants from CommunityAid of up to $5,000 toward our mission.