The back to school season can be difficult for children and families in need. You can help by sponsoring a child or by donating new clothes, backpacks and other supplies.

If you become a sponsor, Family Service will provide you with the grade level, age and clothing sizes of a specific child so you can fill a backpack with supplies, a lunch box and a new outfit. This is a great option if you’re already planning to shop for your child or grandchild, and Family Service is happy to honor age or grade level requests depending on availability. Groups or companies are welcome to sponsor multiple children.

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Penn Community Bank Executive Vice President and Chief Relationship Officer Todd R. Hurley, right, presents a check for $22,500 to, from left, Family Service Association of Bucks County Board President Michael J. Mattie, Chief Advancement Officer Joanne Bogrett and President and CEO Audrey J. Tucker during the nonprofit’s annual fundraiser, the Drive for Youth Golf Outing, on June 5 at Jericho National Golf Club in New Hope.

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Penn Community Bank, Bucks County’s leading independent, mutual financial organization, is proud to announce the donation of $22,500 to Family Service Association of Bucks County, a nonprofit that provides invaluable resources and assistance to those in need throughout Bucks County.

With offices in Bristol, Langhorne, Doylestown and Quakertown, Family Service aids nearly 30,000 people across Bucks County each year. While the organization may be best known for running the Bucks County Emergency Homeless Shelter in Levittown, it also offers a variety of programs aimed at increasing opportunities for adults, protecting seniors, reducing substance abuse, improving the lives of those with mental illness, preparing children for the future, and much more.

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Fathers today are fighting a battle that dads in the past didn’t even envision — social media.

Heck, most families didn’t even have a computer in the house in 1990. The Department of Labor Statistics shows that between 1990 and 1997, the percentage of households owning computers increased from 15 percent to 35 percent.

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Since she became homeless two years ago, Renee has felt invisible. And without a copy of her birth certificate, she essentially is invisible to government agencies.

Renee, who didn’t want to give her last name, said she lost her belongings — including her purse with identification and government paperwork — when the Bristol Township tent city where she was living was bulldozed in January. She recently moved into the Family Service Association’s Bucks County Emergency Homeless Shelter, which requires residents obtain proof of identification — but works with people like Renee to help them get it.

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Swinging on the monkey bars and zooming down the slide at the local park are some of the best childhood memories. But what happens when the only playground available is rusted, broken down and a safety hazard? This was the case at the Bucks County Emergency Homeless Shelter in Levittown until four local banks donated $50,000 to pay for renovations.

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Family Service is raising funds for its programs and services that help children and families in our community by hosting its 18th Annual Drive for Youth Golf Outing. Last year, Family Service provided direct services to more than 1,800 children and teens in need.

Services include school-based counseling, job development for high school students with disabilities, family reunification, teen support, parent education, suicide prevention and emergency shelter.

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Team effort has propelled the United Way of Bucks County’s success in helping those in need for the past 65 years, says Brian Jeter, chairman of the UW board.

Friday’s turnout of more than 250 people for the kickoff breakfast for the United Way’s Bucks Knocks Out Hunger campaign marked the start of the next 65 years of doing good for people throughout the county who need assistance, he said.

“It’s really a wonderful collection of community partners,” Jeter said as the anniversary breakfast concluded at the Spring Mill Manor in Northampton. “We really had a strong business showing today.”

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Family Service is raising funds for its programs and services that help children and families in our community by hosting its 18^th annual Drive for Youth Golf Outing.

Last year, Family Service provided direct services to more than 1,800 children and teens in need. Services include school-based counseling, job development for high school students with disabilities, family reunification, teen support, parent education, suicide prevention and emergency shelter.

Download full press release

I have been deeply troubled by the first budget presented by President Trump, which puts the Community Development Block Grant and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Community Services Block Grant programs on the chopping block. The Courier Times article from March 21 detailed just how devastating these cuts would be for our community.

The losses to our region — $1.7 million to Bucks County, a half a million to Bristol Township from the Community Development Grant, another $700,000 in HOME Investment Partnership program and $727,000 from Health and Human Services block grant — are staggering on the surface, but numbers do not even begin to tell the story.

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