Allentown Family Fund

The United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley established the Allentown Family Fund on February 14, 2011 – just five days after the tragic explosion that resulted in:
• The loss of five lives, including a four-month old baby
• Left 13 families homeless
• Destroyed eight homes, as well as, impacting the surrounding neighborhood of 37 homes and families in profound ways.

On February 23, the Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley became the nonprofit partner in the distribution of the fund’s resources. With TD Bank taking the lead, additional business partners joined the effort.

All of the impacted families have been included in the Allentown Family Fund outreach with personal visits, assessments of need, and disbursements of funds. A total of $210,550 have been made available to the families with payments ranging from a minimum of $500 to a maximum of $31,432 and counseling services available to everyone that was affected until February 2012.

In its generosity towards the victims of this tragedy, the Lehigh Valley has proven itself to be one community with individuals, faith-based and civic groups, schools and businesses contributing $210,550, to the Allentown Family Fund. On June 30, 2011, the United Way brought the Allentown Family Fund to a close with the final distribution of donated dollars to families. Anyone donating to the Allentown Family Fund after June 30 may either direct their gift to the United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley or have their donation returned to them.

TOTAL DONATIONS (as of June 30, 2011)
$210,550

UGI CORPORATE: $25,000

BUSINESSES: $37,629
(Includes funds from 15 corporate partners: Air Products, TD Bank, Highmark Blue Shield, Lehigh Valley IronPigs, Fisher Clinical Services, Inc., Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce, RCN, Rodale, Inc., Regan, Levin, Bloss, Brown & Savchak, P.C., Fitzpatrick, Lentz & Bubba, NAI Summit, PPL, Synchronoss Technologies, Inc., Verizon, Sodexo)


INDIVIDUALS: $9,685
(Includes funds from 150 individuals)


CIVIC & FAITH-BASED GROUPS: $42,646
(Includes funds from 46 organizations such as scouts, churches and schools, all of which held fundraisers)


UGI EMPLOYEES: $43,160

KNBT COLLECTION: $52,430