of Central Bucks County and Surrounding Communities
The VIA is always working to improve the health and well being of the communities within Bucks County. Learn more about our impact here.
Each year the VIA donates hundreds of thousands of dollars to our community. This year our biggest fundraiser, the Bucks County Designer House & Gardens, is delayed until September, which means our major income is delayed now, when it is needed most.
The VIA created this special “Neighbors in Need NOW” campaign to help meet those needs, and you can help.
We are focusing on our oldest committee, the Welfare Committee, because it has provided exactly the kind of help that’s needed now for the past 125 years! All funds received from this campaign will go to our Welfare committee and then out to our communities and families. The campaign will run from now through May 31, 2022.
The Welfare Committee, originally named the Charity Committee, was established in 1897 to serve those in need in the community. The committee receives referrals from area social service agencies and provides financial assistance for food, clothing, baby supplies, prescription medicines, car repairs, rent, and utilities.Annual winter gift-card giving assists financially challenged families of students enrolled in the Central Bucks School District. Members of the committee are available seven days a week to receive referrals. Welfare is funded by earnings from trusts, donations from VIA members and the community at large, and proceeds from VIA’s largest fundraiser – the Bucks County Designer House & Gardens.
The initiative is helping families affected by the opioid epidemic by providing essential baby items to parents of newborns with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS). The NAS Project is a sub-committee of the Welfare Committee.
The VIA awards one-time grants to other non-profit organizations which address unmet community needs.
The VIA is committed to empowering others through education and offers several awards and scholarships. The VIA offers Educational Scholarships, HOBY Scholarships, and Women’s Scholarships. Through the James-Lorah Memorial Home Committee, it also gives two awards: the James-Lorah Deed of Kindness Prize and the James-Lorah English Prize.
The mission of the Veterans Committee is to “Support the mission of the VIA by providing information on military issues to the VIA membership and by collecting and coordinating VIA donations to selected military charities.” The committee collects donations at the October and November VIA meetings and distributes the funds through the rest of the club year. The veteran-related charity is always consulted about its needs, and the committee purchases and delivers these selected items when possible
It’s much more than just our nationally recognized hospital . . . which was founded by the VIA in 1923.
