of Central Bucks County and Surrounding Communities
Each year the Village Improvement Association donates hundreds of thousands of dollars to community groups that support our mission to enhance the health and welfare of our communities. Funding is raised from various activites such as the Bucks County Designer House & Gardens, the annual card party, various other social events, tours of our wonderful James-Lorah Memorial Home museum, rentals of the James-Lorah Auditorium, and, of course, donations from our members and the public. We thank you for your support.
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 — in a normal year — proceeds from VIA’s largest fundraiser – the Bucks County Designer House & Gardens.
Note: Please do not apply directly to the VIA for support. For your privacy, we arrange donations through our partner organizations. Learn more about some of the community agencies we work with: Bucks County Housing Group Food Pantries, Bucks County Intermediate Unit, Doylestown FISH, Valley Youth House, Ann Silverman Health Clinic, A Woman’s Place, and others.
We raised $43,961 that is already helping to provide food, housing, and other critical needs to our community.
Learn more about the campaign and its impact through the links, below.
VIA’s Neighbors in Need Now Campaign Highlighted in Senior Living
Bucks County Herald Article March 31 2022
Bucks County Herald Article February 24 2022
This Welfare Committee initiative is helping families affected by the opioid epidemic by providing essential baby items to parents of newborns with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS). Instead of staying in the Intensive Care Nursery, babies with NAS and their mothers stay in the Della Penna Pediatric Center, which has private rooms and specialized nursing care. The VIA provides the families a bag of comfort and help items, including sleep sacks to promote safe sleep, pacifiers to help improve their sucking reflex and other items including hats, blankets, baby wash, baby lotion, nursing pads, toys and books.
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. Past donations have gone to support PDSD and health programs, book donations and mailings, and family programs at Horsham’s Biddle Air National Guard base.
Annually, the VIA awards one-time Community Response grants to other non-profit organizations which address unmet community needs. Biannually, the VIA also selects and recognizes an individual or group who has contributed to the community consistent with the mission of the Village Improvement Association. These Community Recognition recipients are then honored at the June VIA Luncheon.
The VIA founded and still provides governance for our nationally recognized COMMUNITY health system. It’s far more than just the wonderful hospital!
