ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Scores of Lehigh Valley organizations are getting a boost from one of the region’s largest philanthropic groups.
The Harry C. Trexler Trust is distributing more than $5.7 million, trustees announced Tuesday.
A third of that money — $1.92 million — will go to Allentown to support the “improvement, extension and maintenance” of city parks.
Allentown gets large annual contributions from the trust, as the magnate stipulated in his will.
Allentown’s Trexler Memorial Park welcomes visitors to Trexler’s former 144-acre summer estate, then known as Springwood Park.
He also donated more than 30 acres of his property to help launch Lehigh Parkway.
Parknership and other causes
More than 70 groups, mostly based in Allentown, will split the remaining $3.8 million.
The trust is giving $300,000 to the Allentown Parknership, a nonprofit launched last year to support the city’s park system.
The Parknership is embarking on its first project, building a new full-size basketball court at Stevens Park.
The $75,000 court is funded through the nonprofit’s Dorothy Rider Pool Endowment for Culture, Arts and Education.
“We are especially pleased that we had the resources to support organizations that provide essential food to our neighbors when the need is high and government funding has become uncertain."Charlie Marcon, Trexler Trust board of trustees chairman
The Trexler Trust invested more than a half-million dollars over the past five years to establish the Parknership, which also used financial support from the Rider Pool Foundation.
Ten other groups stand to receive six-figure grants, including the Salvation Army, Lehigh Conference of Churches and Allentown Art Museum.
The Baum School of Arts stands to get three separate grants — $27,500 for its City Arts Camp, $100,000 to help cover operating expenses and a $100,000 pledge that’s the first of three installments for a building expansion, according to the trust.
And a $100,000 grant is the trust’s final grant to help fund the Da Vinci Science Center’s expansion.
'Provide essential food to our neighbors'
Ripple Community Inc. is set to get $125,000 to help with its operating expenses. Ripple is working to convert the former Emmanuel United Church of Christ at 1547 W. Chew St. into a dozen “deeply affordable” apartments.
Allentown Area Ecumenical Food Bank is among several Lehigh Valley food banks that will get a Trexler Trust grant this year amid concerns over federal funding.
“We are especially pleased that we had the resources to support organizations that provide essential food to our neighbors when the need is high and government funding has become uncertain,” Charlie Marcon, who chairs the trust’s board of trustees, said Tuesday in a release.
The Trexler Trust has distributed more than $193 million to Allentown and Lehigh County charities since awarding its first grants in 1935.
It will begin accepting applications for 2026 grants in September.
Check out the full list of grant winners below.
