How a Small-Town Club Invests in Rural Centre County

On Friday afternoons in Centre County, the school week ends the way it always has. Lockers close. Buses line up. Teachers stack papers into neat piles. For some students, though, the walk to the bus includes something extra: a backpack filled quietly and without attention. 

Inside are meals meant to carry them through the weekend. 

Each week, the Centre County YMCA Anti-Hunger Backpack Program provides 2,000 backpacks filled with food to students who need reliable meals over the weekend. Every Friday during the school year, children take these backpacks home so they have enough to eat until they return to school on Monday. Across Centre and Clearfield Counties, the program serves more than 2,000 students each year. It operates on an annual budget of about $160,000 and is sustained by volunteers, school partners, donors, and community organizations. 

The Milesburg Lions Club supports the program through its designated fund at Centre Foundation, providing annual financial support raised locally by club members to help ensure the backpacks continue reaching students in rural Centre County. 

The Lions’ contribution does not fund the entire program. It was never meant to. Instead, it represents something equally important: steady, local commitment. 

The need did not show up with headlines. It became visible in conversations with school staff, in guidance offices, and in the drop in focus some students experienced at school on Monday mornings due to hunger. 

When the cafeteria closes on Friday, consistent access to meals often closes with it. 

Mel Curtis, who has led the YMCA’s anti-hunger efforts for two decades, speaks about the program plainly. “We’re removing a barrier,” he says.” Not solving poverty. Not ending hunger. Removing a barrier that can stand between a child and the ability to concentrate in class.” 

In Milesburg, the Lions Club recognized that barrier. The club has been part of the community since 1962, serving through local fundraising, youth sponsorships, and hands-on volunteer work. Over time, members have seen how challenges in rural communities develop gradually and how steady support can make a measurable difference. 

In 2022, the club chose to strengthen its service by establishing a series of designated funds at Centre Foundation. A designated fund provides an organization with a structured, long-term charitable resource. In this case, the club defined the fund’s purpose, and the Foundation administers and stewards the fund so it can provide consistent support year after year. It has turned volunteer fundraising into something designed to last. 

“For us, it’s about making sure the money we raise here keeps working here,” says Milesburg Lions Club Treasurer Mike Zucco. “We’re a small-town club. When we support something like the Backpack Program or a scholarship, we know it’s helping families in our own backyard. That matters.” 

Since partnering with Centre Foundation, the Milesburg Lions Club has directed more than $100,000 in designated support across rural Centre County. The YMCA Backpack Program is just one expression of that commitment. 

The Lions also created funds to support scholarships for Bald Eagle Area students pursuing post-secondary education; to assist campers with special needs attending Pennsylvania Lions Beacon Lodge Camp; to strengthen Citizens Hook and Ladder Fire Company; to sustain the Milesburg Food Pantry; and to preserve the Mountain Top Swimming Pool, a gathering place for families each summer.  

Each fund supports a different part of daily life. Education. Safety. Food security. Recreation. Together, they form a broader investment in what allows a rural community to function and grow. 

Through designated funds administered by Centre Foundation, the Milesburg Lions Club has created a way for dollars raised in Milesburg to circulate back into the community in practical, accountable ways. 

And over time, that steady approach, not flashy and not one-time, is what strengthens rural Centre County. 

Here, helping stays local. You see the difference up close.