BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Oct. 1, 2020 – United Way of Southern Kentucky has received a $200,000 grant from the PNC Foundation to create the Play and Learn Village, powered by PNC Grow Up Great®. The village will include a PNC Music Garden, a United Way Born Learning Trail and PNC Play and Learn Village in the newly renovated playground at Roland Bland Park.
The PNC Music Garden will contain colorful musical instruments for children to play with and learn coordination skills. Surrounding the Music Garden will be several fun and interactive “playhouses” including a bank, firehouse, music shop and farmers market. Throughout the village, visitors will be able to experience United Way’s 5th Born Learning Trail, which will feature ten engaging educational activities.
“We are thrilled to partner with PNC and the City of Bowling Green to bring this incredible park to life. We know that the community will benefit greatly from the interactive play opportunities the Learning Village, Music Garden, and Born Learning Trail will provide. The impact it will have on building key Kindergarten Readiness skills will affect generations of children in the years to come, ” stated Debbie Hills, President and CEO of United Way of Southern Kentucky.
The goals of the Play and Learn Village, powered by PNC Grow Up Great include improving school-readiness scores, increasing opportunities for learning through play and expanding learning environments for children under the age of 5 in Bowling Green and Warren County. The play-based park aligns with United Way of Southern Kentucky’s community impact work through kindergarten-readiness.
“PNC understands how critical high-quality early childhood education is to ensuring the growth of our community and ultimately, the Kentucky economy,” said Chuck Denny, PNC regional president for Louisville. “Few things are more important than making high-quality early childhood learning experiences accessible to our entire community, and that’s the reason we support the Play and Learn Village, powered by PNC Grow Up Great.”
With its scaled learning activities for children birth to age eight, and with proximity to many community attractions, the Play and Learn Village, powered by PNC Grow Up Great will provide parents, caregivers, and the community ease of access to quality learning opportunities.
The PNC Foundation, which receives its principal funding from The PNC Financial Services Group (www.pnc.com), actively supports organizations that provide services for the benefit of communities in which it has a significant presence. The foundation focuses its philanthropic mission on early childhood education and community and economic development, which includes the arts and culture. Through Grow Up Great, its signature cause that began in 2004, PNC has created a bilingual $500 million, multi-year initiative to help prepare children from birth to age 5 for success in school and life.
For more information on how you can make the choice to LIVE UNITED through giving, advocating and volunteering, log on to the United Way of Southern Kentucky website at www.liveunitedtoday.com.
United Way of Southern Kentucky (UWSK) is a local, independent, non-profit organization that works to identify and address the issues that matter most, change conditions and improve lives. The mission of United Way of Southern Kentucky is to be the leader in bringing together the resources to build a stronger, more caring community. United Way is focused on the building blocks for good quality of life – Education, Income, Health and Safety Net. Therefore, the vision of United Way is a Southern Kentucky where all residents are educated, healthy, and financially stable. Incorporated as a charitable non-profit entity in 1956, UWSK has long served a major role in the community by bringing people together to create opportunities that make a measurable difference in the quality of life for people where they live and work.
