United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley will invest more than $13.5 million toward programs and services that strive to improve education, food access, healthy aging and emergency services in Lehigh, Northampton and Carbon counties.

Carbon County will receive a total of $50,000, split between different organizations in the area. Investments given to programs that help increase supports for persons with disabilities include $1,500 to Lehigh Valley Center for Independent Living to aid in job development, $1,000 to Peaceful Knights Inc. toward Men’s Emergency Shelter Utility Assistance and $1,000 to Turn To Us Inc. for Keegan’s Kash.

Investments given to organizations that increase access to healthy food and shelter include: $4,000 for Carbon County Action Committee for Human Services to aid in its Emergency Housing Assistance Program; $7,000 to Family Promise of Carbon County toward Shelter and Housing Supports; $2,000 to Meals on Wheels of Palmerton for meal delivery; and $4,000 to Shepherd House Inc. toward emergency food pantries in Carbon County.

Organizations that increase access to physical and mental health services include: $5,000 to PathStone Corporation for Child & Family Development Services; $4,000 to St. Luke’s Miners toward Adopt a School Program at Panther Valley School District; $4,000 for Victims Resource Center to benefit prevention education for children; $2,500 to Penn State Extension/Jim Thorpe School PROSPER Project toward the life skills program; $1,500 to Behavioral Health Associates for its behavioral health program; and $1,000 to Cancer Support Community of the Greater Lehigh Valley to benefit the Healthy Lifestyle Series.

Money invested to help increase kindergarten readiness and access to school-age programming include $1,000 to Catholic Social Services, Diocese of Scranton toward Big Brothers Big Sisters of The Bridge Serving Carbon County; $7,500 to Lehigh Carbon Community College Foundation and the SHINE Kindergarten Boot Camp; and $2,000 to Penn-Kidder Ministerium After-School Program for its Before and After-School Program.

Overall, United Way of Greater Lehigh Valley invested $5,968,867 in education, $513,261 in food access, $769,891 toward Healthy Aging, $600,000 to emergency services, $50,000 Carbon County programs/organizations, $75,000 toward additional community supports and $5,526,000 to designations for a total community investment of $13,503,019.