The Lehigh Valley Health Network-Pocono Foundation recently made two donations to Monroe County organizations.

The foundation donated $6,000 to the Pocono Family YMCA to fund its new mobile kitchen cart and gave $10,600 to the East Stroudsburg Fire Department Acme Hose Co. #1, which will be used to help offset the cost of critical equipment.

The YMCA’s kitchen cart is fully equipped and will be used for cooking classes to educate people in the community on how to prepare nutritious food for their families.

Classes are scheduled to begin later this month.

The cart will also be used to support the YMCA’s new diabetes prevention program that is slated to kickoff this summer.

“We are so thankful and excited for the mobile kitchen cart and the opportunity to provide another type of service to our community,” said Erika Huber, associate executive director of the Pocono Family YMCA. “Bringing access to our community to learn about healthy cooking and nutrition while bringing generations together supports our mission and goals to provide programs for all ages, and to improve the quality of life in our community.”

The donation to the fire company will be used to offset the cost of equipment such as the Tower 21 Ladder Truck, which was purchased to fight fires in high-rise buildings.

“Supporting the ESFD is one of the many ways we give back to this community,” said Dave Woods, director of the LVHN-Pocono Foundation. “In the event we should ever have a fire emergency at LVH–Pocono, we want to ensure that our local fire department is well-equipped. This is part of our ongoing commitment to help those who serve and protect us.”

The foundation makes yearly donations to ESFD, totaling more than $150,000 over the last 15 years. The LVHN-Pocono Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Lehigh Valley Hospital-Pocono,

To learn more about the LVHN-Pocono Foundation or to make a donation, visit https://give.lvhn.org/pocono.