Bitfarms Ltd. wants to be a good neighbor in the community.

To date, the company, which owns Panther Creek Power Plant and is proposing a multiphase high performance computing/AI data center in Nesquehoning, has given $10,000 to Narrow Valley Sportsplex for its summer kids program this past summer; as well as pledged purchasing two speed monitoring signs that will be installed along Route 54 as part of the borough’s speed sign project.

But as the company looked at the needs of the Nesquehoning community, one thing stood out: the need to help build a stronger school system.

This week, representatives from Bitfarms announced that the company started a partnership with the Panther Valley School District, pledging approximately $1 million over the next three years.

“We’ve already started paying that into their account,” said Liam Wilson, chief operating officer for Bitfarms.

He said that the group met with Robert Palazzo and Principal Paula Jones and toured the elementary school to see what needs could be fulfilled.

“They identified five areas that we could put some money into,” he said.

The first is creating a new role for a community school coordinator at the elementary school. This person would be the liaison between home life and school life for the students, making sure they are attending school, are fed, clothed properly and performing at the best of their ability.

Secondly is the after-school program, which normally was filled by the SHINE program, however funding didn’t allow for it through that program this year.

“There’s already 125 kids signed up for the afterschool program which kicked off last month,” Wilson said. “It’s been fantastically successful.”

The company also provided funds to add bus routes for that program, which will help parents who need to work later than the school day; as well as is a major sponsor of the Panther Valley Food Pantry, filling in financial gaps to allow the pantry to fill the shelves with the necessary food items people need.

And the last item the school asked for was “a safe and engaging environment” so Bitfarms will be spending approximately $160,000 to upgrade the elementary school playground.

“The playground is very, very, very small and there’s about 130-140 kids in each grade,” Wilson said. “You can only get a fraction of those on the playground at once so the teachers are running some on the football field and some in the play area. We’re building a whole new play area, almost tripling the size there.”

The school has also provided a list of fixes that need to be completed to help the elementary school long-term, at least until a new school is built and Wilson said they are looking at what they can do at the school.

One thing Bitfarms has created that wasn’t on the school’s list but was something they felt necessary, was for the teachers.

“Ben (Gagnon), our CEO, and I were pretty touched by their openness,” Wilson said. “Teachers actually pay for all of the Halloween, Christmas and Thanksgiving things themselves. We set up a discretionary account for them at Amazon and Walmart where they can draw down as needed to make sure they’re not spending $1 of their own money.

“We want to make sure the kids are engaged and they’re doing fun things, but not at the teachers’ sacrifice. That’s just completely inappropriate.”

There is $70,000 in that account for year one with an additional $60,000 each year moving forward.

“They can draw down as needed to make sure they’ve got everything that they want,” Wilson said.

He stressed that this funding support to Panther Valley was not because of the data center, but because Bitfarms likes to invest in the communities they are located within.

“Our futures are aligned,” he said. “We view this not as a donation, but as an investment because we also want the kids from here coming through to have a fantastic education and because we want them to work with us in the long term as well.”