Kline Foundation support to HACC focuses on region’s safety
After more than 20 years of continual use, the Senator John J. Shumaker Public Safety Center (PSC) at HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College, was in critical need of expansion and renovation. The PSC is a major training ground for this region’s first responders, including municipal police officers, paid and volunteer firefighters, and emergency services personnel.
In 2009, HACC’s Board of Trustees approved the almost $15 million project. The Josiah W. and Bessie H. Kline Foundation was one of the first foundations to respond to HACC’s fundraising appeal and did so not just once, but twice.
The Kline Foundation’s first grant of $75,000 in 2009 to the HACC Foundation helped to fund the overall project. In 2011, the Kline Foundation provided a second grant of $35,000, specifically for a new trench rescue and confined space learning environment at the PSC.
The PSC expansion and renovation project was completed in the summer of 2012. First responders now train on cutting-edge, high-tech equipment in cost-efficient buildings. Instead of using an obsolete, outdoor firing range, police academy cadets learn their skills in a 25-lane, climate-controlled indoor facility. The new trench rescue area provides a safe environment for first responders to get necessary training for emergency situations they may encounter in real-life situations, and an expanded skid pad provides a safe environment for emergency vehicle operators to learn to handle their vehicles responsibly in high-speed driving situations.
All that and more were made possible by the Kline Foundation’s generosity. HACC and the HACC Foundation have its generous donors to thank for helping to train the men and women who keep our communities safe.