U.S.
FirstEnergy Foundation Supersizes United Way of Berks County "Big Cheese" Event with $100,000 Grant
A $100,000 grant from The FirstEnergy Foundation to the United Way of Berks County's annual Big Cheese event is helping nourish children and adults facing food insecurity.
About this update from Firstenergy Corp.
[{"type":"text","content":"READING, Pa., Aug. 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- A $100,000 grant from The FirstEnergy Foundation to the United Way of Berks County's annual Big Cheese event is helping nourish children and adults facing food insecurity.","length":219,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"image","alt":"FirstEnergy Foundation Logo (PRNewsfoto/FirstEnergy Corp.)","displaySize":"","headline":null,"caption":"FirstEnergy Foundation Logo (PRNewsfoto/FirstEnergy Corp.)","className":"","disableSlideshowImg":false,"size":{"original":{"width":400,"height":171,"url":"https://media.zenfs.com/en/prnewswire.com/f102188871db611ea967a4d680ff9c12"},"resized":{"url":"https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/o.S4nleQ351IsmfBR0dEOQ--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTcwNTtoPTMwMTtjZj13ZWJw/https://media.zenfs.com/en/prnewswire.com/f102188871db611ea967a4d680ff9c12","width":400,"height":171}},"href":"https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/615089/FirstEnergy_Foundation_Logo.html","hrefExternal":true,"rel":"nofollow"},{"type":"text","content":"John Hawkins, FirstEnergy President, Pennsylvania: "Our employees show up year after year to support the United Way of Berks County's Big Cheese event – and this year we wanted to do even more. To honor United Way's 100th anniversary, the FirstEnergy Foundation contributed a $100,000 grant, helping to provide an incredible 500,000 meals to children and families facing food insecurity. That's double the number of meals from last year. It's a powerful way to strengthen the health and well-being of our communities, and we're proud to be part of it."","length":582,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"text","content":"The recent event took place at Penn State's Berks Campus gymnasium, where 1,000 volunteers assembled meal packages with macaroni and cheese, rice and beans and flavored oatmeal. Helping Harvest Fresh Food Bank and other local food banks distributed the packaged meals, including to the Reading School District for students and their families.","length":346,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"text","content":"Fighting Hunger, Fueling Futures Insufficient nutrition impairs children's development, while chronic hunger causes ongoing stress and anxiety for families uncertain about their next meal. In Berks County, one in five residents are food insecure – 25,000 of whom are children. More than three in five local school-aged children qualify fo...