Foundation Stories
Mountaintop Area Medical Center Association
Several years ago, when the Mountaintop Area Medical Center received a $50,000 government grant to remodel and make repairs on the Snow Shoe facility, they were informed that a building permit would not be necessary. Some remodeling was already completed when work began on the roof last fall. Before long, however, inspectors from the Department of Labor and Industry visited the site and, upon learning that the repairs were was being done without a permit, physically removed the roofer from atop the building.
“And there the roof sat,” says McClelland Shaw, president of the Medical Center Association. “We went up ourselves and sealed it up. We laid tarps over it because winter was coming, but in the process, it leaked and ruined the inside, which we had just redone.” Fortunately, the center had received a $5,000 grant from the Centre County Community Foundation (which had been earmarked for discretionary purposes) as well as $5000 from another fund. “So we had to use that money as soon as spring came. We went up and re-did the roof properly, We just put it back the way it was and we put a rubber cap on top.” These funds were also used to repair the damage inside, as many of the new ceiling tiles were water-damaged over the winter and had to be replaced.
“A couple pieces got so wet they literally fell down,” Shaw explains.
“And there was some work that had to be done where the water ran down the walls and peeled all the paint off. These were all walls that we just had redone from this grant money from the government.” Shaw describes the money from the Community Foundation as a godsend. “We’re grateful that there’s a foundation in Centre County that does this sort of thing. It’s just a great help. We do appreciate it and we thank them very much. It’s such a blessing to get this money, and it always seems to come right when we need it. We need more organizations like this that people can know about and learn to utilize.”
