The Pittsburgh Project August Newsletter

Summer Camp '23 Highlight

This summer was full of fun, worship, learning, and growing. One of the highlights was having the Pittsburgh Thunderbirds, our city's professional ultimate frisbee team, come and lead weekly clinics with our students.

The students learned how to play ultimate frisbee, and they learned what it takes to compete at a professional level. Our goal each summer is to expose our students to sports, activities, and careers to expand their view of what they could be in the future. This class was once a week for six weeks this summer. Seeing the relationships between the players and the students was a joy. Watching the kids grow in knowledge and skill of the sport was exciting. We were grateful that the Pittsburgh Thunderbirds invited us to watch them play their final home game to end our summer elective!

New Staff Hire: Director of Development - Rachel Martin

My name is Rachel Martin, and in June, I joined the staff at The Pittsburgh Project as the new Director of Development. My role is to help build meaningful connections, procure funding sources through tasks like grant writing, and work with our donor base. I have several years of experience in this area, and I am so excited to be able to apply these skills and be a part of the work that is happening in the community.

I have had an ongoing relationship with The Pittsburgh Project and am excited to return in a full-time capacity. I previously worked on summer staff in 2014 and 2015 as a part of the Service Camp program. These years were a blessing and helped shape my faith and who I am as a person today. Even though my roots were in Homeowner Services, I am so encouraged by the refocus that TPP has undergone in the last few years and am excited to be a part of the journey moving forward as we work to Share Hope, Empower Youth, and Build Community.

I am looking forward to getting to know TPP supporters and to begin building relationships that will benefit the organization. God’s Light shines on this corner, and it is such a joy to be a part of His plan for this organization. Please partner with me in prayer as I continue to grow in this new role, and face whatever challenges may lie ahead. If you would like to learn more about me, or if there are any questions I can help with, please reach out via email.

Volunteer Spotlight 💡

One of the ways this summer unfolded differently for us was some new partnerships we are developing with different youth mission organizations. Our office manager, Del Treese, a former youth pastor, had previous experience with some of these organizations through various mission trips he had led. Through these collaborations, we were able to have students and leaders from Indiana, New Jersey, Michigan, Upstate New York, and central Pennsylvania come and log over 1,400 hours of service with us. We had a lot of spaces cleaned out, yard work, and planning activities for our summer day camp kids. Thank you to Group Missions Week of Hope and Praying Pelicans Missions for helping out, being flexible, and serving God and our community!

🍁 Fall Fest: October 20th 🍁

After School Registration is open!!!

LIT Scholarships

Our Leaders in Training (LIT) are high school students participating in a college prep and workforce development program at The Pittsburgh Project. Many of the LITs in the program have grown up at TPP. Each summer, young people who have successfully completed the LIT program are eligible for a small gap scholarship to cover expenses for higher education. This year, we distributed $11,000 in scholarships to students attending Penn West Clarion, Community College of Allegheny County, Penn West California, and Westmorland County Community College. We are very proud of each one of these young people and are grateful that we've had this opportunity to support them on their journey.