Three Hughesville High School alumni from the class of 1983 awarded $5,000 at the basketball game Friday night to go to the East Lycoming Education Foundation. Announced by board President, Geneva Peck, they are (left to right): Vince Grieco, Joe Ferry and and Mike Culver.

HUGHESVILLE – Introduced just last year, the East Lycoming Education Foundation (ELEF) has been “growing exponentially” according to Superintendent Michael Pawlik.

Three “true Spartans at heart” as indicated in a welcoming speech by ELEF board member and President, Geneva Peck, came together at Friday night’s home basketball game against Loyalsock to donate $5,000 towards the Foundation.

All from the class of ’83, Joe Ferry, Mike Culver and Vince Grieco who have been best friends since elementary school according to classmates, presented a check to Geneva Peck, on behalf of the Education Foundation.

Joseph Ferry, a former sports athlete, is owner of All Sports Enterprises and “was instrumental in the completion of East Lycoming’s new turf facility. Ferry has also supported the Sean Thomas Foundation and the Nick Myers Foundation. To this day, Ferry continues to compete nationally in his favorite sport, tennis, where he lives near West Chester.

Michael Culver participated in football, basketball and wrestling when he was at Hughesville High School. He now lives in Centre County where he supports many community projects as well as numerous golf tournaments. “I believe in giving back to the kids of our communities,” he said. Culver has coached various youth sports teams throughout the years since graduation.

Foundation Family Fun Night was held last Friday at Hughesville's home basketball game against Loyalsock when 3 elementary students (front row) Kayla Zechman, Sadia Ammar-Khodja, and Jay Kerschner won a basketball from a raffle to help raise funds for the Education Foundation. Each basketball was signed by all of the boys and girls basketball players at the school. Back row l to r: Geneva Peck, Mike Culver, Vince Grieco, Joe Ferry, Mike Pawlik and Mike Bieber.

Vince Grieco who still lives in the area, attended East Stroudsburg University where he graduated in 1987. For the past 22 years, Grieco has been District Sales Manager for Fed-Ex and is currently coaching for the girl’s elementary basketball league. He has also served on the Board of the Sean Thomas Foundation for 5 years, and chairs the HHS Boys Basketball fundraiser.

The East Lycoming Foundation was established as a non-profit organization to provide funding and educational experiences to enrich education in the community. One of the ways the funding is used is for scholarships for seniors. “The more people who can hear about this, then the foundation can grow and continue to give us overwhelming support,” added Pawlik who also stated that a grant from the Foundation was used to purchase 100 i-pads for the elementary students. “Everything we do for the foundation has to be related to East Lycoming students,” he said.

Under Pawlik’s guidance, there is a full board of directors. They are: Geneva Peck, Mike Bieber, Michael Pawlik, Dave Maciejewski, Renee Laychur, Michael Getz, Lee Ann Hawk, Pauline Montgomery, Bob Hager, Tom Hess and Gina Michael.

To make a donation, call 570-584-2131 or e-mail to mpawlik@elsd.org.