Township News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 5, 2016

Harrisburg, PA – PennDOT invites driver license and identification card holders to celebrate National Donate Life Month in April by registering to be an organ donor and sharing a unique opportunity to help others in need live longer, better lives.

Governor Tom Wolf has proclaimed April Donate Life Month in Pennsylvania.

“Potential donors can take action today to give a person awaiting a transplant hope by adding the organ donor designation to their license or identification card, rather than waiting for renewal time,” said PennDOT Secretary Leslie S. Richards. “The short amount of time you invest online requesting the designation for your license or identification card holds the potential to save a life.”

More than 8,000 Pennsylvanians currently await organ transplants. Currently, nearly 46 percent of driver’s license and identification card holders are registered organ donors – that’s more than 4.6 million Pennsylvanians.

“More organ donors means more seriously ill individuals awaiting transplant can have the opportunity to live a full, productive life,” said Secretary of Health Dr. Karen Murphy. “There is a transformative power in organ donation; just one donor may save up to eight lives and enhance the lives of more than 50 people.”

Customers can easily add the organ donor designation to an existing driver’s license or identification card by visiting www.dmv.pa.gov and selecting the “Donate Life Pennsylvania” icon in the middle of the home page. Once the designation is added, individuals will receive a designation card that they will have to carry with them to affirm organ donor status until they renew or replace their driver’s license or identification card. There is no charge for adding the designation to your driver’s license or identification card.

Driver’s license and identification card holders, as well as registered vehicle owners, can also support organ donation programs by donating $1 to the Robert P. Casey Memorial Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Trust Fund at the time of application and/or renewal. Proceeds from the fund are used to educate and promote awareness of the organ donor program through non-profit organizations like the Center for Organ Recovery and Education and the Gift of Life Donor Program. Pennsylvanians have generously donated nearly $13 million to the fund over the past 20 years.

As part of ongoing efforts to increase awareness of organ and tissue donation, video monitors featuring educational content are installed at 20 PennDOT photo license centers. More information on organ and tissue donation in Pennsylvania can be found at www.donatelife-pa.org.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Alexis Campbell, PennDOT, 717-787-0485, Amy Worden, Department of Health, 717-772-5014

Johnstown, PA – Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) Secretary Leslie S. Richards today announced at a media event that the Trillium CNG team, which includes Larson Design Group of Williamsport, has been selected for the department’s Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) transit fueling station Public-Private Partnership (P3) project.

Through the $84.5 million project, Trillium will design, build, finance, operate and maintain CNG fueling stations at 29 public transit agency sites through a 20-year P3 agreement. Stations will be constructed over the next five years and the firm will also make CNG-related upgrades to existing transit maintenance facilities.

ATLANTA – The U.S. Small Business Administration announced today that certain Private NonProfit organizations (PNP)s in Pennsylvania that do not provide critical services of a governmental nature may be eligible to apply for low interest rate disaster loans.  These loans are available following a Presidential disaster declaration for Public Assistance resulting from damages caused by a severe winter storm and snowstorm on Jan. 22 – 23, 2016.

PNPs located in the following Pennsylvania counties are eligible to apply: Adams, Bedford, Berks, Blair, Bucks, Chester, Cumberland, Dauphin, Fayette, Franklin, Fulton, Juniata, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton, Perry, Philadelphia, Schuylkill, Somerset, Westmoreland and York.  Examples of eligible non-critical PNP organizations include, but are not limited to, food kitchens, homeless shelters, museums, libraries, community centers, schools and colleges.

PNP organizations may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory and other business assets.  The interest rate is 2.625 percent with terms up to 30 years. Applicants may be eligible for a loan amount increase up to 20 percent of their physical damages, as verified by the SBA for mitigation purposes.  Eligible mitigation improvements may now include a safe room or storm shelter to help protect property and occupants from future damage caused by a similar disaster.

The SBA also offers Economic Injury Disaster Loans to help meet working capital needs, such as ongoing operating expenses to PNP organizations.  Economic Injury Disaster Loan assistance is available regardless of whether the organization suffered any physical property damage.

Applicants may apply online using the Electronic Loan Application (ELA) via SBA’s secure website at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela.

Disaster loan information and application forms may also be obtained by calling the SBA’s Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955 (800-877-8339 for the deaf and hard-of-hearing) or sending an email to disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.  Loan applications can also be downloaded from www.sba.gov/disaster.  Completed applications should be mailed to:  U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155.

“PNP organizations are urged to contact their County’s Emergency Manager to obtain information about local briefings.  At the meeting, PNP representatives will need to provide information about their organization,” said Frank Skaggs, director of SBA Field Operations Center East in Atlanta.  The information will be submitted to FEMA to determine eligibility for a Public Assistance grant or whether the PNP should be referred to SBA for disaster loan assistance.

The filing deadline to submit applications for physical property damage is May 23, 2016.   The deadline to submit economic injury applications is Dec. 23, 2016.

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For more information about the SBA’s Disaster Loan Program, visit our website at www.sba.gov/disaster

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