The YMCA of Metuchen, Edison, Woodbridge & South Amboy (MEWSA) has recently received a major grant in the amount of $10,000 from the Provident Bank Foundation to support their out-of-school S.T.E.A.M. (science, technology, engineering, art and math) Programs at the Metuchen, Edison and South Amboy YMCA branches.

As a leader in out-of-school programming, the YMCA is uniquely positioned to integrate S.T.E.A.M. into their out-of-school Early Ed and School Age Child Care programs to prepare youth to be academically successful by providing programs centered around S.T.E.A.M. principles.  In addition, the YMCA also offers fee-based programming for more advanced levels of S.T.E.A.M. learning, including Scratch (Coding/Programming), Robotics and Python.  The grant will enable the Y to subsidize the cost of this programming to children from underserved families in the community between the ages of 7-15, as well as to purchase relevant materials and equipment to provide a hands-on experience for building and experimenting.

Jane Kurek, Executive Director of The Provident Bank Foundation, along with Josephine Moran, Executive Vice President/Director of Retail Banking, Gabe Rosanio, Vice President/Market Manager, and George Dailey, Senior Vice President/Controller of Provident Bank, present the $10,000 check to YMCA of MEWSA President & CEO Rose Cushing, along with Bobby Kleinau, Vice President of Operations and Branch Leadership, Denise Zimmer, Director of Financial Development and children from the Metuchen branch’s YMCA pre-school program.

For more information on these S.T.E.A.M. Programs, please contact: for the Metuchen Branch, please contact Pamela Cohen at 732-548-2044, ext. 2226 or at pam.cohen@ymcaofmewsa.org.  For the Edison Branch, please contact Jennifer Guthlein at 732-494-3232, ext. 3509 or at jennifer.guthlein@ymcaofmewsa.org.  For the South Amboy Branch, please contact Judith Murawski at 732-553-9622, ext. 4208 or at judith.murawski@ymcaofmewsa.org.