MILFORD, PA — Local nonprofits such as Pike County Historical Society, the Center for Developmental Disabilities and Choosing Integrity, came together on Thursday, July 29 to accept grants from the Richard Snyder Fund from the Greater Pike Community Foundation, with a total of $135,000 in funding handed out.  

One of the recipients of this fund was the River Reporter, which received $4,000 towards the Rob Stuart Media Futures Fund.

Lenore Rogan, the River Reporter’s Community Engagement Coordinator, explained what the money would be used for on Thursday.

“This award specifically is for our news ambassador initiative, which takes students and introduces them to journalism,” she commented. 

“Research shows many students and many people don’t have the opportunity to exercise their journalistic muscles,” she elaborated. Through the news ambassador program, “They [students] can understand how democracy works, how local government works, and how to become active and engaged participants.”

The news ambassador program is a program where volunteers attend government meetings and provide transcripts, recordings and meeting minutes to inform the public about valuable information. More information about the program can be found here.

Snyder was an active member of the Pike county community. He served on the boards of the Pinchot Institute for Conservation, Pike County Conservation District and Historic Preservation Trust of Pike County. He also played a part in founding the Greater Pike Community Foundation.

“His [Snyder’s] presence lingers on,” Laurie Stuart, the River Reporter’s Publisher and Owner said. “Thank you so much for supporting this civic journalism.”

Stuart explained that the Rob Stuart Media Futures Fund, which is hosted by the Wayne County Community Foundation, was created to honor her late brother, Rob Stuart, a social entrepreneur who worked to connect upstate forest owners with downriver water users through the Pinchot Institute for Conservation’s Common Waters Fund. 

This community connection is what her brother tried to achieve, and it is the River Reporter’s mission as well, Stuart explained. 

“I just want to invoke my little brother Robbie. I was the only one who could call him that in the end,” Stuart laughed.

Rick Little, executive director of the Greater Pike Community Foundation, shared with the River Reporter that it was important for the foundation to support local journalism, as many local newspapers are disappearing.

“The way that newspapers are [historically] funded is not sustainable for newspapers, which is why they have to be so very clever,” Stuart told the River Reporter.

“A lot of people think that newspapers just print news and give people the information that they need to improve their lives,” Stuart continued. While that is one of the purposes of the paper, Stuart added that there is a large responsibility to “help with civic engagement and dialogue.”

“We’re so grateful to be able to do this good work,” she said.

Donations to the Rob Stuart Media Futures Fund are tax deductible and directly support youth news initiatives and coverage on local issues such as data centers. For more information, click here.