The John E. Morgan Foundation has awarded the Lehigh Carbon Community College Foundation a $250,000 grant expanding its support of the college and its scholarship support of Tamaqua Area High School (TAHS) students.

The first part of the grant, approximately $150,000, will be used to purchase, outfit and operate a passenger van for the college to transport students between its sites, especially between the Morgan Center in Tamaqua and main campus in Schnecksville, North Whitehall Township.

The remaining $100,000 will be used to create a scholarship fund for Tamaqua Area High School students to take LCCC dual enrollment courses. These funds will provide tuition for up to 100 students over four years in two cohorts of junior and senior year students.

The John E. Morgan Foundation, based in Tamaqua, honors the philanthropic life of the late industrialist who died in 2001 at age 89. He invented the waffle stitch used in long underwear and blankets in the late 1950s, sold his knitting mills in 1984, and continued his lifetime work as a philanthropist.

The Lehigh Carbon Community College Foundation, founded in 1975, seeks to turn student aspirations into reality through education by providing philanthropic support to Lehigh Carbon Community College. The LCCC Foundation helps hundreds of students each year by providing scholarships and other financial opportunities. In addition, the LCCC Foundation plays a key role in developing new connections to alumni and community members.