Brandywine Valley Water Garden Tour Raises $16,500 for the Chester County Food Bank

Chester County has once again shown its huge heart and inherent generosity. Due to the active participation and support of the customers, committee members, sponsors and family members, the Brandywine Valley Water Garden Tour has managed to raise an impressive $16,500 for the Chester County Food Bank.

Many residents and businesses opened their properties for this year’s annual Pond and Garden Tour Fund Raisers, helping the Tour reach this impressive figure. This brings the total donated to the Chester County Food Bank since the tour began ten years ago, to over $80,000.00.

This kind of strong local supports helps the organization immensely as it maintains 90 food cupboards and meal sites. The check was presented to the Food Bank’s Executive Director, Larry Welsch, on October 1st.

Chesco Honored for its Comprehensive Transit Planning

Chester County has been recognized by the Greater Valley Forge Transportation Management Association for its sustainability efforts.

Chester County was presented with the silver-level award for its multi-modal handbook, a comprehensive reference guide for municipalities on the different options when looking to incorporate various modes of transportation into land-use plans.

Chesco was also commended for the effective implementation of its public transportation plan, work on the area’s enviable trail network, and that it offers employees places to secure their bicycles if they choose to cycle to work.

Maureen Farrell, Assistant Director for the association which gave out a total of 45 sustainability awards this year to colleges, companies, and governments and stated that “these organizations are leaders in making investments and caring about quality of life for their employees and helping to reduce congestion.”

DuckDuckGo CEO Calls Out the Myth on the Need to Track People to Earn Money

During a YCombinator’s Hacker News AMA (Ask me Anything) on October 7th, the CEO and founder of Paoli based DuckDuckGo, Gabriel Weinberg, revealed that its search engine is earning a profit.

This is despite DuckDuckGo’s extensive efforts to protect its users privacy by not tracking their online activity and search history, which is not the case with most other major search engines. The engine which saw a huge uptick in activity post the NSA mass surveillance revelations, instead works the ‘old fashioned’ way, by using keywords.

“Most of the money is still made without tracking people by showing you ads based on your keyword, i.e. type in ‘car’ and get a car ad,” said Weinberg during the AMA. “These ads are lucrative because people have buying intent. All that tracking is for the rest of the internet without this search intent, and that’s why you’re tracked across the internet with these same ads.”

Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital Hosts its First Swing Golf Clinic

Bryn Mawr Rehabilitation Hospital hosted the 2015 First Swing Golf Clinic on Wednesday, September 30, by partnering with the Eastern Amputee Golf Association and RiverCrest Golf Club & Preserve.

Fifteen eager golfers took part in the event that was coordinated by three representatives from the EAGA, four RiverCrest Golf Pros, and 15 staff members from Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital. The participants included people coping with stroke, brain injury, amputation, and spinal cord injuries. While some of them had never golfed before, others were old pros back on the course for the first time after their injury/illness.

Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital, which is a member of Main Line Health and a leader in the field of physical medicine and rehabilitation, is able to offer this free event due to generous support from sponsors.

Cheyney President Reveals Plans to Stop Plummeting Enrollment

Cheyney University Interim President, Frank Pogue, has unveiled plans to recapture the historically black college’s declining enrollment.

This includes steps such as offering academically rigorous courses focused on recruiting minorities and veterans that are eligible for tuition-free education, as well as increasing online learners. Enrollment at the university has decreased 50 percent over the last five years, with close to 30 percent of that in just the last year.