DiBattista Charitable Trust funds new Windber police cruiser, summer day camp building

Beth Ann Miller, The Daily American
·3 min read

Windber Borough has a new police cruiser and Windber Recreation Park has a new building for its summer day camp program, thanks to Raymond DiBattista's legacy of charitable giving and community service to his hometown and the Cambria-Somerset county region.

Mayor Mike Thomas, Police Chief Andrew Frear and Recreation Director Matt Grohal joined Barry and Elizabeth Jerley, trustees of the Raymond DiBattista Charitable Trust, as they presented both gifts on Friday at Windber Recreation Park.

The Raymond DiBattista Charitable Trust has funded a new police cruiser for Windber Borough and a building for the summer day camp program at Windber Recreation Park. Pictured are, from left to right: Mike Thomas, mayor of Windber Borough; Matt Grohal, recreation director at Windber Recreation Park; Elizabeth Jerley, trustee; Windber Police Chief Andrew Frear and Barry Jerley, trustee.

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These are among at least 10 projects that the trust has contributed to in 2022 and 2023, totaling over $275,000 in support to date for the community's police and fire departments, veterans' organizations, events like Miners' Day and Light Up Night and educational scholarships, according to the Jerleys.

"He would be very happy this was taking place," Barry Jerley said about his long-time Windber Borough neighbor, mentor and friend, who died in Sept. 2021.

A community-minded businessman

DiBattista was one of the owners of United Metal Fabricators along Eisenhower Boulevard in Johnstown, which makes exam tables, stools, cabinets and other medical equipment. During his lifetime, he donated money to a variety of educational, religious and community causes, and he served on the boards of numerous organizations across the region, including Windber, Johnstown, Meyersdale and Altoona.

"He lived for that," Jerley said. "Ray was deeply into education and very community-minded. It's an honor to be asked (to be the trustees) and do what we can for the community. It's great to see that what he was interested in and involved in will go on."

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The trust paid for the fully-equipped cruiser, with a dash camera and license plate reader among its added equipment.

"It's great for the police department and the borough," Frear said, noting that the cost of the car with its new equipment was $56,000.

Thomas agreed, saying that the donation helps the borough maintain the police resources that they know the residents want and need.

"It can be tough to come up with money (to upgrade equipment) every year," he said.

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The Raymond DiBattista Charitable Trust also entirely paid for a new building for the summer day camp program at Windber Recreation Park. This is the second summer that the day camp program will be held in the building, as it was built last year while renovations to the park's ballroom were underway.

Recreation Director Matt Grohal said the summer camp provides activities for about 100 children per day, from June to August. The building is also being rented out on weekends for graduation and birthday parties and similar events.

"It's made a huge financial gain for the park; the monies received (from camp registrations and weekend rentals) we are able to put back into the park," he said. "Without Barry and Elizabeth's support, we would be in a financial hardship here."

This article originally appeared on The Daily American: DiBattista Charitable Trust funding buys new police cruiser, day camp building