Northwest Savings Bank donated $10,000 to the Butler County Community College Education Foundation. At the presentation were, from left, Chris Martin, Northwest president of the Southwest Region; Jeannie Gilkey, manager of Northwest; Ben Jamieson, Northwest senior vice president; Nicholas Neupauer, BC3 president; and Sue Bennitt, BC3 Foundation board chair.

BUTLER TWP — The Butler County Community College Education Foundation announced last week that it will use a $10,000 gift from Northwest Savings Bank to support high school programming initiatives.

The gift, made through the Pennsylvania Educational Improvement Tax Credit, will provide financial aid for students who want to earn college credits through BC3 during their junior or senior years in high school.

“We look at this as an investment in the young people in our region,” said Ben Jamieson, senior vice president of Northwest Savings Bank, in a BC3 news release.

He was one of several bank executives who presented the check to the foundation at its meeting on Sept. 13.

According to Jane Dollhopf, coordinator of high school programming at BC3, more than 600 high school students participate in the college’s high school program every year.

“The program is an affordable way to take classes that transfer to hundreds of public and private universities and also gives students experience with the study skills required for college level courses,” Dollhopf said in the release.