The Franklin Regional Panther Foundation has big plans for 2020, which were bolstered in late October by the announcement of an $18,000 donation from a local car dealership.

Officials at the nonprofit foundation received the donation from Robert Thomasson, general manager for Spitzer Toyota in Monroeville. It will help fund the foundation’s grants, which support innovative programming in the academics, arts and athletics.

Foundation president Charles Hergenroeder also announced plans for spring fundraising events, the first of which is “Dancing with the Panther Stars” in April, modeled after the popular “Dancing with the Stars” television show.

“We have a host of … celebrity dancers,” Hergenroeder said. “We’ll have food and beverages and it’ll be an interesting evening for everyone.”

Hergenroeder said the foundation also has plans to host its first 5K fundraiser walk in May.

“We’ll have food trucks available and it’s also going to be a sanctioned run for those people who are into running,” he said. “They’ll be able to get whatever those credits are. I’m more of a stroller than a walker.”

In August, the foundation awarded its fifth round of grants, totaling just under $12,000. Since its inception, the foundation has awarded more than $132,000 in innovation grants.

For more, see the foundation’s website.

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