May 6, 2021 3 min read

Comcast is offering the LeMoyne Community Center free high-speed internet for the next three years.

The company’s “Lift Zone” will expand internet services for the center and contribute to Comcast’s initiative “to help connect low-income families to the internet, so they can fully participate in educational opportunities and the digital economy,” a Tuesday press release stated.

Josephine Posti, Comcast’s senior public relations manager, said that since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the company recognized an increased need for “internet essentials.” She said they’ve been “installing these ‘Lift Zones’ all over the country for low-income families who need broadband internet and need it at a reduced cost.”

The LeMoyne Center will be one of 23 Lift Zones in Western Pennsylvania, designed to provide free WiFi to low-income students in distance learning.

“The COVID-19 crisis continues to put many low-income students at risk of being left behind, accelerating the need for comprehensive digital equity and internet adoption programs to support them,” Lisa Birmingham, vice president of external and government affairs for Comcast’s Keystone Region, said in the news release. “We hope these Lift Zones will help those students who, for a variety of reasons, are unable to connect to effective distance learning at home.”

Posti said the company wanted to partner with community centers for this initiative, too, knowing that many students benefit from educational programs through places like the LeMoyne Center.

“We do have WiFi, but sometimes it’s difficult to get the connections,” said Linda Harris, the LeMoyne Center’s interim executive director. “This should eliminate some of problems we’ve had in the past.”

Comcast contacted the LeMoyne Center in March, Posti said. They hope to have the Lift Zone installed by the end of the month, in time for the center’s summer camps. Posti said Comcast will also provide them with free connectivity for three years, so the students will be able to take advantage of the better quality internet during the school year, too.

“The timing is perfect,” Harris said. “It’s wonderful because it will give our WiFi a boost, and we’ll be able to have 30 kids online at the same time. We already have Chromebooks for the kids, so it will definitely help with our educational programming. Education is a big part of our summer camp and our after-school program, so we’re really looking forward to this.”

In the news release, Washington County Commissioner Diana Irey-Vaughan called the Lift Zone at the LeMoyne Center a “welcome enhancement” as the county continues efforts to expand broadband internet.

“Access to the internet creates an immediate boost to education, economic, and social equity,” Irey-Vaughan said in the release.