A local craft brewery is making a big assist to an adult education initiative.

Parsons Brewing Company presented a cheque for over $1,600 to the Prince Edward Learning Centre on Tuesday.

The funds were generated from the first annual Parsons Brewing Company County Cup which was a four-team recreational hockey tournament that took place in Picton last month.

“It was a really fun time and held in the spirit of hockey fun,” Chris Parsons told the Gazette. “We hope to expand it for next year and bring in some teams from out of town but we want to keep it fun and non-competitive.”

The Acoustic Grill entry was the 2018 County Cup champion.

The Company co-founder and alesmith said PELC was an easy selection for a benefitting cause in terms of tournament proceeds given that he and his wife Samantha have a connection to the adult learning and employment skills program.
“We’ve come to know what PELC can do for young people in our community and we’ve been able to secure staff that have benefitted from the program so for us support this program that supports the youth and the future of Prince Edward County,” Parsons added.

The PELC is dedicated to helping adult learners acquire the skills needed to achieve their personal learning and employment goals.

Training and academic upgrading offered at PELC includes ongoing assessment, is self-paced, recognizes different learning styles, uses traditional and digital learning strategies and provides referrals to other agencies for a student’s next step.

Classroom instructor Lori Farrington accepted the donation on behalf of PELC and said the funding would go towards meeting the learning needs of the students currently enrolled in the program.

“Extra funding like this will help augment programming and provide experiential learning opportunities,” Farrington said. “When community-minded businesses like Parsons are able to assist PELC, they are positively impacting local young learners and helping keep youth engaged and employed in Prince Edward County.”