ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office is donating $100,000 in drug forfeiture funds to help keep an Allentown Boys and Girls Club facility open.

Forfeiture funds include money seized from convicted drug dealers, according to a news release from the DA’s office.

The DA’s office said the Boys and Girls Club of Allentown’s Cumberland Gardens offers educational and recreational after-school and summer programs for hundreds of children each year. The facility has served the South Side Allentown community for nearly five decades.

Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin Holihan said the impact is felt beyond the court at the Boys and Girls Club of Allentown Cumberland Gardens location.

“We see programs like this as a long-term project in reducing crime and delinquency in our community,” said Holihan.

It is why his office is donating $100,000 in drug asset forfeiture money to the club. This is all in an effort to help the facility reach its $500,000 fundraising goal, so it can operate the next 3-5 years.

“It allows good kids to stay good kids. It allows them to become good teenagers; it allows them to become good adults,” said Holihan.

According to the DA’s office, the Cumberland Gardens location had faced possible closure due to a cut in federal funding to the Allentown Housing Authority.

The DA’s office said the funding cut is leading to the Boys and Girls Club having to pay rent for their Clubhouse that was previously donated, while also now covering the cost of staff.

“We know that when Boys and Girls Club closes in a city, that over 16 percent in violence increases,” said Katarah Jordan, CEO of Boys and Girls Club of Allentown Cumberland Gardens.

Jordan said the site serves 300-500 children each year, offering educational and recreational programs.

“Right here in Allentown, 23 percent of our youth have reported experiencing poor mental health. Our young people need stable spaces,” said Jordan.

She said this latest donation will keep it running through the summer.

“This effort of $100,000 investment is going to help sustain Cumberland Gardens, but it is only, it is only the beginning,” said Jordan.

The goal of the donation is to help the Boys and Girls Club serve children in and around the Allentown community while continuing to reduce violent crime and the “cascading effects of drug addiction,” the DA’s office said in its news release.

DA Gavin Holihan said he hoped the office’s donation encourages others in the community to donate as well.

Learn more information at www.givebutter.com.