About the Fund
Mickey was raised in Philadelphia and worked for Price Waterhouse, after graduating from Penn State. He left the firm to work for Pantry Pride, one of the largest supermarket chains in the U.S., ultimately becoming CFO and helping the company successfully emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Although he excelled in business, Mickey’s true passion was his family. He believed that knowledge promotes the understanding that offers our brightest hope for the future.
“To befriend and work with Mickey Mandelblatt meant to open your heart and mind to a social conscience cleansing, always challenging, yet tempered with generous amounts of love and respect. In a world where fires of old injustices rage on for years, and new ones ignite overnight, there was one cause that remained his constant crusade: the education of our children. Mickey believed that knowledge promotes the understanding that offers our brightest hope for the future. Consequently, we have a responsibility as a society to insure that all of our children are equally educated. Whatever the cost, ultimately, it will be far less than the cost of ignorance; for to limit a student’s education by his financial means is to potentially limit the meaning of his life.
We were just beginning to work on a project that acknowledged this issue at the time of his death, so it is a fitting tribute to his memory that his family establish this scholarship fund. Hopefully, some students will realize their potential, and thus Mickey will realize his dream.”
Phyllis Smith
