A grant of $300 was presented to the Mercer County Association for Children with Learning Disabilities Wednesday by the Mercer County Humans Services Council.

The council, which represents 63 human service agencies in the county, including the Urban League of the Shenango Valley and AW/ARE, presents the annual award.

The association will use the grant for scholarships. The organization was founded in 1973 by Elizabeth Regule, a retired Hermitage teacher, and Judith Achre of Hermitage.

"It started out as a little paragraph ad in The Herald, for those who were interested in finding other ways of teaching children; children that we now called learning disabled," said Mrs. Regule, association director.

They prepared a pot of coffee and a couple dozen cookies in a church basement and 200 people showed up.

The program now provides one-on-one tutoring for almost 200 students, as well as computer enrichment during the summer and an Explorers Club, a social group that also helps enhance visual and motor skills.