Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation

Fund for Williamstown Announces Over $22K in Grants

July 8, 2010

SHEFFIELD, MA—The Fund for Williamstown today announced that it has awarded a total of $22,135 to eight nonprofit organizations and one individual. The Fund for Williamstown is a fund of Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation.

The Fund for Williamstown seeks new ideas, approaches and collaborations that continue Williamstown’s strong history of community improvement. The Fund for Williamstown received a total of 17 proposals totaling $52,065. The fund awarded 2010 grants for the following projects and programs:

Sundays@6: $4,800 for a series of community-building festivals aimed at enlivening and enriching downtown Williamstown.

Williamstown Garden Club: $4,000 to promote civic beauty through the restoration of the perennial garden in historic Field Park.

Community Images, Inc.: $2,700 to support ‘Saturday Morning Movies,’ a film series that encourages families to explore film as an art form, source of entertainment and educational tool.

Williamstown Youth Center: $2,500 to support the campaign for the construction of a new youth center at the Williamstown Elementary School.

Williamstown Rural Lands Foundation: $2,500 to increase town accessibility through the creation of informative downtown kiosks to guide both residents and visitors.

Willinet, Inc.: $2,200 to support capital improvement through free access to video technology and training.

Northern Berkshire Habitat for Humanity: $1,800 for a renovation project to help a local family achieve home ownership.

Julianna Haubrich: $1,035 to support ‘Just for Laughs: A Celebration of Clowning & Comedy,’ a program which offers ‘jester therapy’ and a free week-long clowning workshop.

Northern Berkshire Chorale Inc.: $600 to fund high-quality, diverse choral concerts in Williamstown.

The Fund for Williamstown also approved continued funding for Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation’s Neighbor-to-Neighbor Program—which awards one-time emergency assistance to those in urgent need. The Fund for Williamstown’s Neighbor-to-Neighbor program is administered by the Williamstown Food Pantry and helps provide basic essentials such as food, medications, housing and utilities for residents of Williamstown who are in economic distress. There remains $10,000 in available funds for continued support to the Neighbor-to-Neighbor program.

The Fund for Williamstown advisory committee thanks departing committee members Jack Merselis, Jane Allen and Hank Flynt for their generous service to the Fund for Williamstown. The advisory committee also welcomes Peter Mehlin, Jill Strawbridge and Sarah Thurston. They join Carolyn Behr, Liz Costley, Carol DeMayo, Mark Gold, Rob Jandl and Stefanie Jandl, all residents of Williamstown, as members of the Fund for Williamstown advisory committee. The fund was established in 2006 as an endowment of Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation. Within three months, it completed a Founding 50 campaign, in which 50 donors pledged at least $1,000 per year for the next five years. Half of the contributions will be used for grantmaking and half will build the endowed portion of the fund.

The next grant deadline is April 9, 2011. Grant applications will be available in February 2011 online, at the Williamstown Town Hall or by calling Berkshire Taconic at 413.229.0370.

Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation builds stronger communities and improves the quality of life for all residents of Berkshire County, MA; Columbia County and northeast Dutchess County, NY; and northwest Litchfield County, CT. Berkshire Taconic connects donors with causes they care about by administering and investing their charitable funds. Thanks to its generous donors, in 2009 Berkshire Taconic distributed nearly $7 million in scholarships and grants for programs in the arts and education, health and human services, and environmental protection. Berkshire Taconic is a 501 (c)(3) charitable organization.

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