July 16 , 2007
Great Barrington, MA — The Robert and James Hardman Fund, an endowment of Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, announced that it has awarded grants totaling $41,494 to 26 nonprofit organizations in North Adams, Clarksburg, Florida and Stamford for a diversity of programs ranging from arts workshops to CPR training to literacy initiatives.
Grants were awarded to:
Community Access to the Arts: $2,000 for 30 new arts workshops for individuals with disabilities.
Clark Art Institute: $3,000 for Kidspace MASS MoCA, an arts education program that is managed collaboratively by the Clark, MASS MoCA, and Williams College Art Museum.
Drury Drama Team: $2,000 to offer an opportunity to participate in the summer musical to all North Adams School District students.
Inkberry: $500 for “Re-Writing Our Lives,” a creative writing program for survivors of domestic abuse.
MASS MoCA: $2,000 for a program that will allow anyone with a North Adams Public Library card to check out a free admission pass to the MASS MoCA galleries.
Stamford Elementary School: $500 for their Kidspace program, which will expose students to internationally known museums and art, and substantially enhance the integration of the arts into the classroom.
Florida Volunteer Firemen: $1,600 for defibrillators to be used for CPR training.
North Adams Ambulance: $2,000 to purchase training equipment for emergency responders in North Adams, Clarksburg, Stamford and Florida.
Child Care of the Berkshires: $1,150 for the Mother Goose family literacy curriculum, which offers children structured activities to help them to grow cognitively as well as physically.
Clarksburg Elementary School: $500 for an annual presentation of the Hativka Holocaust exhibit, which gives students and residents of the area an extensive exhibit on the Holocaust, as well as education on its impact and the current struggle to stop modern day genocide throughout the world.
Church Outreach to Youth Center: $2,000 for the Kids Upward Bound Academy, which offers students in grades 2-5 who are not performing at their grade level a chance to improve their reading and math skills.
Mary Jezyk Sunshine Camp: $1,134 for museum and zoo visits for children with special needs.
North Adams Historical Society: $350 for acid-free materials to preserve and protect antique naturalization papers; $500 for archival supplies for print and negative enclosures; $650 for third grade students from local elementary schools to visit the North Adams Museum of History and Science.
North Berkshire Community Television: $1,900 for the creation of a teacher advisory council, which will provide a 3- year comprehensive educational plan to meet the needs of local schools.
Massachusetts 4-H Club: $2,000 to give students in grades 3-5 at Clarksburg and Florida public schools the opportunity to participate in 4-H clubs.
Elder Services: $2,000 for Meals on Wheels, which provides hot, nutritious meals to seniors.
REACH Community Health: $2,670 for “Families Making Changes,” a free program offered to parents and children in the northern Berkshire community, in which a physical education specialist, a dietician and a behavioral consultant help participants develop good health habits.
St. Vincent DePaul: $1,000 to support its mission of aiding the poor and elderly in all emergency situations not addressed by other social service organizations.
Tapestry Health: $2,000 for Wise Guys, a teen pregnancy prevention program targeting young men at the Drury High School in North Adams, MA.
United Cerebral Palsy: $2,000 to increase social recreation activities for children with disabilities.
Berkshire Food Project: $1,540 to replace countertops and support a program which provides a midday meal to the needy three times a week.
Food Bank: $2,000 for Target Hunger, a community organizing and research project that is designed to reduce the number of people experiencing hunger by 10 percent in one urban and one rural community over a 4- year period.
Take and Eat: $500 for organizational development to aid in its mission to prepare and deliver free meals to homebound elders on weekends and holidays.
Berkshire Nursing Families: $1,000 for a lactation support program in North Adams, Clarskburg, Florida and Stamford.
North Berkshire Community Coalition: $2,000 for Spice up your County, a service project for teens to design services that improve the lives of their peers in northern Berkshire County.
Salvation Army: $1,000 for Bridging the Gap, a program for first time teen offenders which teaches them life skills. Participants engage in workshops on choices, addiction, career planning, employment and other valuable skills.
The Hardman Fund for North Adams was established in 2000 by members of the Hardman family in honor of James A. Hardman, Jr. (1909-1990) and Robert Hardman (1911-1978). The purpose of the Fund is to enrich the lives of residents of North Adams, Florida and Clarksburg, Mass., and Stamford, Vt. Applications are reviewed by a committee of local residents, and grants are awarded based on excellence of the project or service, impact on the community and the applicant’s ability to carry out the project. The next deadline for Hardman Fund grant proposals is May 1, 2008. Applications are available online at www.berkshiretaconic.org/grants-scholarships.html or by calling 800-969-2823.
Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation is a nonprofit organization that cultivates philanthropy in ways that have a direct positive impact on the cities and towns of Berkshire County, MA; northeast Dutchess County and Columbia County, NY; and northwest Litchfield County, CT. For more information, please contact Berkshire Taconic at 271 Main Street, Suite 3, Great Barrington, MA, 01230, call 800.969.2823, e-mail info@berkshiretaconic.org or visit www.berkshiretaconic.org.
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