Litchfield Bancorp Donates $10,000 to Region One Education Funds
February 6, 2007
Great Barrington, MA —Litchfield Bancorp today announced that it will donate $10,000 to three Region One education enrichment funds: the Arts Fund for Region One, 21st Century Fund Endowment Fund for HVRHS and Salisbury Central School Educational Enrichment Fund.
The funds provide a range of programs and projects not supported by tax dollars; recent grants have funded high school students’ participation in the national academic bowl championship in Virginia; a region-wide artist-in-residency program for fifth graders, with artist Turi Rostad; and afterschool workshops in robotics, sculpture, math and other subjects at Salisbury Central School.
“Litchfield Bancorp has a long tradition of giving back to the community and a strong belief in the power of education in creating more involved citizens,” said Mark E. Macomber, president and chief executive officer of the bank. “We are delighted to support the district’s educational enrichment program and encourage others to do the same.”
The three education funds are part of The Education Collaborative (TEC), an initiative started by Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation in 2005 to build support for the educational funds of Region One School District. The other TEC funds are the Cornwall Consolidated School Fund for Excellence, Region One Athletic Fund and Sharon Center School Millennium Fund. All six funds are endowments of Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation.
An anonymous donor has awarded TEC a 3-year challenge grant to build endowments for Region One funds. The donor pledged $1 for every $2 raised, with the goal of building a $500,000 endowment in three years. When TEC achieves its goal of raising $500,000 in endowments, the funds will cumulatively generate a minimum of $22,500 annually for enrichment projects for the schools.
“Litchfield Bancorp’s donation marks another major step forward in TEC’s campaign to meet the challenge grant and become permanent resources for our schools,” said Patricia Chamberlain, superintendent of Region One schools. “We are grateful for the bank’s support and its long-term commitment to the future of our children and community.”
Litchfield Bancorp is a mutual savings bank with assets of $190 million offering full service offices in Litchfield, Torrington, Oakville (Watertown), Washington and Lakeville.
Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation is the community foundation for the northwest corner of Connecticut. It is a nonprofit organization that cultivates philanthropy in ways that have a direct positive impact on the cities and towns of northwest Litchfield County, CT; Berkshire County, MA; and northeast Dutchess County and Columbia County, NY. 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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