Linda Fix, the coordinator of the Columbia County BackPack Program, feeds hungry children in Hudson with the help of volunteers.

 

When Linda Fix decided to help feed chronically hungry children in Columbia County in 2010, she reached out to the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York for assistance. She was told that it would cost $5,000 to supply weekly backpacks full of food to 30 students in Hudson, N.Y. Without batting an eyelash, Fix and her team took on the challenge, raised the funds and kicked off the Columbia County BackPack Program.

 

Seven years later, the program has expanded to serve 90 students in the Hudson City School District: 30 each at John L. Edwards Primary School, Montgomery C. Smith Intermediate School and Hudson Junior/Senior High School. With the help of a $2,000 grant from the Fund for Columbia County, a group of dedicated volunteers can be found in a Hudson basement each week filling backpacks with items like cereal, oatmeal packets, bread, juice boxes, canned meat, fruit, vegetables and gift cards for a gallon of milk. Each backpack contains enough food for one child. Read more  

Maya Finston-Fox, one of 20 recipients of the McLaughlin-Wilson Scholarship, is attending Baldwin Wallace University.

Thanks to the generosity of area donors and the hard work of volunteer committees, Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation awarded over 200 scholarships totaling $525,470 this year. Bright, young students from Berkshire, northwest Litchfield, Columbia and northeast Dutchess counties will use these awards (which range from $1,000 to $25,000 annually) to pursue their dreams in a variety of fields, including science, art, humanities and trade skills. View our list of 2017 scholarship recipients.

 

As the costs of school and materials rise, every fund provides an important gift that allows these students to focus on their future with the support and inspiration of their communities.

Read more about a few of this year's scholarship recipients whose lives will be impacted by local donors.

To combat this food inequality and bring fresh and healthy options to Columbia County residents, Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation launched  Fresh and Healthy Food for All in July 2016. The five-year, $750,000 project is funded by two anonymous donors and was developed after consulting with more than 80 local community members involved in food-related industries across the county - including farms, food pantries, distributors, food retailers, community-based organizations and county agencies.

For the initiative's second year, which is currently underway, a total of $150,000 has been awarded to fund projects and classes designed to transform the food system for all residents, especially low-income families and seniors.
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Andrea Wagner's scholarship fund awarded its second grant to a female student studying science.

In our third grantmaking cycle for 2017, Berkshire Taconic distributed $2,650,865 in grants: $55,975 to individuals and nonprofits in the four-county region we serve, and grants totaling $2,594,890 from donors with charitable funds at the foundation.

The Gateway Fund, Pauline Young Music Fund, Region One Athletic Fund and six scholarship funds awarded competitive grants during this cycle.

Malachi Black is finding inspiration for his poetry in the Berkshires.