|
MONTHLY NEWS / AUGUST 2018
|
Thanks in part to a grant from the Central Berkshire Fund, Community Health Programs in Great Barrington welcomes all growing families to attend Baby Box Workshops. The program provides expectant mothers with a baby box, a safe sleeping space for newborns shown to significantly reduce infant mortality rates. It comes filled with supplies and educational resources to ease the transition to parenthood. Photo: John Dolan
|
|
Program, Philanthropy & Leadership Highlights
Engagement Through Arts: Arts and community-based nonprofits in Berkshire County are invited to apply for our new Community Engagement Through the Arts Capacity Building Program by Sept. 14. The intensive yearlong training curriculum is part of our work to increase community engagement as a strategic priority for the region. To spark conversation on this topic, we held a recent gathering with dozens of donors at Jacob's Pillow to discuss ways to strengthen connections through the arts and the vitality of our cultural organizations in Berkshire County.
A Closer Look: Last month, we launched ACloserLook.net, an easy-to-navigate, interactive web resource featuring current data, resident perspectives and multimedia stories on the four-county region Berkshire Taconic serves. The site is designed to build community knowledge and inspire critical thinking about the region's future, and we encourage you to share and use this new tool in your communities. BTCF President Peter Taylor recently appeared on PBS affiliate WGBY's Connecting Point to discuss the new site and one of its five themes, deepening inequality.
20 Years of Generosity: The Eagle Fund is celebrating its 20th anniversary this month. The fund was created in 1998 to help promote excellence in the Southern Berkshire Regional School District through grants to students, teachers, administrators and members of the community. To mark the occasion and honor the founder of the Eagle Fund, the first Catherine B. Miller Eagle Fund Award was given to Mt. Everett Regional School graduating senior Sarah Beckwith at this year's commencement ceremony.
|
Board, Staff and Committee News
New Athletic Field: Berkshire Community College President and BTCF Board Member Ellen Kennedy, along with alumni board member Mike MacDonald, has played a leadership role in making a seven-year dream a reality, as BCC recently broke ground on a new artificial turf field. The field will give local athletes the opportunity to play soccer, football and lacrosse at home while boosting the Berkshire County economy during championship games.
Play Benefits Fund: WAM Theatre has selected the Denise Kaley Fund as a beneficiary for its production of "Ann," an intimate portrait of Texas Governor Ann Richards, which will run Oct. 19 to 28 at Shakespeare & Company's Tina Packer Playhouse in Lenox, Mass. A portion of the play's proceeds will be donated to the fund to help support the day-to-day living expenses of Berkshire women who are living with cancer and have financial need.
Engaging Young Leaders: BTCF Community Engagement Officer Shela Hidalgo outlined ways to attract young people to board service in the July issue of Connections magazine, published by the Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires.
New Arrival: BTCF Grants Coordinator Brandon Williams and his wife, Heather, welcomed their second son, Dellan, on Aug. 7.
|
|
Grants in the News
Book Review: Sarah Trudgeon of Great Barrington, Mass., received a
Martha Boschen Porter Fund grant to support the development of two full-length poetry collections. "The Plot Against the Baby" was recently published as a chapbook by Dancing Girl Press and Studio, and was highlighted as a "mesmerizing read" in the
Berkshire Eagle. Sarah was also interviewed by the
Berkshire Edge, which called her work "immediately appealing."
Healthy Eating: As part of our Fresh and Healthy Food for All initiative in Columbia County, the Sylvia Center promotes healthy eating habits through informative and fun cooking classes with young students in multiple school districts. Read about the Sylvia Center's good work in an in-depth profile in Chronogram.
Work Experience: The James and Robert Hardman Fund has provided grants to increase economic opportunity in the region, a BTCF strategic priority, including one to the North Adams Summer Youth Works Program. The program helped students obtain vital work experience and useful skills through internships with local organizations and businesses. Learn more in iBerkshires.
Clambake Fun: Summer may be drawing to a close, but one of the highlights was the annual Jane Lloyd Fund clambake in Salisbury. The event benefits the fund's mission to help cancer patients and their families with financial need in the Northwest Corner of Connecticut. View a full page of colorful photos in a recent Lakeville Journal.
|
Register Now
:
Registration is now open for the Board Leadership Forum, the region's first and only daylong training and networking opportunity exclusively for nonprofit board members and executive directors. Register today at BerkshireTaconic.org/Register, where you can view the full schedule and workshop descriptions. The discounted early bird rate expires Sept. 13. The forum will be held on Saturday, Oct. 13, from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at host and sponsor Bard College at Simon's Rock. It is presented by Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, Northwest Connecticut Community Foundation and the Foundation for Community Health.
Poetry Reading: The annual
Amy Clampitt Memorial Reading will feature Pulitzer Prize-winner and former U.S. poet laureate
Natasha Trethewey reading a selection of her work on Sept. 7 from 5 to 6 p.m. at the Mount in Lenox, Mass.
Tickets are $12 or free for Mount members. The event is sponsored by the Amy Clampitt Fund at BTCF.
Apps for Nonprofits: The 21st Century Fund, Random Hacks of Kindness Junior and Salisbury Bank & Trust are engaging young students in using technology for good during an event to be held at Housatonic Valley Regional High School's Mahoney-Hewat Science and Technology Center on Oct. 20 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Fourth- through eighth-graders in northwest Connecticut's Region One School District will partner with local nonprofits to create mobile app concepts that aim to help the organizations succeed in their missions. Nonprofits and students interested in participating should email Nancy Hegy Martin.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
