Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation

Fund for Williamstown Awards Over $14K in Grants

June 8, 2011

SHEFFIELD, MA—The Fund for Williamstown today announced that it has awarded a total of $14,150 to seven nonprofit organizations and two individuals. The Fund for Williamstown, a fund of Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, seeks innovative ideas, approaches and collaborations that continue Williamstown’s strong history of community improvement.

The fund awarded 2011 grants for the following projects and programs:

Berkshire Immigrant Center: $1,500 to help BIC provide comprehensive services to the growing immigrant community in Williamstown.

Bernice Lewis: $1,500 to support a folk concert in Williamstown during the fall. This event will be free and appropriate for all ages. It will take place in a centrally located venue and feature three to four performing artists.

Images Cinema: $2,000 to support the FilmTastic Fest, a whirlwind film festival for the entire community. It will feature a national touring program, Muppets, Music & Magic: Jim Henson’s Legacy, which includes rare film compilations, popular films, Muppeteer presentations, and puppet workshops with local artists.

Elder Services of Berkshire County: $1,000 to help cover operating expenses for a Nutrition/Meals on Wheels program, which serves over 11,000 hot, nutritious noontime meals to Williamstown seniors each year.

Michael Williams: $800 to support the Billstock Music Festival, bringing together original musical artists who either live in, work in, or have some other strong connection to Williamstown. Billstock includes separate performances for children, teens, and adults at venues in and around central Williamstown.

Milne Public Library: $750 to create family fun backpacks for fishing, hiking, and "geocaching" in Berkshire County, making them available for families to borrow from the Williamstown Public Library.

Northern Berkshire Chorale: $600 to hire professional musicians for Northern Berkshire Chorale’s Fall/Winter and Spring Concerts in order to continue the tradition of music with an orchestral and/or soloist accompaniment for one or both concerts.

Sundays@Six: $4,000 to support Summer Sundays At Six, a series of community-building festivals created to enliven the economic and social dimensions of life in Williamstown. This year's 5 Sunday run, will feature free musical and theatrical performances, participatory art, science and dancing and food and craft vendors.

Williamstown Youth Basketball Association: $2,000 to help purchase and install wall-mounted electronic sports scoreboard for the 2011/12 season for use in basketball games for youth athletes in grades K-8.

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.

The Fund for Williamstown advisory committee thanks departing committee members Jane Allen and Mark Gold for their generous service to the Fund for Williamstown.

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 advisory committee continues its work to build the Fund’s endowment. Liz Costley, Chair said, “The Fund for Williamstown received a total of 25 requests for almost $75,700 from many worthy organizations that need our support. We look forward to increasing our investment in the future of Williamstown and encourage our community to help us build an endowment that will allow us to distribute many more dollars.”

To donate to the Fund for Williamstown, please visit www.berkshiretaconic.org/makeadonation.

The next grant deadline is April 9, 2012. Grant applications will be available in February 2012 online at www.berkshiretaconic.org/grantseekers.

Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation builds stronger communities and improves the quality of life for all residents of northwest Litchfield County, CT; Berkshire County, MA; and Columbia County and northeast Dutchess County, NY, acting as an agent for positive change in the region. Since 1987, Berkshire Taconic has managed a growing collection of charitable funds created by individuals, families and businesses. Each year, the foundation distributes over $7 million through grants and scholarships for programs in the arts and education, health and human services and environmental protection, helping thousands of donors achieve their philanthropic goals and hundreds of nonprofits carry on their good work. Berkshire Taconic is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity.

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