Five Organizations Receive Grants to Suppport Jewish Culture and Learning
February 7, 2007
Great Barrington, MA Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation today announced that five local organizations have received grants from the Wassermann-Streit Y'DIYAH Memorial Fund. The Fund, which is an endowment of Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, supports programs that facilitate knowledge and understanding of the history, culture and practice of traditional Judaism.
“The Y’DIYAH fund plays an important role in presenting many facets of Jewish culture to the community,” said Jennifer Dowley, president of Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, which manages the fund.
The Fund awarded grants totaling $2,720 to the following nonprofit groups:
Congregation Beth David, Amenia, NY: $1,000 toward the cost of the Oral History Project, which will record interviews with past members of the congregation, to be shared with the local library and historical society.
Berkshire South Regional Community Center, Great Barrington, MA: $485 for The Heritage Project, in which teenagers will interview and record the life stories of six Jewish seniors or couples in the community.
Spencertown Academy Society, Spencertown, NY: $500 for Yiddish Folk Tales and Songs of the Theater, part of an ongoing program dedicated to folk traditions of story telling and music. Shura Lipovsky of the Netherlands will perform Yiddish tales of and songs in a performance that will coincide with the celebration of Hanukah.
Hudson Area Association Library, Hudson, NY: $485 for books and materials for a project conducted with Anshe Emeth Congregation to create a more comprehensive Judaica collection.
A committee of local residents reviewed applications for the grant and made awards based on excellence of the project or service, its impact on the organization or community and the ability of the organization to carry out the project.
The next deadline for grant applications for the Wassermann-Streit Y’DIYAH Memorial Fund is March 1, 2007. Applications are available online (click here for a PDF version) or by calling Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation at 800-969-2823.
Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation is a nonprofit organization that cultivates philanthropy in ways that have a direct positive impact in Berkshire County, MA; Columbia County and northeast Dutchess County, NY; and northwest Litchfield County, CT. To make a donation to the Y’DIYAH Fund or for more information, please contact Berkshire Taconic at 271 Main Street, Suite 3, Great Barrington, MA, 800.969.2823, e-mail info@berkshiretaconic.org or visit the website at www.berkshiretaconic.org.
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