The MVSB (Meredith Village Savings Bank) Fund at the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation has awarded $121,000 in grant funding to 30 local nonprofit organizations. This includes $99,000 awarded to 19 local agencies and $22,000 donated to 11 area food pantries. The grants are in addition to MVSB’s contributions throughout the year in the form of donations, sponsorships, scholarships and volunteer efforts by employees.
“Each year, grants from the MVSB Fund help our local nonprofit organizations make meaningful improvements, add programming and simply keep up with demand,” said Rick Wyman, President of MVSB. “It is our pleasure to help them continue to provide such meaningful services and support to local individuals and families, especially during a time that has been so challenging for so many.”
This year’s MVSB Fund grant recipients include:
Belknap House, Laconia
Awarded $5,000 to support direct resident services provided through case management by the house manager. Belknap House’s mission is to provide families in Belknap County a safe shelter, when children are particularly at-risk during homelessness, and to empower families to become self-sufficient and independent by providing opportunities of education and resources available to them.
Circle Program, Plymouth
Awarded $5,000 to send new program participants to summer camp. Circle Program is a nonprofit that empowers and provides opportunity to low-income NH girls through camp and mentorship.
Exeter Area Charitable Foundation, Exeter
Awarded $5,000 to support Children’s Fund clothing vouchers for children in need in the Seacoast area. The Community Children’s Fund was created by the Exeter Area Chamber of Commerce to raise funds to provide warm winter clothing and bedding to children in their surrounding communities.
Gather, Portsmouth
Awarded $4,000 to expand the reach of mobile food delivery and strengthen the regional food system. Gather serves those in the community experiencing hunger by providing nutritious food through innovative distribution programs and their Pantry Market. They also offer nutrition education and recipes for healthy living.
Got Lunch, Ashland and Holderness
Awarded $2,000 to provide healthy lunches to children from low- to moderate-income families during the summer months. Got Lunch is a community-based program serving Ashland and Holderness that provides healthy lunches to children during their summer break.
GOT LUNCH! Laconia, Laconia
Awarded $7,500 to provide healthy groceries to children from low- to moderate-income families during the summer months. GOT LUNCH! Laconia is a collaboration of community partners coming together to feed the children of Laconia.
Kingswood Youth Center, Wolfeboro Falls
Awarded $2,000 to fund life skills programs. The Kingswood Youth Center provides a safe and positive environment in which youth may grow, learn and develop life skills critical to their success in the adult world.
Lakes Region Community Developers, Laconia
Awarded $8,000 to provide summer camp scholarships for children who live in their affordable housing developments. Their mission includes aiding homeless families in securing stable employment and permanent housing. They also operate a four-unit transitional housing program where families stay for about 18 months.
Lakes Region Food Pantry, Moultonborough
Awarded $5,000 that will go toward their healthy food voucher program. The Lakes Region Food Pantry helps meet the needs of local individuals and families facing food insecurity and services are provided to individuals with dignity and respect. They offer food, food vouchers, personal care products, cooking classes, among many other programs.
Peabody Place, Franklin
Awarded $5,000 to be used toward the purchase of a new mode of transport. Peabody Place (formerly Peabody Home) in Franklin is a home for seniors, where they welcome diversity, believe in aging with dignity and strive to meet the needs of our community members in a professional and loving home-like atmosphere.
Pemi Youth Center, Plymouth
Awarded $5,000 to support their after school program. The center’s mission is to provide a safe and welcoming environment where local youth may gather outside of school and gain a sense of community, belonging and self-esteem.
Raven Gael Blaisdell Foundation at Hall Memorial Library, Northfield
Awarded $2,500 to support community reading programs for local youth. The foundation’s mission is to encourage youth in the area to embrace reading and explore all of literature’s wonderment and joy. This includes a diverse group of volunteers who advance the Hall Memorial Library through promotion, advocacy and fundraising.
Sandwich Children’s Center, Center Sandwich
Awarded $5,000 to be used for toddler and preschool enrichment and vacation weeks programming. The center is an exemplary nonprofit early childcare and education center that strengthens families and communities by nurturing the development of the whole child and fostering their curiosity for learning about themselves, the natural world and the communities around them.
Sleep in Heavenly Peace, Inc., Rochester
Awarded $3,000 to enable the Rochester Chapter to purchase lumber, hardware and bedding materials to build and provide 11 fully furnished beds to bedless children within their service area. Sleep in Heavenly Peace, Inc. is a volunteer organization that builds beds for kids who are sleeping on the floor.
Speare Memorial Hospital, Plymouth
Awarded $5,000 to match funds toward replacing the Cardiac Stress testing system for their Cardiac Rehabilitation program. Speare Memorial Hospital is a Critical Access Hospital in Plymouth that works to serve the needs of their patients and community.
Step Up Parents, Portsmouth
Awarded $5,000 to provide financial assistance to New Hampshire Kinship caregivers and to expand outreach. Step Up Parents supports caregivers in New Hampshire who are raising the children of parents with substance use disorder. Kinship caregivers are relatives or close family friends who step up to care for, nurture and protect children who find themselves without a responsible parent or a safe place to live.
The Homeless Center for Strafford County, Rochester
Awarded $15,000 to meet the temporary housing needs of members of the Seacoast community. The center provides community members and families with shelter, case management and educational programs that lead to self-sufficiency and permanent housing.
White Horse Recovery Center, Center Ossipee
Awarded $5,000 to support jobs creation program for those going through substance abuse recovery. The mission of White Horse Recovery is to provide behavioral health services that meet the individual needs of those they serve, offering a path to a better tomorrow.
Winnipesaukee Wellness Center, Moultonborough
Awarded $5,000 to establish and maintain a supervised exercise program for elderly in the Lakes Region area. The center’s fitness programs are tailored to the individual needs and capabilities of people with chronic disabilities, or whose doctors feel could benefit from a supervised exercise program.
Food Pantries
Eleven local food pantries that serve the same communities as MVSB will also share a donation of $22,000.
The Meredith Village Savings Bank Fund was established in 1997 under the leadership of John Starrett, then President and CEO of the Bank. Since then, 447 grants totaling $1,804,248 have been awarded to a wide range of environmental, social, educational and historic projects throughout the Greater Lakes Region, Plymouth and NH Seacoast areas. Over the years, the Fund has supported literacy programs, after-school programs, environmental monitoring and education, restoration of historic structures, organizations that provide support for individuals and families in challenging circumstances and equipment that helps save lives. The deadline for consideration in the next grant cycle is October 15, 2022. Applications are available at mvsb.com.
