Another round of funding will help eight Berkshire County organizations keep their local programming going.  

The Lee Bank Foundation has awarded $64,500 to eight Berkshire area organizations in its second round of 2021 community grant awards. The local recipients were awarded grants amounts ranging from $2,000 to $12,500 to support their local programming. 

The organizations that have received funding from Lee Bank Foundation in this second round include Berkshire Bounty; Berkshire County Historical Society; Berkshire South Regional Community Center; Elizabeth Freeman Center, Inc.; Flying Cloud Institute; Music in Common; New Stage Performing Arts Center Inc.; and Volunteers in Medicine Berkshires.  

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In May, Lee Bank Foundation awarded a total of $56,500 to 12 Berkshire-based community organizations, in the foundation’s first 2021 round of grants. Recipients were awarded grants ranging from $1,000 to $10,000 to support their work on social justice issues, environmental conservation, food, and housing security. 

To be considered for grant awards, applicants must be a (501) (c)(3) nonprofit organization focused on funding organizations that work to bridge income and opportunity gaps in our region. Funding requests should reflect one or more of Lee Bank Foundation’s primary focus areas: Education and literacy; Food security and nutrition; Economic growth and development; health and human services; Mentorship, internship and “school to work” initiatives; and Arts and culture. 

Applicants may submit only one application in a 12-month period. 

Online applications and information can be found HERE 

Lee Bank Foundation was established in 2021 to support Lee Bank’s long-standing mission of community reinvestment on behalf of organizations working to improve the lives of Berkshire region organizations and the people they serve. In 2020, Lee Bank awarded $179,000 in funding to area nonprofits and for Covid-19 relief efforts. In 2021, the Foundation projects awarding $250,000 in grants and the Bank expects to award an additional $70,000 in sponsorships. 

LOOK: Here are the 50 best beach towns in America

Every beach town has its share of pluses and minuses, which got us thinking about what makes a beach town the best one to live in. To find out, Stacker consulted data from WalletHub, released June 17, 2020, that compares U.S. beach towns. Ratings are based on six categories: affordability, weather, safety, economy, education and health, and quality of life. The cities ranged in population from 10,000 to 150,000, but they had to have at least one local beach listed on TripAdvisor. Read the full methodology here. From those rankings, we selected the top 50. Readers who live in California and Florida will be unsurprised to learn that many of towns featured here are in one of those two states.

Keep reading to see if your favorite beach town made the cut.

 

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