Tewksbury, MA – Lowell Five Bank Employee Charitable Giving Committee (ECGC) announced that in 2020, Lowell Five Bank Employees donated a total of over $29,500 to help four local charities during an unprecedented year of need. The following organizations each received a Quarterly Lowell Five Employee Charitable Giving donation in 2020.
Lowell Five’s Q1 2020 ECGC donation of $6,880 was awarded to Nashua Children’s Home. “It was a pleasure for Lowell Five to work with an organization like Nashua Children’s Home,” explained Employee Charitable Giving Committee Member and North Chelmsford Assistant Branch Manager, Christopher Johnson. Founded in 1903 as an orphanage, today, Nashua Children’s Home’s goal is to enrich the lives of at-risk youth and provide them with a path to productive adult living. They provide residential, educational, and transitional living programs to Nashua-area children who cannot live at home or attend school. The Nashua Children’s Home used the proceeds from their award to purchase the technology needed to accommodate remote learning and enable the children residing in the home to stay current with their school work during the COVID 19 Pandemic.
Lowell Five employees were honored to recognize Hidden Battles Foundation, a component fund of the Greater Lowell Community Foundation, as their Q2 2020 ECGC recipient. Traci Doliber, Senior BSA/AML Analyst and Employee Charitable Giving Committee (ECGC) Member explained, “Hidden Battles proudly serves First Responders, Veterans, Fire and Police Officers, and Emergency Medical Personnel in Massachusetts and New Hampshire by preserving their healthy minds through treatment and counseling for depression, suicidal tendencies, and PTSD.” Hidden Battles Foundation plans to use its $7,440 donation to fund additional therapy programs to help those on the front-lines of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Veteran’s Northeast Outreach Center (VNOC), located in Haverhill, MA, was the Q3 2020 ECGC recipient. VNOC assists, supports, and advocates for veterans and their families. They provide basic food and shelter, housing advocacy, counseling, peer support, case management, and Veterans Administration benefits and claims assistance. VNOC used a portion of their $7,440 ECGC Award to cover the cost of renting a refrigerator truck needed to keep up with the increasing demand for pantry items and daily meals resulting from the COVID 19 Pandemic. Local agencies were able to provide the additional food for hot meals and pantry items that VNOC needed, but VNOC needed access to a refrigerated truck in order to accept the donated food items.
The Q4 2020 Lowell Five Employee Charitable Giving Recipient, Strongwater Farm Therapeutic Equestrian Center, received the proceeds of their $7,900 as a welcome boost at the end of a challenging year. Although closed for a time in 2020 due to COVID 19 restrictions, Strongwater Farm is once again open with safety restrictions in place. Strongwater Farm provides therapeutic riding lessons to the many veterans, adults, and children over the age of 4 suffering from cognitive, emotional, behavioral, physical, and developmental challenges who benefit from equine-assisted activities and therapies.
Each year, Lowell Five’s Employees select four charitable organizations from a list of employee-elected nominees to be the recipients of a Quarterly Charitable Giving Award. The awards consist of the full quarterly amount of funds raised in voluntary weekly pledges from individual employees who participate in the Employee Charitable Giving Program, matched 100% by Lowell Five Bank.
January 19, 2021