Lee Bank Foundation Awards $56,500 to Berkshire County Organizations

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LEE, Mass. — 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. Included in the awards are a series of Arts Access Grants for arts and culture organizations to expand ticket access for underserved audiences.
 
Recipients include:
 
  • Berkshire Center for Justice
  • Berkshire Community Diaper Project 
  • Berkshire Grown
  • Berkshire Natural Resource Council 
  • Community Access to the Arts
  • Construct 
  • Greenagers 
  • Roots Rising
 
Arts Access Grants of $1,000 each were awarded to: the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, Norman Rockwell Museum, WAM Theater and Berkshire Theatre Group.
 
"It was great to see proposals from such a wide range of organizations," said Foundation board member Jenn Gomez. "We look forward to seeing how our awardees put the funds to use to further their mission and benefit our community."  
 
Lee Bank received more than 40 grant applications for its first funding round. The deadline for the second round of 2021 Foundation funding is June 1. The application and more information can be found on the Community Impact section of Lee Bank's website (https://www.leebank.com/community-impact/donations-sponsorships.html)

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Community Hero of the Month: Officer Joshua Tracy

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
LEE, Mass.—Lee Police Department patrolman Joshua Tracy has been selected for the February Community Hero of the Month. 
 
The Community Hero of the Month series runs for the next 9 months in partnership with Haddad Auto. Nominated community members and organizations have gone above and beyond to make a positive impact on their community. 
 
Tracy has been an officer in the Berkshires for seven years, working for multiple departments including North Adams, Pittsfield, and as of approximately 5 months ago, Lee. 
 
Prior to being an officer, Tracy served 12 years in the Army National Guard. He became an officer when he left the service because it not only allowed him to help others, which he knew he enjoyed, but allowed him to utilize his military training. 
 
When on a call, Tracy knows he is likely walking into someone's worst day, which is why he strives to be a dependable person for the people out in the community, he said. 
 
"I think the thing that I think about the most of making an impact is showing up on these calls that we go on and de-escalating and calming the situation down," Tracy said. 
 
"You know, most of the time when we show up, it's because someone's having one of their worst days or just a really bad day."
 
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