RICHMOND, Mass.— Berkshire HorseWorks has secured five grants totaling $18.5k from the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation that will help support Eagala and Eagala-based, equine-assisted programming. 

 

The ranch received $3,000 from the Central Berkshire Fund, $5,000 from the William J. & Mary S. Barrett Fund, $2,000 from the Taconic Hills Education Enrichment Fund and Arts and Humanities Fund,  $7,500 from the Greylock ABC Fund and $1,000 from the Seven Towns Educational Enrichment Program, it was announced today by Hayley Sumner, founder and executive director of the nonprofit. All aforementioned grants were from funds of the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation.

 

More specifically, The Seven Towns Fund will provide a half-day of Equine-Assisted Learning and Team building for special education and general matriculation students attending Nessacus Regional Middle School. The Taconic Hills grant will provide Equine-Assisted Speech Language Therapy to elementary students in Pre-K through 2nd grade at Taconic Hills Elementary School, aiming to improve functional communication in students with complex communication needs. 

 

The Greylock ABC grant will provide 1st grade students from Stearns Elementary school with assistance learning and overcoming the social-emotional challenges interfering with their education through Horse Powered Reading. 

 

The remaining two grants, Central Berkshire and the William & Mary S. Barrett Fund will provide full scholarships for children from Becket, Cummington, Dalton, Hinsdale, Peru, Washington, Windsor, Adams, Cheshire and Savoy who are BIPOC and low-income to the Berkshire HorseWorks RanchLife 101 summer life skills program.

 

"In this incredibly difficult environment we are forever grateful to the organizations for believing in us and the work that we do," stated Sumner.