Lisa Oliver, President and CEO of The Cooperative Bank of Cape Cod, stands with Jim Kiley, left, President of the Boys & Girls Club of Cape Cod, and Paul Bober, member of the Board of Directors for the Boys & Girls Club of Cape Cod, at the Dec. 6 reception for grant awardees.
The Cooperative Bank of Cape Cod Charitable Foundation Trust is pleased to announce $55,000 in grants to local organizations for the final quarter of the year. These grants cap The Coop Foundation’s inaugural year of giving, a year in which The Foundation awarded $180,000 to twenty-two non-profit organizations Cape-wide.
From support to families and children to supporting educational and healthcare opportunities, The Coop Foundation is proud to provide funding to the following organizations:
The Boys & Girls Club of Cape Cod received a grant of $5,000 for their After School Teen Program. The Teen Program served 441 teens in 2018, with an average daily attendance of 47 teens a day in winter, with Friday night’s attendance running between 80 to 200 teens who come for special Friday programs. For every $1 invested in the Boys & Girls Clubs in Massachusetts, $9.60 is created in lifetime economic benefits for our young members, their families, and the wider community due to decreased juvenile crime, teen births, increased graduation and employment rates, and financial support for parents.
Cape Cod Community College Educational Foundation received a grant of $50,000 over 5 years, with $25,000 coming from The Coop Foundation and $25,000 coming from additional funding at The Coop. This grant will go towards the Campaign for a new Science and Engineering Center at Cape Cod Community College. A new state-of-the-art Science and Engineering Center will provide the resources needed to make a significant impact on student outcomes and their job readiness in existing and emerging fields.
Outer Cape Healthcare Services received a grant of $25,000 over 5 years for their Enhancing Spaces, Impacting Lives campaign for their new Harwich Port Health Center. As a community health center, OCHS works to ensure that those who live here year-round have access to quality health care, whether they are working, raising families, or retired. Relocating and expanding the existing undersized Harwich facility a mile away has enabled OCHS to meet the growing healthcare needs of the community by providing new and essential services to more people.
Whelden Memorial Library is local treasure in the West Barnstable community, serving the residents with a safe gathering place for community groups, in-person resources and assistance, access to online resources and CLAMS catalogue, educational events, and a variety of classes. After sustaining significant water damage from winter storms last year, the Library is embarking on a campaign to update the drainage system of the building. The Coop Foundation awarded the library its first community Match Grant and will match funds raised in the community to help restore the building.
Additionally, the Bank donated $1,000 from funds outside of The Coop Foundation to the Takeaway Meal Program and Paper Pantry at St. David’s Episcopal Church. This program is open to all in the community and provides free personal hygiene products not covered by other assistance programs. In addition, patrons of the Paper Pantry receive a free nutritious meal to take home to their families.
“This was a tremendous inaugural year for The Coop Foundation,” said Lisa Oliver, President & CEO of The Cooperative Bank of Cape Cod and Chair of The Coop Foundation Board of Trustees. “On behalf of the board and the entire team at The Coop Foundation, it is our distinct honor to support these local organizations that are working tirelessly to meet the fundamental needs and challenges of our friends and neighbors on the Cape. We look forward to many more years of helping to cultivate vibrant and thriving communities.”
Launched in December 2018, The Coop Foundation awards grants to 501(c)(3) organizations that enhance quality of life through programs and initiatives that meet the fundamental needs of people in the communities the bank serves. The Foundation’s mission is to cultivate vibrant and thriving communities and seeks to partner with organizations working in the fields of economic development and self-sufficiency, community vitality and sustainability, thriving youth and families, education and learning, and health and human care.