Friends of Mascoma Partners with The Cornucopia Project

We are very excited to partner with our friends at the Cornucopia Project on this special project. This week, Friends of Mascoma Foundation picked up some of their NEW Sunflower Kits to distribute to classrooms at both Enfield Village School and Canaan Elementary School. Cornucopia is doing some great work and they have three new planting kits designed for classrooms available on their website: https://cornucopiaproject.org/farm-stand/ or get a sneak peak below.

Students will learn how to germinate a seed then how to take care of seedlings once they have matured. Grow sunflowers in the classroom to then plant at school to make a “Sunflower House”, or send them home with students to be planted elsewhere.

About this lesson
Students will learn how to germinate a seed then how to take care of seedlings once they have matured. Grow sunflowers in the classroom to then plant at school to make a “Sunflower House”, or send them home with students to be planted elsewhere.

What’s included

• Materials
  Sunflower seeds
  Soil
  Pots
  Growing instructions

• Lessons include complete instructions, storybook, and accompanying discussion questions, follow up activities including plant care

• Students may bring the sunflowers home or follow the instruction to create a Sunflower House in your schoolyard.

• Visit the sunflower house for circle times, to learn about insects and pollinators, to observe growth, etc. Enjoy!

Ages: 2-5
Duration: 30 minutes
Location: Classroom
Season: Spring
Price: $35

FOM to Host Seed Sowing Workshop

Join FOM and a group of community volunteers for a seed sowing workshop on Saturday May 15th! Learn about homegardening including info about raised beds and container gardening and leave with your own tray of seeds.

The workshop will be held outside the Friends of Mascoma office at On the Common Ln, Canaan, NH 03741 on Saturday, May 15, 2021 at 10 AM. This event is free and open to the public. We encourage participants of all ages to attend. If you have any questions email Eula at elkozma@friendsofmascoma.org

FOM Seeking Part-Time Pantry and Volunteer Coordinator

We are pleased to announce that we are growing our team! FOM is searching for a part-time Pantry and Volunteer Coordinator. Read on to learn more about this opportunity! Please share with anyone who may be interested.

Friends of Mascoma Foundation Friends Feeding Friends Pantry and Volunteer Coordinator Job Description

The Friends of Mascoma Foundation seeks a part-time Pantry and Volunteer Coordinator to support its growing food access program Friends Feeding Friends.  Friends Feeding Friends is a program designed to decrease food insecurity, increase food access, and reduce food waste to all residents of the Mascoma Valley Regional School District. The program launched in February 2016 and has grown exponentially over the past few years.

Attention to detail, flexibility, friendly disposition, and ability to work with and manage volunteers are a must.  Similarly, an ability to maintain confidentiality and treat our customers and constituents with respect is of outmost importance.

This position is 20 hours a week and will report to the Executive Director. If you are interested in applying, please send a resume or explanation of your relevant job experience and a letter of inquiry to Eula Lee Kozma at elkozma@friendsofmascoma.org

The primary responsibilities of this role include, but are not limited to:

·         Create and Manage an electronic inventory system.

·         Manage and place all orders from the USDA, NHFB, and local farms.

·         Communicate and/or meet with or arrange for item drop-offs with Willing Hands.

·         Prepare and submit quarterly reports to the NHFB.

·         Report Monthly Fresh Rescue poundage to NHFB.

·         Prepare and submit monthly reports to the USDA.

·         Manage volunteers onsite and volunteer communications including creating and managing a monthly volunteer sign up list.

·         Prepare for two weekly pantries

o   Plan shelf stable offerings for the week

o   Plan protein options

o   Plan produce offerings as able

·         Execute two weekly pantries in conjunction with available volunteers.

·         Prepare and execute snack offerings for CES and EVS—historically, this has been weekly, this year it is monthly.  Adjust as needed.

·         Prepare and execute snack and backpack offerings for IRMS and MVRHS.

·         Manage holiday and school box programs in conjunction with Ingathering, National Honor Society and other organizations as needed. This occurs 3-4 times annually with varying levels of work and participation. 

·         This person may need to fill in if no pantry volunteers are available.

·         Keep an annual pantry in-kind tracking list (source of donated items and food drives).

·         Keep a Household weekly visit tally for an annual report.

·         Transport food in organization’s van.

·         Attending events on behalf of FOM as needed.

·         A clean driving record is required.

·         Basic computer skills a must and ability to use excel spreadsheets.

·         Lifting up to 40lbs is required for unpacking and shelve stocking.

·         Must maintain a food safety certificate.

·         Other tasks as needed.

Join us for the Mascoma Builds Community Resilience Project

Come one come all! Join FOM and UNH Extension for this kick off community conversation on ways we can all lift up the Mascoma Valley as we emerge from the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Last Call for Scholarships!

It is scholarship season and the clock is ticking on our scholarship application period. The Friends of Mascoma Foundation scholarship application period is from January 1st through April 15th 2021. Applications are ONLY accepted through this website.

The number of scholarships and dollar amount awarded is dependent on available funds each year. Friends of Mascoma celebrates the pursuit of all forms of higher education. We encourage students pursuing trades and certificate programs to apply for our scholarships. If you or someone you know is even remotely interested we encourage you to apply as soon as possible!

For complete information and the application visit our website: http://friendsofmascoma.org/scholarship

Did You Miss the Community COVID-19 Presentations? Catch them here!

Still not sure about the COVID-19 vaccines? Or do you simply want to learn more? Please join our neighbors, immunologist Cheryl Guyre, PhD, and clinicians Karl Stanford, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, and David Beaufait, MD, for a science-based discussion of vaccine safety and efficacy. This two part series offers general information about the vaccine options such as how the Johnson & Johnson single dose vaccine compares to the mRNA vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna. In the second installment our neighbors return for another science-based discussion on the latest COVID-19 vaccine developments and a more in depth look at the Janssen/Johnson & Johnson vaccine, some tips on how to critically evaluate news reports on vaccine safety and efficacy. Both sessions end with a Q and A session.

Session One is available here: https://youtu.be/Y2x5WtleWj8

Session Two Is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuFDm7cklu8

This program was sponsored by the Enfield Police, The Friends of Mascoma Foundation, and the Mascoma Health Center.

FOM is Pleased to Announce our Partnership with AmeriCorps

The Friends of Mascoma Foundation is pleased to announce that via a new partnership with AmeriCorps, we have launched a search for a VISTA to help us address food insecurity issues it the Mascoma Valley region. If you or someone you know is interested in the applying please visit the listing here. This position would be ideal for someone planning a gap year.

The New Hampshire Food Insecurity AmeriCorps program is a full time VISTA service opportunity. AmeriCorps members serve with community based organizations, youth serving organizations and colleges to build capacity for local communities to address food insecurity. This VISTA Program provides high-impact professional development and training for our VISTA members. Training addresses skills required to carry out the assigned VISTA role, as well as skill-building that will be valuable to the VISTA member in their future professional pursuits. The program is a cohort-based experience that creates the opportunity to learn from peers in the program, to share what is learned in service, and to foster a supportive service year community.

FOM works with MVRSD to Distribute February Food Boxes

In cooperation with the MVRSD social workers and custodial staff, Mascoma High’s Student Athletic Leadership Training team, or SALT, has been taking an active role in the Friends of Mascoma Foundation’s efforts to relieve food security pressure during the pandemic.

Through FOM’s Friends Feeding Friends initiative, the SALT team assembled boxes of food for a pantry shared by the Mascoma Valley Regional High School and Indian River Middle School. Mascoma volleyball coach Eric Ramage, who is also a school counselor and the SALT team’s faculty adviser, said the goal is to have at least one student on every Mascoma team in every grade working on the project for the purposes of leadership development and promoting core values. “We hope to reach about 60 families; it’s a big team effort,” Ramage said of the initiative. “Our custodial staff􀄱 is integral to getting this organized for the students. The social workers in the two (school) buildings connect to what families the food goes to and they do the distribution.”

Ramage said that a couple of members of the girls basketball team were due to help out as well. The 10 SALT members, all athletes, have also invited 􀄮friends 􀄮om other school communities, such as drama, to assist.

FOM executive director Eula Lee Kozma said having students help out educates them on the district’s food security issues and teaches them the importance of helping others in their community.

Members of the Mascoma High boys basketball team stand with food boxes assembled through the school's Student Athlete Leadership Team (SALT) for distribution to area families.

A Valentine to Our Volunteers

A Valentine Message for our Volunteers:

As you know, the Friends of Mascoma Foundation is a mostly volunteer operated, grassroots 501(c)(3) charitable organization dedicated to fostering educational advancements and nutritional well-being for students and their families within the Mascoma Valley Regional School District. We pride ourselves on being nimble and responding to the evolving needs of the community.  While 2020 was a year unlike any other for everyone Friends of Mascoma continued to deliver services and fulfill our mission.

We were able to do this because of our loyal group of dedicated volunteers. Our volunteers are the lifeblood of our organization.  Thank you so much for your commitment to the Friends of Mascoma Foundation this past year, and every year.  We look forward to having a proper in person volunteer recognition event later in 2021.  For now, please know how much you mean to us!

With love,

Holly, Kate, Carol, Liz, Matt, Beth, Sadie, Bridget, Sayer, Theresa and Eula

Apply for a FOM Scholarship Today!

Our Scholarship Application period is open!

The Friends of Mascoma Foundation scholarship application period is from January 1st through April 15th 2021. Applications are ONLY accepted through the form on our website.

The number of scholarships and dollar amount awarded is dependent on available funds each year. Friends of Mascoma celebrates the pursuit of all forms of higher education. We encourage students pursuing trades and certificate programs to apply for our scholarships.

Eligibility:

• Applicants must be graduating seniors at MVRHS.

• Applicants must be pursuing post-secondary programs including technical/trade/certificate programs, associates degrees, and 4+year degrees.

• Applicants must provide one letter of recommendation as an attachment to their application.

Past scholarship recipients are now eligible to renew scholarships up to three times. Please visit our scholarship renewals page for more information.

Click here for the complete details and the application.

Virtual Thank you & Send-off for Andrew Cushing

With no way to give a proper send-off to a valued Board Member who is moving on to focus on other endeavors, the Board of Friends of Mascoma wishes to give a small virtual send off to Andrew “Mr. Grafton” Cushing who served through the end of 2020 as our Alumni Coordinator.

Andrew graduated from Mascoma in 2008. After graduating Bowdoin College, he received an MS in historic preservation from the University of Pennsylvania. A born and bred Graftonite, Andrew returned home to restore an old house and barn. Then, like many of our members, his projects took on a life of their own, growing fast, and developed into a new regional network of preservation talent. Andrew’s work has been featured in a number of publications including the Valley News and NHPR. In 2018, Andrew was named to the prestigious Union Leader Forty Under 40 list for his work.

We are thankful for Andrew’s hard work and tough questions on all things Mascoma. While we are sad to lose him as a board member, we are excited to share that he is moving on to focus on his regional preservation work as the founding President of Mascoma Valley Preservation. We will miss Andrew very much, are extremely proud of his continued contributions to our community, and are thrilled to know we will be able to call on him as a source of Mascoma inspiration for years to come.

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Empty Bowls

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Grafton Old Home Day Parade

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Andrew helping deliver a 2020 Scholarship

Join FOM in Welcoming...Drum Roll Please...

Not one, not two, but THREE new Board members!

Please welcome—> Sadie Wells of Canaan, Sayer Palmer of Grafton, and Bridget Labrie of Enfield.

Sadie Wells is a long time Canaan resident and often volunteers with FOM at our Friends Feeding Friends food pantries. She has over 20 years of experience in banking and is currently the Branch Manager of Mascoma Bank in Enfield. Sadie is very active in the local community and has volunteered with the Enfield Mascoma Lioness Club and the Public Health Council of the Upper Valley. She also chairs the Canaan Town Budget Committee. Her experience with finance, budgeting and relationship building make a wonderful pairing with FOM.

Sayer Palmer is the owner of Open Woods Farm in Grafton. Her produce was a huge hit in the community this summer via her online retail store and at local farmer’s markets. During the pandemic the demand for local produce was overwhelming. Sayer was able to pivot her business plans and operations and provide a lot of fresh local produce to the Mascoma Valley community. Her ingenuity, quick thinking and knowledge on food and farming are well aligned with FOM’s mission and food access work.

Bridget Labrie is currently an Enfield resident and a Clinical Research Coordinator at Dartmouth Hitchcock. She is also the part-time Recreational Coordinator for the Mascoma Valley Parks and Recreation Department. Bridget is very active in the community. She coaches 7tha nd 8th grade girls volleyball and is just completing her term as Enfield Representative on the Mascoma Valley Regional School Board. A long time '“Friend” of the organization and local Jane of All Trades, we are pleased to have Bridget officially join the Board.

We are excited to have some fresh faces on our Board as our organization continues to grow. Join us in welcoming these wonderful women to our team!

FOM Secures a Gift From Amazon

Enfield resident and Amazon employee Keith Gilbert was given the opportunity to recommend a local nonprofit to be the recipient of Amazon’s end-of-year efforts to support nonprofits as they continue to navigate the COVID-19 Pandemic. He nominated the Friends of Mascoma Foundation and was able to secure a one-time donation of $5,000 in support of our work.

Keith is a long time supporter of our work and we cannot thank him enough for advocating on our behalf. Thank you Keith!

To support the Friends of Mascoma Foundation when you shop with Amazon visit this page for instructions on how to make us your AmazonSmile Charitable Organization.

To learn more about Amazon’s community impact visit: https://www.aboutamazon.com/impact/community

Friends of Mascoma is Hannaford's Fight Hunger Bag Recipient for February

Monday February 1st is FOM’s launch day for the Hannaford Helps Reusable Bag Program! For the entire month of February, when you purchase a $2.50 reusable Fight Hunger Bag at the Hannaford located at 8 Market Street, West Lebanon NH, $1 is donated to Friends of Mascoma.

Last year we sold 179 bags and we know we can beat that this year!  Our goal is to sell 200 bags, equivalent to $200! We are confident that with the help of our dedicated supporters, we can reach this goal. Shoppers can also purchase a Fight Hunger Bag online via Hannaford-To-Go. We strongly encourage you to share this news with family and friends as well!

 The Fight Hunger Bags are located on displays around the store and at the checkout. For more information about the program, please visit hannaford.bags4mycause.com. Happy February!

Can You Keep a Secret?

The Friends of Mascoma Foundation will be welcoming, not one, not two, but three new Board members in the New Year! We are very excited to grow our team and we cannot wait to tell you who our new Board members are! You’ll have to wait a few more weeks for the official announcement though!

FOM Distributes 90+ Holiday Boxes in December

A few months ago, before we even executed our Thanksgiving boxes with MANY community partners sharing much of the work, we had the idea that we were going to do holiday boxes in December. We knew this would be tricky to pull off, but we also knew there would be a need so we put our heads down and got to planning!

We wanted folks to have something special for the holiday so we set out to find hams. Our friends at the NH Food Bank suggested we contact some of the local smoke houses. Our Executive Director made some calls and we ordered 100 hams from Green Mountain Smoke House! One committed volunteer organized the box preparations (Lana Evans) and another (Dan Kiley) picked up the hams from Green Mountain Smoke House in Windsor, Vermont.

Russell Holland (a past FOM Scholarship recipient) and Braden Holland helped our lead volunteer Lana Evans pack the boxes.

Canaan, NH Fire Department & Emergency Management graciously handed out the majority of the boxes on Sunday and a crew of FOM volunteers distributed the remainder in Enfield. And voila!-- 90+ boxes were put out into the community. Many hands make light work. Thank you to all who helped FOM pull this off!

Exciting Grant Announcements!

The Friends of Mascoma Foundation is happy to report that we received two new grants in 2020. As a small, but growing organization, FOM is focused on sharing our story, growing our donor base, and diversifying our funding streams. This year, we explored new grant partnerships. Not every application we applied for was funded, but we are pleased to share two of our success stories!

This fall we were approached by the Arthur Ashley Williams Foundation, a family foundation based in Massachusetts with ties to the Mascoma Valley region. They were impressed with our work and encouraged us to apply for support. We submitted an application in October and received notification in December that we had been granted $6,000 in unrestricted support.

In December we also learned that the Friends of Mascoma Foundation had been awarded a 3 year unrestricted grant, for a total of $30,000 over three years, from the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation. The New Hampshire Charitable Foundation is New Hampshire’s statewide community foundation, founded in 1962 by and for the people of New Hampshire. They have been one of our biggest cheerleaders and we are very excited to partner with them in this way. This grant opportunity had been on our radar and we worked hard to qualify for the application process. This grant is made possible by gifts from the following fund(s): Bio X Cell Fund, Lubbe Family Fund, Rosebud Fund.

Thank you to everyone who made these grants possible! As we grow financial sustainability and financial independence are among our top priorities. Each new partnership and grant opportunity helps us continue on this path to financial sustainability and independence.

FOM to Distribute Holiday Food Boxes

The Friends of Mascoma Foundation is pleased to announce we will be distributing holiday boxes to members of the Mascoma Valley Community during the 2020 Holiday Season. Boxes will be distributed at two locations, Canaan Fire Department and Enfield Police Station, both on Sunday December 20th from 12pm-3pm. If you are interested in receiving a box please fill out the form here and return by Tuesday, December 15th. You must click on the link. This will start the document downloading to your device. Your computer may ask for permission to download. Click Yes or Allow. Download the form and save it to your device. Now you can open it and fill out the form. You can also answer the questions in the text of an email to Eula. Once the form is filled out please do one of the following to be sure FOM receives all forms:

1. Email it to Eula at ELKozma@friendsofmascoma.org OR

2. Print it off and drop off during public pantry hours OR

3. Mail to FOM 9 On the Common Way, Unit #5, Canaan, NH 03741

As always, if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out to Eula Lee Kozma by email.

Another Successful Thanksgiving Food Distribution in the Books!

Every year the Friends of Mascoma Foundation partners with several local organizations to distribute holiday food boxes to the Mascoma Valley Community.

This year we collaborated with the Mascoma Valley Regional High School's chapter of the National Honor Society to source Thanksgiving boxes. In addition to one turkey for every household, the boxes include holiday fare such as cranberry sauce, stuffing and vegetables, as well as pantry staples for the long weekend like pasta, tomato sauce, macaroni and cheese and oatmeal. The NHS also included personal care items such as tooth paste. The Baking School at the King Arthur Baking Company kindly donated one pack of 12 fresh rolls to each box. This year the high schoolers assembled and distributed 60 boxes to the community.

Last weekend the Mascoma Valley Ecumenical Council held their annual Ingathering Thanksgiving food box distribution. In partnership with FOM, they were able to distribute food boxes to 108 households. Boxes included turkeys and everything you'd need for a complete holiday meal such as stuffing, potatoes and green beans, as well as some pantry staples like pasta, oatmeal and cereal for the long weekend. We are happy to count this group among our many community partners!

FOM and Ecumenical Council volunteer Barbara Bickel helps distribute boxes to the community

Both of these distributions would not be possible without our mighty team of volunteers and our partnership with the New Hampshire Food Bank. The New Hampshire Food Bank always does a wonderful job, but this year they went above and beyond to make Thanksgiving distribution easy for their partner agencies.

Volunteers from the Mascoma Valley Ecumenical Council prepare for Ingathering 2020

All of the boxes were distributed, but we weren’t done yet! We wanted to support some of our local businesses so FOM sponsored a Thanksgiving Pie Giveaway for some of our shoppers. We purchased and gave away pies from Kitchen 56, Red Wagon Bakery and 603 Bakery and Café Don’t forget to support these local businesses this holiday season!

FOM is Pleased to Announce our New Walk Up Window Pantry System!

FOM is a small organization, but we have been able to adjust quickly in a time of crisis. We pride ourselves on being nimble and responding to the evolving needs of the community. The pandemic required out of the box thinking and flexibility. Like many other organizations we were forced to rethink and pivot some of our operations during these unusual times. We made several adjustments to our operations and work patterns. We are a largely volunteer run organization therefore the pandemic called for an increase in safety procedures and protocols.

At the initial onset of the pandemic and Governor Sununu’s stay at home order our public food pantries presented an interesting set of challenges. In March we realized that safely operating our in-person food pantries with volunteers would not be possible. We knew that access to food would be key during the pandemic.  However, the health and safety of our staff, volunteers and shoppers is of utmost importance to us so every choice we make hinges on our ability to create a safe experience.  Accordingly, we are not having shoppers enter our pantry building. We paired down our volunteer base for safety reasons and got creative with our community partnerships. 

We worked with the Enfield and Grafton Police Departments and the Canaan Fire Department to distribute food to approximately 70 households and 155 Mascoma residents every week for 14 weeks. This plan required more behind the scenes planning and effort as well as in person support from officers and fire department staff. It presented a whole new set of logistics and challenges, but it was very successful. The commitment from our team in the past few months as well as the financial support we received from individuals is a testament to the spirit of the Mascoma Valley community. 

As things began to reopen, we had to shift again and come up with a new approach without as much support from local law enforcement. In July we began distributing food curbside twice a week in Canaan and Enfield. This system also required more behind the scenes effort, but it allowed us to invite back limited volunteers, maintain social distancing and provide food and other household items to those who need it most. We continued with this set up into the fall months.

As the winter weather arrives we are prepared to shift again. This time the set up will be permanent and more sustainable for our organization by making changes to our building and distribution plan that will allow us to independently operate our Friends Feeding Friends food pantry in Canaan in an efficient and safe manner for all parties involved.

We are pleased to announce that beginning on December 1st FOM will be switching to a walk-up/takeaway system at our Canaan location. FOM enlisted MTD Building Contractors to construct two roof overhangs over existing windows. They also retrofitted the interior and exterior portions of those windows with counters to serve as check in/out takeaway stations for limited contact food pantry operations. Shoppers will check in at one window and pick up their items at the next window. This project was generously funded by the Hanover Consumer Cooperative Fund(www.coopfoodstore.com) and Upper Valley Strong (@www.uvstrong.org).

Please note, we will not be operating a pantry in Enfield for the next few weeks (possibly longer), but will offer two days in Canaan. The Lion’s Club runs their tree and wreath sale out of Huse Memorial Park for December. Since we do not currently have a COVID-19 appropriate space to use in Enfield we will run Canaan two days a week. We hope to return to Huse Memorial Park for distribution in the warmer months. Thank you for your understanding as we try out some new systems!

Shop once a week on T

uesdays in Canaan from 4pm-6pm

OR

Wednesday in Canaan from 4pm-6pm