Did you know that our Friends Feeding Friends program is the chief provider or resources for our MVRSD high school pantry and makes snacks available for all four school buildings? We take donations all year long .Get in touch with us at food@friendsofmascoma.org for a list of suggested items. There are awesome examples in this picture.
FOM Supports National Night Out in Canaan Sponsored by the Canaan Police Department
We were happy to attend this first time event in Canaan to support our communities. Pictured here are Carolyn Cusick, board member, Lana Evans, George Lazurus, Vicky Sousa-volunteers and Beth Felix, board member. Look for this fun event in August 2020!
Friends of Mascoma supports Community at Canaan Old Home Days!
The theme was Farm Life and here we have our entry float designed and built by Scott Russell and Lisa Gaskin. We did win THIRD PLACE! Pictured are Anson and Annelisa West, Scott Russell and Lisa Gaskin.
Pictured are Kate Stewart, getting some giveaway treats out and board member, Andrew Cushing as a pony!
Introducing our New Executive Director: Eula Lee Kozma
The Friends of Mascoma Foundation board is pleased to announce the hiring of Eula Lee Kozma as the organization’s first Executive Director. Funding for this position was made possible by a private supporter who understood the pressing need for this role as the organization grows to meet the needs of this community. This generous designated gift will support the Executive Director position for three years.
Friends of Mascoma Foundation (FOM) was formed by a group of community advocates committed to supporting the needs of the Mascoma Valley Regional School District (MVRSD). FOM provides support to the MVRSD on initiatives that foster educational development and nutritional well-being for our students and their families. Their core focus areas are:
Supporting students by funding supplemental educational opportunities and scholarships.
Providing teachers with "mini grants" enabling them to offer additional educational programs to their students.
Enhancing and improving the reputation of the district by helping highlight our communities’ commitment to education.
Supporting successful existing programs to include more students.
Supporting our Friends Feeding Friends food pantries.
In her role as Executive Director, Eula will have overall strategic and operational responsibility for FOM’s staff/volunteers, programs, expansion, and execution of its mission. She will develop a deep knowledge of field, core programs, operations, and business plans within her first 6-9 months with the organization.
Understanding the people and community FOM serves is vital to the role and Eula has been a valuable member of the Upper Valley and Kearsarge/Sunapee regions for many years. A graduate of Franklin & Marshall College and Vermont Law School, Eula knew early on that she wanted to focus her efforts on the mission driven work of nonprofits. She has worked at a variety of not for profit organizations in New England including Community Resources for Justice and Raising A Reader Massachusetts. Most recently she served as the Development Director for the Good Neighbor Health and Red Logan Dental Clinics in White River Junction, VT.
Eula is thrilled for this opportunity and feels that she is a good fit for FOM at this time. She said, “Fostering educational development and making sure that the children and families of this community are thriving are two points I am very passionate about. I will bring a unique perspective to FOM, utilizing my experience in fundraising and organizational development as well as education and overall health and wellness to further the mission of FOM. I am inspired by what this group of committed volunteers and founding board members have accomplished in five years and I am excited to be a part of this growing organization’s next chapter.”
To learn more about or to make a gift to, the Friends of Mascoma Foundation, or, if you know someone who might need their services please call 603.632.4542, visit their website at friendsofmascoma.org or email them at info@friendsofmascoma.org.
We Need YOU to Help Us Share Our Resources !
Our Friends Feeding Friends program is all about bringing resources to the Mascoma Valley that could otherwise be wasted. We are all about sharing with our neighbors to build strong communities. Kids shouldn’t be hungry in school, so we are all about making sure our schools have food available for all situations. We can’t make all of this happen without our VOLUNTEERS. We really need more people who want to help our communities be supportive of each other. Please consider joining our Friends Feeding Friends team.
Email: food@friendsofmascoma.org
Call: 603-632-4542
Donate at www.friendsofmascoma.org
We Support Our Communities!
Grafton Parade
Foodie van all ready for the Grafton July 4 parade!
And here is our FOM crew, Lana Evans, pantry manager and parade foodie designer, Kate Stewart, Board Member, Coralie Stewart, Carolyn Cusick, Board member, Eloise Plumley, Andrew Cushing, Board member. We distributed cool juices on a very hot day. Join us next year!
Thanks to our creative volunteer, Melody Stauff, for designing our Liberty Bell for the theme of this year’s parade, “Ring the Bells”.
Thank You Fresh Picks Cafe & Brian Stone!
Friends of Mascoma Foundation works hard on our programs to foster educational development and nutritional well-being for our students and their families. We are pleased to share that Cafe Services, the parent company of Fresh Picks Cafe who provides cafeterias services in our district schools, recently sent a $1,000 donation to FOM. The owner of the company, Brian Stone, also sent a personal donation to FOM. These donations are helping FOM further programming in support of our district’s students and families.
Thank you Cafe Services and Brian Stone!
FOM is Hiring!
Friends of Mascoma Foundation is pleased to announce we are on the hunt for an Executive Director! FOM has experienced rapid growth since our start in 2014 and has reached the point that we need a staff member to help us continue to grow. This is a part-time, paid position and the job description can be found here.
If you (or somebody you know) might be the right fit for the position, please email a cover letter and resume to info@friendsofmascoma.org. Please also help spread the word by letting family and friends know about this opportunity.
FIGHT HUNGER BAGS AT HANNAFORD SUPERMARKET BENEFITS FRIENDS FEEDING FRIENDS IN JULY!
As a reminder, Friends Feeding Friends will receive a $1 donation every time a $2.50 Fight Hunger Bag is sold for the month of July at the hannaford store located at:
8 Market Street, West Lebanon. NH
All of JULY!
THANK YOU DUTILLE'S JEWELRY DESIGN STUDIO FOR FUNDRAISING FOR CHARITY!
GET YOUR RAFFLE TICKETS ASAP!
NH GIVES RESULTS!!!!!!!
2018 Annual Report
It is hard to believe that 2018 (and the start to 2019) was even busier than the previous year! We finally completed our 2018 annual report and it can be found here. We are in the process of placing paper copies around the district and can mail you a copy, just shoot us an email at info@friendsofmascoma.org if you want a paper copy!
A Look at our Mascoma Valley Regional High School Food Insecurity Program
We partner with the MVRSD to bring resources to our school district to eliminate food insecurity for our students. Look through all of our pictures to get an idea of the awesome resources available to our students.
This is a collaboration of many partner agencies with the New Hampshire Food Bank. This would not be possible without all of our wonderful volunteers, donors and supporters who come together to make a real effort to make sure our school community has access to food resources. Spread the word of good things happening in our corner of the world! Please get in touch with us if you have any questions.
The following pictures show our MVRSD pantry. Free table, recycling ,Snack cupboards, students helping unload, food meal items to take home in backpacks , cold refrigerated snacks, frozen meat and personal items. All available for our students if so needed. Want to help? Be a volunteer with us or support us through donations to our Friends Feeding Friends Program.
We also have an Amazon Wishlist for specific nutritional snacks which are hard to get! Thanks in advance! food@friendsofmascoma.org
Friends Feeding Friends Celebrate Volunteers
On April 12, we held a pizza and cupcake party to celebrate our volunteers who are the the many reasons our Friends Feeding Friends programs reached a Year Three Anniversary. These individuals from all five of our school towns give thousands of hours each year to help neighbors in their communities reduce food insecurity by helping us redistribute food resources and reduce food waste. They transport food by picking it up at the New Hampshire Food Bank, Willing Hands, Price Choppers, Hannafords and the TCCAP in Plymouth.
They unload, unpack sort and shelve thousands of pounds of food .They transport food to the MVRHS in-school pantry. They also operate pantries in Enfield and Canaan where shoppers can pick out food from a great variety of choices every week. We love our volunteers! Want to be part of our team? Please email: food@friendsofmascoma.org
Alan Ricard, Kerri Lazurus, Edie and Bill Bellion , George Lazurus
Dan Moore, Carolyn Cusick, Steve and Terri Russell
Kaylee and Beth Felix, Andrew Cushing
Annelisa West , Coralie and AJ Stewart
Around the table- Sharon Kiley, Holly West, Lori Bliss Hill, behind: Nahid Tabatabei
Dan Kiley-(King of Food Tranports) and Kate Plumley Stewart
Michelle Hemmerling and twins!
Sue Huntoon and Mabel McGranaghan
Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth Students Help with Friends Feeding Friends
A community service group of the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth sponsored a personal items and food drive to be included in our Spring Break boxes that were offered to 60 school families. A group led by Isabelle Yang, a medical student, brought their collections and helped organize the boxes along with Cynthia Collea, the MVRHS and IRS pantry manager and district social worker. Peg Vincent and Lynn O’Leary of IRS Helping Hands helped coordinate. Several MVRHS students helped with the organization as well. Friends of Mascoma Foundation supplied all of the resources for the boxes…..and we do this for every school break!
Town of Orange - Evening of Music & Potluck Supper
Have you ever been interested in learning more about the Town of Orange? It is the smallest town in our five-town school district and boasts 289 residents (at last count), one mountain, and 23.2 square miles. They are celebrating their 250th anniversary, which is exciting news!
As part of the Town of Orange’s 250th anniversary celebrations, they are hosting an evening of music and potluck supper on Saturday, April 27th at 5:30 pm. Music begins at 5:30 pm and the potluck takes place around 7:00 pm. The event is being hosted at the Orange Town House on Town House Road.
This is a free and family friendly event, we hope to see you there!
Word on the street...
Word on the street is that we have some tough competition for prizes during NH Gives this year! NH Gives is how we raise money for our scholarship fund and the cash prizes enable us to give an extra scholarship or two each year.
Please consider joining our NH Gives team by signing up as a fundraising champion on our NH Gives profile. We will be sending more information on our NH Gives campaign in the next few weeks, stay tuned!
Scholarship Deadline is April 1st!
Money, money, money!
The deadline for applying for the Friends of Mascoma Foundation scholarship program is Monday, April 1st. Last year we awarded $16,000 in scholarships to 15 students in the Class of 2018. We are planning to award a similar amount to the Class of 2019, but might not be able to.
Why is this? To date, we have only received nine applications! The Class of 2019 is smaller than classes in previous years and we are aware we will receive less applications as a result, however we really love to award scholarships to outstanding students each year.
Please help us spread the word so we get a few more applications before the deadline. Late or incomplete applications are not accepted, however if students have already applied for post-secondary educational opportunities and other scholarships, they should have all the information needed to apply already.
Thank you for your help and support!
Thank You MVRHS Student Council!
We would like to thank the Mascoma Valley Regional High School Student Council for collecting and donating 91 pounds of food, personal items, and warm clothing to our Friends Feeding Friends program this winter! The donations were sorted, inventoried, and placed in the MVRHS food pantry. There were many wonderful items that will be much appreciated by students at IRS and MVRHS.
Hannaford Supermarket West Lebanon Charitable Giving Program
In 2018 Friends Feeding Friends program was the charitable recipients of $505.50 from their Bags4Cause program. We are chosen again for the entire month of APRIL. Please keep us in mind!
