The Chatham Fund and The Harwich Fund Award Joint Grant

SOUTH YARMOUTH—The Harwich Fund and The Chatham Fund have awarded a $3,500 joint grant to the Friends of Harwich Early Childhood Advisory Council to support an 8-week, in-home program beginning this month for children ages three to five who live in Harwich or Chatham.

Forty-eight children will receive “Family Activity Kits” underwritten by the charitable funds, which were established at The Cape Cod Foundation by local residents to bring resources and opportunities to their communities.

Each kit contains materials for children to either build inventions or explore their senses. Through interactive Zoom meetings, a professional educator will introduce participants to weekly projects that help develop language, communication, fine motor, and problem-solving skills and instruct parents how to build upon their child’s interests and learning.

When she learned about the grant, Lucy Gilmore, Monomoy Family Resource Coordinator for the Cape Cod Children’s Place, said, “Thank you for the BEST NEWS EVER! We are so grateful for your generous funding to create home learning kits for Chatham and Harwich families with young children.”

“This is the inaugural grant from the newly-established Harwich Fund,” said Cheryl Barnes, a member of its Advisory Committee. “We are very excited to help children who are at home due to COVID-19-related daycare and pre-school closings. While our initial focus will be to help people who have been adversely impacted by the pandemic, we intend to support nonprofit organizations across a broad spectrum of areas, including health and human services, educational and cultural enrichment, and environmental and conservational concerns. We believe in the concept of ‘a rising tide lifts all boats.’ Our motto is: Harwich helping Harwich.”

The Harwich Early Childhood Advisory Council is an asset to both the Chatham and Harwich communities so both town funds eagerly brought their resources together to support a mutually beneficial project, according to Brian Scheld and Hank Holden, chairs of The Harwich Fund and The Chatham Fund, respectively.

Both Advisory Committees are also actively fundraising to build their funds’ endowments and to increase their grantmaking capabilities in their communities. Anyone interested in supporting The Harwich Fund can contact Cheryl Barnes at cherylobarnes@gmail.com or Brian Scheld at brian.j.scheld@gmail.com. For information about The Chatham Fund, contact Hank Holden at hholden26@outlook.com. To donate, go online to harwichfund.org or chathamfund.org. For more information about Town Funds, visit capecodfoundation.org.