James Clark  Westford Historical Society artifacts 

As a founding member of the Greater Lowell Community Foundation and a member of the Foundation’s Distribution Committee, I was interested in a nugget of information in today’s SUN. In the article “Keeing History Dry” – Westford Historical Society member James Clark notes that the Society’s “real treasure” is not an artifact but the commercial grade dehumidifier which helps protect the collection – from documents to doll dresses. This was made possible through a mini-grant awarded the Society by the Greater Lowell Community Foundation. These small grants – long a priority for me – are not throw-away monies but critical funds for small organizations like local historical societies. One of our first grants in the late 1990s was to a society that needed a copy machine produce newsletters to keep in touch with members and donors – a small thing to most but critical to this organization.

From James Clark:

“People are fascinated by genealogy. They come here to find ancestors,” Clark added. “If it wasn’t for the Greater Lowell Community Foundation, a lot of people, not just the museum, would be greatly affected. The organization and its purpose are wonderful.”

Read the full article about the Westford Historical Society, its collection and projects from the SUN here.

BTW, the Distribution Committee of the Greater Lowell Community Foundation is now in the process of reviewing the current crop of grant proposals as it looks to grant awards of $1,000 to $10,000 to non-profit organizations in its catchment area including the communities of Andover, Ashby, Ayer, Bedford, Billerica, Burlington, Carlisle, Chelmsford, Concord, Dracut, Dunstable, Groton, Haverhill, Lawrence, Lowell, Littleton, Methuen, Pepperell, North Andover, Shirley, Tewksbury, Townsend, Tyngsboro, Westford, Wilmington. The grants will be presented at an event in early October. Stay tuned.