January
Fenton Chester Arena – $8068.91
Your donations will:
- Help with facility improvements
- Offset costs for youth programs and other activities
- Provide affordable recreation opportunities for all ages
February
Lyndon’s Covered Bridges – $6440.85
Sanborn Covered Bridge is loved by locals and visitors alike. Its unique architectural style gives it historical significance. As “The Covered Bridge Capital of the NEK”, many Lyndonites equate covered bridges with the town’s identity. The Town has renewed its commitment to revitalizing the five covered bridges and recognizes Sanborn Covered Bridge as the bridge that has the power to transform Lyndon into a vibrant place where locals and visitors come to play, work, and live.
Coins for Community this month will support the Sanborn CB revitalization effort. Your contributions will be used to leverage grant funding that requires a matching contribution from the community. Your donations will also be used for smaller projects that freshen up the bridges, such as the holiday wreaths that are on the bridges now. Those small gestures are a way to show the community at large that we all care about these bridges.
Please visit the Town of Lyndon website for more information about the covered bridges and for opportunities to get involved with fundraising, small volunteer projects, and idea generating for placemaking activities at the bridge sites.
Thank you for rounding up to support the Sanborn Covered Bridge revitalization project!
March
Hope – $8052.20
H.O.P.E. (Helping Other People Everyday Inc.) has been in Lyndonville since 2009, and has been offering services to those in our community that require life’s basic necessities. Our mission has always been to help in a loving and compassionate way, and in doing so, we hope to instill a desire to help others. We operate a thrift store in downtown Lyndonville, stocked almost entirely with donations from community members, where our charitable organization is based out of. Over ten years ago, we started the first Backpack Program in our region, which provides bags of food to children from 9 area schools facing food insecurity over the weekends. This program has grown to be the most significant service we offer, and has the largest impact to our community. We also provide homeless services to those who find themselves suddenly homeless, emergency services for those facing a flood or fire, free clothing vouchers, and teacher packages throughout the school year to our area schools, filled with school supplies, just to name a few. We do all of this with no federal, state or local government funding; all of our work is funded through donation.
April
Kingdom Animal Shelter
$7589.92
Our Shelter provides a home, food, and medical care for cats and kittens that are
surrendered, stray, and abandoned in the
communities we serve. We are
a non-profit, certified 501(c)(3) organization. We depend on the generosity of
the community to maintain the Shelter.
In addition we strive to find the best
forever home for these cats and
kittens in our care.
May
| St. Johnsbury – Kiwanis Club of St. Johnsbury/Kiwanis Pool $2791.51 Kiwanis helps kids around the world. The St. Johnsbury Kiwanis Club maintains and operates the Kiwanis Pool in St. Johnsbury, a free public pool that offers swim lessons and swim time to upwards of 600 area children. Funds will be used for general operation of the pool facilities. |
Lyndonville – Powers Park –$5839.78
Village Improvement Society/Powers Park is right in the heart of Lyndonville and has served area communities for over 105 years. Our mission is to provide fun, affordable, and healthy recreation opportunities for local children and families and to promote physical activity and the arts in a safe and convenient outdoor setting. We ensure that all enrolled children are provided with high-quality swim and tennis instruction and are placed in the appropriate level for their specific needs. We do this in several ways, but our flagship program is an 8-week long swim program that provides high-quality swim instruction at low cost to children in the Northeast Kingdom. Annually, we serve approximately 400 children from Lyndon and the surrounding towns, and employ approximately 15 local youth as lifeguards, recreational instructors, and aides. We also have groups and businesses use the pool and picnic area for events like company picnics, weddings, graduations, and family reunions. The park is also open to the public year-round from dusk until dawn and includes tennis courts, a pump track, a pavilion, a basketball court, a playground, and grass fields. Powers Park, at no charge, also provides space for the state’s summer food program to serve free food to children on our property during the summer. Thank you for your help!
June
| St. Johnsbury – St. Johnsbury Baseball & Softball $1956.21 St. Johnsbury Baseball & Softball provides organized youth recreation from April-October, serving nearly 300 local area youth and their families. We operate the only fall baseball and softball programs in Caledonia County. Our current facility includes the maintenance and groundskeeping of five ball fields in two St. Johnsbury locations (Legion Field and Leonard Field). We also host St. Johnsbury’s youth football program. Coins for Community funds will be used to replace the backstop and netting on the Babe Ruth diamond at Legion Field. This is part of a larger on-going renovation of all St. Johnsbury Baseball and Softball fields. |
| Lyndonville – Lyndon Youth Football $5464.03 Lyndon Youth Football (LYF) serves youth athletes ages 5th through 8th grade in the towns of Lyndon, Burke, Sutton, Wheelock/Sheffield, Newark, East Haven and Island Pond. The LYF program is run completely by volunteers and rosters approximately 60 student athletes where the principles of USA Football are put into motion focusing on body mechanics, proper tackling and hitting techniques by our certified coaches. LYF begins with a foundation of skills at the 5th & 6th grade level and builds upon that as our players reach the 7th & 8th grades. Beginning in mid August, LYF players practice 4-5 days a week with games on Saturdays through November. LYF was crowned the Division II Vermont State Champions in 2021. LYF not only focuses on football but also on the importance of an education; our players are student athletes and we encourage good grades and appropriate behaviors while in school. LYF works with players on how to effectively communicate with their teammates and coaches and provides the tools to be better citizens to those around them. LYF works alongside local trainers to demonstrate the importance of exercise, hydration, and good nutrition with sessions provided by trainers. Funds raised through the Coins for Community Partners will be utilized to purchase additional helmets for the 2022 season. Safety is a priority for LYF and having the most up to date helmets is imperative for our players. Helmets are extremely expensive but worth every penny when it comes to our players. |
July
| The Vermont Children’s Theater – $8317.18 The Vermont Children’s Theater is a free summer theater program for children and teens from all over the NEK. Every child or teen who auditions is included in one of three casts, which present their productions to the community during the month of July. Our goal is to provide a safe place for children and teens to stretch their creativity, build confidence, and foster friendships, while improving empathy, teamwork, literacy, communication, and problem solving. These skills not only contribute to the well-being of our young people now, but benefit them far into the future. At the Vermont Children’s Theater, we intentionally keep show ticket prices low so that our community can easily enjoy the experience of live theater. Ticket sales and concessions generally cover less than three-quarters of the cost of running our program. The VCT board is all volunteer run; thus, there are no administrative costs. However, we do pay our directors and have numerous operating expenses, including royalties, scripts, insurance, electricity, and phone, along with very limited set and costume budgets. In order to offer this program free to all children and teens who participate, we rely on volunteers, sponsorships, sales of advertising spaces in our programs, grants (when available), and donations. Funds from Coins for Community would specifically help us pay for the royalties and fees associated with securing shows for our casts to perform, as well as the cost of buying scripts for all cast members and music for pit players. Any excess funds would help us purchase additional items needed for the production, such as costume pieces (that we don’t already have), props, and set-building materials. |
August
St. Johnsbury – Kingdom Trail Association (KT) – $1292.08
Kingdom Trail Association (KT) is a nonprofit trail organization based in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont that provides recreation and education opportunities for local residents and visitors while working to conserve natural resources and create economic stimulation. KT delivers its mission by partnering with landowners, local businesses, government agencies and other non-profit organizations to create and manage inclusive outdoor recreation opportunities that is accessible to people of all abilities and identities through membership.
Funds will be dedicated to the KT Ambassador Program. KT, through our Trail Ambassadors, strives to increase trail user engagement and education, share our code of conduct Ride With Gratitude and Leave No Trace policies, plus inform users they are on private property and to be respectful. Ambassadors are stationed at key trailheads and parking areas, on foot and bike, making strategic rounds throughout the network holding trail users accountable.
| Lyndonville – Burke Senior Meal Site – $5212.19 Burke Senior Meal Site offers hot meals to approximately 60 seniors on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays as well as frozen meal on the weekends. We service the towns of Burke, Newark and Sutton. We are a non profit organization that strives to feed and allow our senior friends a chance to socialize. We would use these funds to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables as well us other nutritious foods that meet the dietary requirements of our senior population. |
September
| Lyndonville – The Cobleigh Library Bookmobile – $4465.91 The Cobleigh Library Bookmobile is the outreach arm of the Cobleigh Library. It travels around the Northeast Kingdom bringing books, storytimes, and events for daycares, afterschool programs, senior centers, and others who can’t always make it to the library. The bookmobile is entirely funded by grants and donations. The funds raised will be used to help keep the bookmobile on the road, delivering the library to people around the Northeast Kingdom. |
| St. Johnsbury – The Friends of Dog Mountain – $1365.89 Friends of Dog Mountain’s mission is to steward and sustain the 150-acre Dog Mountain property in Vermont as a unique national treasure that honors the healing power of “dogs, nature, love, and art,” and to preserve and celebrate the important artistic contributions of Dog Mountain’s iconic creator, Stephen Huneck. We believe Dog Mountain deserves to be restored and stewarded as an historic, cultural, and artistic treasure of national importance. Stephen Huneck considered the entirety of Dog Mountain—the ponds, trails, wildflower meadows, vistas, Dog Chapel, and other features—to be his ultimate artistic achievement. We aim to fulfill the Hunecks’ vision of creating a place of heartfelt experience and deep healing through nature, love, art, and pets. As an internationally recognized and celebrated destination attracting tens of thousands of visits annually, we appreciate that Dog Mountain is a uniquely compelling destination for dog lovers and their families seeking to celebrate and honor their profound relationships and shared lives together. We believe the Hunecks’ joyous artistic creations are important contributions to American Folk Art. We seek to preserve and curate Stephen’s woodcut prints, sculptures, furniture, and other inspired creations—such as the Dog Chapel—for future generations to enjoy. We understand and appreciate that Dog Mountain is a valued economic and community partner contributing to the health and vitality of the region. We seek to collaborate with local municipalities, businesses, and other area nonprofits to develop Dog Mountain and our programmatic offerings in order to benefit the local communities and economies of St. Johnsbury and the Northeast Kingdom of VT. |
October
| St. Johnsbury – St. Johnsbury Meals on Wheels – $2962.62 Serving the greater St. J area including Waterford, East St. Johnsbury, Passumpsic. We home cook and package our hot nutritional meals in the St. J House daily. In 2021 we provide 39,816 meals to the most vulnerable in our community. Individuals receive a hot meal Monday through Friday with 2 frozen meal to help with the weekend. This incredible task was accomplished by 3 paid staff and 24 volunteers All of the cash donation we receive will be applied to the food budget. The average meals cost is 7.50 per meal, the average donation from our recipients is 75 cents. |
Lyndonville – Lyndon Area Food Shelf – $5435.27
Lyndon Area Food Shelf has remained open throughout the Covid-19 Pandemic and the numbers fed is growing every month. We fly on donations and volunteers yet pay rent, insurance, etc.
The fund will be gratefully used to provide ongoing services!
November
The NEK Council on Aging – $7202.82
The NEK Council on Aging serves older and disabled residents in Caledonia, Orleans and Essex Counties of Vermont. We are focused on finding new directions for our older Vermonters to live well, their way. We are committed to providing person-centered care and lifestyle options that inform, encourage, inspire, and support older adults as they take steps to focus on lifelong learning, active lifestyles, and healthy aging.
The funds will be used to support our Fuel Assistance Fund, a fund that provides assistance to NEK elders for their fuel bills.
December
| St. Johnsbury – Catamount Arts For more than 40 years, Catamount Arts has worked to make the arts a fundamental part of community life. The only full-service arts center in northeastern Vermont, Catamount Arts has grown to be the cultural, entertainment, and arts home for 40,000 visitors each year. Our mission is to inspire appreciation of and participation in the Arts, promote the Arts throughout the region, and cultivate the Arts as an integral part of community life. Our vision is to serve as the Community Arts Organization and Box Office for the region, acting as an essential force for the Arts and enhancing the cultural climate of communities throughout Northeastern Vermont and Northwestern New Hampshire. Since our humble beginnings as a traveling film presenter in 1975, Catamount Arts offers foreign, independent, and classic films; exhibitions by local and regional artists; live music, dance, and theater performances; summer camps and arts education programming for children; a regional box office for more than 40 organizations; and a gathering space for community events. We’re also the proud producers of the KCP Presents Performing Arts Series, bringing world-class professional performances to Vermont’s rural Northeast Kingdom; First Night North, the only family-friendly, alcohol-free New Year’s Eve performing arts festival in Vermont; the EPIC Music Program and the Levitt AMP St. Johnsbury Music Series. The funds received from this coins for community round up program will go to support our Levitt AMP St. Johnsbury Music Series at Dog Mountain. The series, which features 10 or more concerts during the summer months, began in the summer of 2017 and has had strong community support and attendance every year since — with the exception of 2020 when we had to cancel the series due to the covid-19 pandemic. In the summer of 2022, community members can expect to attend concerts featuring national and global artists of all genres on late Sunday afternoons throughout the summer months up at Dog Mountain. Community members will also be delighted to hear that we are expanding our “getdowntown” events (associated with the summer concert series that began during the fall of 2020) in downtown St. Johnsbury — more information coming soon! Thank you for your support! |
Lyndon – The Lyndon Outing Club
| The Lyndon Outing Club is a volunteer run board on board which maintains Shonyo Park. We offer quality, affordable outdoor recreation year round. We will be installing a small bike park this summer and looking to install snowmaking in the next few years. We also maintain the lodge and make it available for community use. We partner with Kingdom East schools to provide winter programming and NVU uses it as a classroom. These funds would be earmarked for match funds for snowmaking efforts. |
