Special Grants Spread Holiday Cheer | Townshippers Foundation
By TRCF Admin |
It Felt A Lot Like Christmas at Townshippers Research & Cultural Foundation’s Special Grant-giving Reception
We are pleased to announce that Townshippers’ Research & Cultural Foundation had been the recipient of a surprisingly generous bequest from Mrs. Lorraine LeBar, and a special grant-giving reception to disperse a portion of these funds was held on Tuesday, November 14, 2023 at Uplands Cultural and Heritage Center.
The LeBar Bequest specifically stated that the funds were to be used for research projects to study Eastern Townships history with a particular focus on the settlement history and genealogical studies and/or museum research and conservation projects. To that end, the Foundation sent information about this special bequest to local museums, archives, and historical societies and gave them an opportunity to submit project applications by October 1, 2023.
We received 10 applications from various parts of the Eastern Townships and Mrs. LeBar’s generosity enabled us to fund each and every one of these worthy projects!
Foundation President Jane Loiselle said, “We were a small foundation that usually provided seed money to local projects. When we heard the amount of the LeBar bequest, we nearly fell out of our seats. These funds allowed us to inject a goodly amount into the local heritage sector. It was a wonderful feeling to be able to help at this level and we were extremely thankful to Mrs. LeBar for trusting us with this legacy.”
In our capital campaign letters we often said, “We can only give what we receive.” This bequest allowed us to give amounts that greatly exceeded what we had traditionally given. Uplands was appropriately decorated for Christmas when we distributed gifts totaling $184,000!
Grants were given to the Army Navy Air Force Veterans Museum (Sherbrooke); the Beaulne Museum (Coaticook); Colby-Curtis Museum (Stanstead); Eastern Townships Resource Centre (Sherbrooke); Lennoxville-Ascot Historical and Museum Society (Sherbrooke); Musée d’histoire de Sherbrooke (Sherbrooke); Potton Heritage Association (Mansonville); Quebec Anglophone Heritage Network (Sherbrooke); Richmond County Museum & Historical Society (Richmond); Uplands Cultural and Heritage Centre (Sherbrooke).
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