Historical Society gets one of MWCC mini-grants

The Westminster Historical Society was awarded a min-grant from the Mount Wachusett Community College's Institute for Nonprofit Development.

The $3,000 grant was one of $16,000 worth of grants given to six area nonprofit organizations.

This Historical Society applied for the $3,000 for fundraising training for volunteers in preparation for a capital campaign. The group is gearing up for a major campaign to renovate the Upton School in the center of Westminster as its new headquarters.

The society is in the process of purchasing the Upton Building, the town's former elementary school, from the town. The Ashburnham-Westminster Regional School Committee released the building back to the town at a meeting this fall. The Selectmen are now in the process of completing the sale of the building for $105.

The Institute for Nonprofit Development received the funding from the Community Foundation of North Central Massachusetts, and awarded the mini-grants with the goal of helping to strengthen the internal operations of nonprofits to fulfill their missions and benefit the communities they serve.

"The popularity of the mini-grant program demonstrates how nonprofit organizations throughout the area are carefully planning their long-term goals and working diligently to serve others and strengthen our communities," said MWCC President Daniel M. Asquino. "Many commendable applications were submitted and we wish we could have selected all of them."

The INPD is a program of the college's Center for Democracy and Humanity. This year, 18 applications were received, totaling $55,000 in requests.

In addition to the Westminster Historical Society, three regional non-profits also received grants, LUK Crisis Center, Inc., was awarded $1,000, and both the Montachusett Opportunity Council and the St. Paul Catholic Schools Consortium were awarded $3,000.

LUK will use the money for a consultant to assist in mentoring two new board members who will be selected from consumers of the center's services. The center will contract with a consultant to assist in outreach to consumers and develop a welcoming and formalized mentoring program to integrate consumers into the existing board of directors.

MOC will use their money towards its website redesign. As part of the redesign, MOC plans to provide a referral section of the Web site, which will allow other area agencies to utilize MOC's resources to promote their services to consumers in the region.

The St. Paul consortium wants to develop a marketing plan for greater community outreach. The consortium serves six Catholic elementary schools in Leominster, Fitchburg and Gardner. The marketing plan will enable to consortium to reach out to underserved population.