Grantees

Blue Mountain Union School recently became a full day/full year preschool program and are looking at ways to enhance the materials that are available to our children. With the expansion of our program we are adding an outdoor classroom space for our students to explore within and use their imagination to a whole new world of excitement and learning. With the funds from this grant we are purchasing water exploration tables, mud kitchens, outdoor reading nooks and more. We currently serve 40 children within our preschool program and they come from a variety of backgrounds. Being outdoors is something that many of them are missing or have missed from the pandemic. We plan to expand their learning and their world.

The Cabot Community Association is pairing with the Cabot school, the United Methodist Church, and childcare owner Heather Smires to open the Cabot's Children Center. This will be the only licensed children center within Cabot that serves infants and toddlers, meeting needs of many local families, including the 300 employees of Cabot Creamery. This program will also expand to support preschool children, who will face a need for care when school is closed during the summer. This funding will provide the program with strollers that will allow them to access the Cabot green for quality outdoor time and cribs for a location to rest. Both will also be an intricate part of the licensing plan to provide transportation methods.

Cabot School is a small, rural school providing educational services to a diverse group of children. The equipment we are hoping to fund will provide a sensory break area in the guidance office, or can be portable in a classroom for a time as needed. The squeezie chair and the compression canoe are designed to offer deep pressure, which is soothing and regulating to the nervous system for kids who are feeling out of balance due to a number of factors, including sensory sensitivities, trauma, or neurodivergent diagnoses. The crash pad offers proprioceptive input and muscle activation, both of which also are helpful to calm the nervous system and keep kids in the calm and alert zone for optimal academic and social engagement. This equipment was recommended by an occupational therapist for one specific child, but will benefit numerous children in school. The equipment is designed to be accessed independently by kids, with supervision, teaching valuable self-regulation skills at school.

Camp Daybreak needs an automated external defibrillator (AED) because sudden cardiac arrest can occur without warning, even in children and adults with no known history. Immediate defibrillation is the most effective treatment; survival decreases by about 7–10% for every minute without it (American Heart Association, 2023). Camp Daybreak moves to a different residential location each year, so we cannot rely on consistent on-site emergency equipment. Having our own AED ensures rapid access regardless of location, reducing response time while emergency medical services are en route. This makes the AED a critical, portable, life-saving device that directly protects campers, volunteers, and staff.

We are requesting funding to support the purchase of classroom furniture to replace items that are aged and/or have become broken and require replacement. We offer preschool to 30 students in two classrooms at Twinfield Union School in Plainfield, VT and have limited local funding for these more expensive purchases. We are hoping not to have to spend our finite classroom budget for expendable supplies and save those funds for supplies that need to be replaced annually.

They are requesting funding to purchase new equipment that will improve upon the safety and room design of their program.

Clubhouse Kids is requesting emergency equipment funding for a commercial refrigerator to replace the failing refrigerators on site to provide safe cold food storage for the meals that are prepared in our kitchen. We believe strongly in offering food programming to our 52 young children per day to ensure their basic needs are met, which leads to more equitable learning and better health outcomes. Over 65% of our children receive state childcare subsidy and many families face serious food insecurity. Many children gain most of their daily nutrition during school. Having proper cold food storage will allow us to sustain the food program, and implement a more nutritious menu by providing ample storage for fresh produce from local farms.

Mt. holly Elementary school will create a "community green space" at the School. This grant will purchase materials and equipment for the children to use in the classroom and green space.