Community Notebook: Grant Recipients, Woven Stories, Midterm Study Groups

Open Table of Concord Receives $2,500 from Foundation for MetroWest

The Foundation for MetroWest announced yesterday that it distributed a $2,500 grant to , according to spokesman Rick Stockwood. The grant was a portion of $55,000 awarded to food pantries throughout the MetroWest region from the Foundation’s English Family Fund and Herbert and Esther Atkinson Fund.

"Food pantries and service organizations from around Massachusetts continue to face unprecedented challenges," said Judith Salerno, executive director of Foundation for MetroWest. "The MetroWest region is no different, and we are proud that we have been able to support the Open Table in Concord as they work to fulfill the growing number of requests by families to help put a balanced meal on their tables."

Concord Library Main Branch to Hold Extended Hours For CCHS Midterm Study

On Sunday, Jan. 22 the will offer extended hours for students who want to study individually or in groups for midterm exams, reports Susan Gladstone. The Main Library will be open from 10 a.m. - 10 p.m. with regular and volunteer staff to help out.

"For over six years the Concord Library has offered this service to students," Gladstone said. "In the spring of 2006, the Student Senate of requested that the Library extend its hours the Sunday before final and midterm exams. Over 150 students typically use the library over the 12 hour period. Based on that success and interest over the years, and a group of dedicated staff and parent volunteers, the library is again offering a day-long study session."

Concord Art Association Presents: Woven Stories

Join curator, Hannah Perrine Mode on Thursday, Jan. 19 at 7 p.m. at the , as she discusses the exhibition Pallay/Pattern: Weaving Communities of the Sacred Valley, Peru, which combines her photographs of the remote villages of Patacancha and Kelkanka, Peru, with textiles created by local weavers. “Pallay,” the Quechua word for pattern, signifies the cultural weight of Peruvian weaving, as well as the connection of different communities through the appreciation of traditional craft.

During the summer of 2011, Mode spent two months volunteering with Awamaki: a non-profit organization that collaborates with the town of Ollantaytambo and surrounding communities to foster enduring economic opportunities and improve social conditions, according to Deborah Plunkett of the Concord Art Association. She worked closely with the Awamaki Weaving Project, helping impoverished Quechua women to revitalize an endangered weaving tradition while affording financial independence through access to market.

Hannah Perrine Mode of Sudbury graduated from Skidmore College with degrees in Studio Art and Art History, and is a former Concord Art intern. Passionate about the relationship of art in a community on a local, national, and international scale, Mode has lived in Prague, Florence, and Ollantaytambo, Peru.

Minute Man Arc Receives Grant from the Doug Flutie Foundation for Autism

The Doug Flutie Foundation for Autism recently announced the 2011 grant recipients. Organizations across Massachusetts have received more than $130,000 to help fund services for people throughout the commonwealth.

Minute Man Arc for Human Services has received $10,048 to fund the start-up of a unique integrated care program for children on the autism spectrum and their non-disabled siblings ages 5 through 12: the Integrated, Therapeutic Recreation & Respite Program.

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