Lowell Five employees gave $29,500 in 2020

TEWKSBURY Lowell Five Bank’s Employee Charitable Giving Committee announced that in 2020, Lowell Five Bank employees donated more than $29,500 to help four local charities during an unprecedented year of need. Each year, Lowell Five employees select four charitable organizations from a list of employeeelected nominees to receive a Quarterly Charitable Giving Award that consists of the full quarterly amount of money raised in voluntary weekly pledges from employees who participate in the Employee Charitable Giving Program, matched 100% by Lowell Five Bank.

: The first-quarter donation of $6,880 was awarded to Nashua Children’s Home.

The goal of Nashua Children’s Home’s, founded in 1903 as an orphanage, is to enrich the lives of at-risk youths and provide them with a path to productive adult living. It provides residential, educational and transitional living programs to Nashua-area children who cannot live at home or attend school.

The Nashua Children’s Home used the award to purchase technology needed to accommodate remote learning and to enable children residing in the home to stay current with

» their school work during the pandemic.

“It was a pleasure for Lowell Five to work with an organization like Nashua Children’s Home,” said Christopher Johnson, a member of the Employee Charitable Giving Committee and assistant manager of the North Chelmsford branch.

: Lowell Five employees were honored to recognize Hidden Battles Foundation, a component fund of the Greater Lowell Community Foundation, as their second-quarter recipient.

Hidden Battles plans to use the $7,440 donation to fund additional therapy programs to help those on the frontlines of the pandemic.

“Hidden Battles proudly serves first responders, veterans, fire and police officers, and emergency medical personnel in Massachusetts and New Hampshire by preserving their healthy minds through treatment and counseling for depression, suicidal tendencies and PTSD,” said Traci Doliber, senior BSA/AML analyst and a member of the Employee Charitable Giving Committee.

: Veterans Northeast Outreach Center of Haverhill was the third-quarter recipient.

VNOC assists, supports and advocates for veterans and their families, providing basic food and shelter, housing advocacy, counseling, peer support, case management, and Veterans Administration benefits and claims assistance.

VNOC used a portion of the $7,440 award to cover the cost of renting a refrigerator truck needed to keep up with the increasing demand for pantry items and daily meals resulting from the pandemic. Local agencies were able to provide the additional food for hot meals and pantry items that VNOC needed, but VNOC needed access to a refrigerated truck to accept the donated food items.

: Strongwater Farm Therapeutic Equestrian Center, the fourth-quarter recipient, saw the $7,900 award as a welcome boost at the end of a challenging year.

Although closed for a time in 2020 due to COVID 19 restrictions, Strongwater Farm of Tewksbury is once again open with safety restrictions in place. The farm provides therapeutic riding lessons to the many veterans, adults and children over the age of 4 suffering from cognitive, emotional, behavioral, physical and developmental challenges who benefit from equine-assisted activities and therapies.