Buttonwood Tree wins $500 grant

MIDDLETOWN — The Buttonwood Tree Performing Arts & Cultural Center has been awarded $500 by the Community Foundation of Middlesex County to support a new program, Teen Open Mic.

This grant is made possible by the Live Local Give Local Fund, according to a news release. Funds will help support efforts to provide young musicians and poets with a place to grow their artistic abilities by performing among other youths and a public audience.

The new monthly program meets on third Saturdays at The Buttonwood Tree, 605 Main St., and welcomes new participants and program volunteers, according to the organization.

The Community Foundation of Middlesex County is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life in Middlesex County.

Its two-fold mission is to work with charitably-minded individuals and organizations to build permanent endowments and other charitable funds, and support local nonprofit organizations through effective grant making, in order to address community needs, as well as Let Good Grow, the release said.

Hearst Connecticut Media file photo Bruce MacLeod, Charles Hubert test The Buttonwood Tree’s donated Steinway piano, in Middletown.