The Greater Merrimack Valley Arts Fund: Maintaining and growing the Merrimack Valley's rich cultural tradition.

Belinda Juran grew up in Queens, New York. After attending the University of Scranton, she moved to Massachusetts to work in the high-tech industry. She received an MBA from Boston University, attended Harvard Law School and is now a partner in the Corporate Department at the law firm WilmerHale in Boston. As the daughter of immigrant parents, Belinda knows firsthand the importance of a community providing cultural and educational opportunities to expand one's mind and open doors to new opportunities.

Evan Schapiro grew up in Miami and moved to Massachusetts to attend M.I.T. He later received an MBA from Boston University. Evan has been a fan of live theater as long as he can remember. As a successful entrepreneur and frequent volunteer, Evan recognized that smaller local businesses and organizations were often poorly served by larger vendors. So, in 2003 his company: Meerkat Technology, developed MKTix.com to enable local organizations reduce costs and increase revenues by easily selling tickets, managing registrations, and accepting donations and memberships via the web, at a fraction of the cost of other commercial ticketing services or custom development.

As residents of the Merrimack Valley for the past 25 years, Evan and Belinda often took advantage of the rich and diverse cultural opportunities that the region offered. Unlike Boston, where the scene is dominated by large cultural institutions with a large donor base, the Merrimack Valley's arts scene typically consists of a more diverse group of smaller and less well-known organizations. So, Evan and Belinda were especially surprised to learn that the Merrimack Valley did not have a permanently endowed Arts Fund dedicated to the support of local cultural organizations.

In order to begin to address this need, Evan and Belinda decided to endow the Greater Merrimack Valley Arts Fund to help maintain and grow the Merrimack Valley's rich cultural tradition. They are proud of the fact that since its establishment in 2003, the Fund has already supported free children's concerts at Boarding House Park and helped fund the Kerouac scroll exhibit in Lowell. They also recognize that the Fund is not as large as it should be for an area this size. They hope that others who value the arts will also consider contributing to this Fund to help ensure that the arts will continue to grow and flourish for future generations. If you would like to support this fund, please make a contribution to the Greater Merrimack Valley Arts Fund.

Peter S. Stamas: Dedicated to Education in Lowell for 17 Years

Peter’s Passion:

Education and civic involvement. As headmaster of Lowell High School for 17 years, Peter shaped the minds of Lowell’s future leaders and led by example. He believed community services was the way to better our region’s quality of life.

Action:

A long-time community activist, Peter co-founded the Community Foundation and presided over the Human Services Corporation for much of its 31+ year history.

Results:

As a friend, mentor, educator, and colleague, Peter personally touched the lives of thousands. Under his leadership, the Human Services Corporation was instrumental in creating the Lowell National Historic Park and the Lowell Flowering City initiative. He also encouraged the transfer of Lowell High School's 39 temporary scholarships, worth approximately $500,000, to the Community Foundation. Five years later, there are 60 permanent scholarships valued at approximately $1,000,000. Hundreds contributed to the Peter S. Stamas Scholarship Fund after he died in October 2002.

Alice Dolan Murphy Scholarship Fund

Alice Dolan Murphy’s favorite night of the year was Honor Awards Night at her alma mater, Lowell High School. She graduated in 1941. Her eight children and most of her 24 grandchildren graduated from the school also.

For many years on Honor Awards Night Alice would exuberantly watch every grandchild who attended Lowell High School receive scholarships to help them pursue their dreams of a college education.

Alice’s first husband James died in 1962 when her children were 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9 and 10 years old. In 1994, after her eight children had built lives of their own, she married Dan Murphy.

After Alice’s death this past year, her children, inspired by her love of and devotion to Lowell High School, decided to create a scholarship in their beloved mother’s name. This year, on behalf of the family, her son Jack Dolan presented the scholarship and acknowledged his mother’s absence by motioning to her usual spot in the balcony.

This scholarship will be given out annually in perpetuity to graduating seniors who plan to study nursing at a two or four year academic institution.

Hildreth Cemetery Fund

The descendants of Israel Hildreth, a Revolutionary era resident of the Lowell area, have been many and illustrious; within their ranks have been soldiers and politicians, artists and writers. They include the Civil War general and Massachusetts governor Benjamin F. Butler, the 19th century artist, inventor and suffragette Blanche Ames, and more recently, the journalist/actor George Plimpton. Currently, the total number of living Hildreth family members is estimated to be around five hundred, scattered from London to Australia.

In 1885, in honor of their beloved grandfather, sisters Rowena Hildreth Palmer and Florence Nesmith Hildreth, donated land to create the Hildreth Cemetery as resting place for any Hildreth descendant, direct or collateral. In order to provide for the cemetery's continued maintenance, and guarantee that it will be available to Hildreth family members in future generations, the family worked with GLCF to create the Hildreth Cemetery Fund. The creation of the Fund inspired a burst of generosity on the part of current family members and family friends. In addition, it also led to fresh communication among the far-flung branches of the family, with the goal of making sure the extended clan all know about the resource that the cemetery provides.

Coburn Park

A small oasis of greenery in the shadow of Cross Point Towers, the newly renovated and rededicated Coburn Park is a testament to the contributions of the Coburn family to the Lowell community over many generations. This lovely 'pocket park' also demonstrates the way individuals or families, working together with Greater Lowell Community Foundation, can ensure that their gifts are sustained and enhanced beyond their lifetimes.

Originally donated to the City of Lowell in 1907 by Gratia Ann Parker, the widow of Samuel A Coburn, Coburn Park occupies a corner of what had been the Coburn homestead and dairy farm. Long neglected over the years, its renewal came about as the result of the generosity of Ms. Parker's great-grandson, Alfred Coburn, who wanted both to rejuvenate the quality of life in Lowell and to honor the memory of his family and his wife Kathryn. Working with GLCF and the Lowell Parks and Conservation Trust, Mr. Coburn created a fund to endow the maintenance of the park in perpetuity. Together, they cleared the old growth, added new trees, bushes and flowers, and installed inscribed granite benches. As a final touch, the park's old granite memorial was moved to a central location and engraved with a scene of the Coburn homestead and farms as they appeared in 1855. The newly beautified park now provides a lovely 'gateway' to anyone entering the area.

Nancy L. Donahue: Impacting the Arts

Nancy’s Passion:

Arts and culture. Nancy Lawson Donahue’s personal involvement and contributions to the cultural life of Lowell and the Merrimack Valley are so numerous that just about everyone involved in these Lowell-based endeavors knows her personally.

Action:

Nancy experienced the sweat, anguish and joy of leading the effort to start a professional regional repertory theater. She has also been involved with the United Way in various capacities from volunteer to board president for over 25 years, and played a central role in establishing the New England Quilt Museum, The Children’s Museum Lowell, The American Textile History Museum, Retarded Adult Rehabilitative Association, and the Greater Lowell Community Foundation. Nancy and her husband Richard established the Nancy L. Donahue fund to provide unrestricted support to the nonprofit organizations Nancy loves.

Result:

The Merrimack Repertory Theatre is now a nationally recognized theater, mounting professional productions that cultivate local actors while attracting talent from across the United States. According to Nancy, “My involvement in the cultural and philanthropic life of Lowell keeps me involved in shaping the city and serving its people, and now the permanent endowments I have created with Dick at the Community Foundation will forever perpetuate my commitment to these wonderful organizations.”

Suzanne C. Knapp: Love of Quilting Yields Financial Stability

Suzanne’s Passion:

Quilting. Quilting gives Suzanne C. Knapp tremendous satisfaction, and volunteering as a key member of the New England Quilt Museum’s staff has increased her commitment to furthering the fine work of the Museum.

Action:

Suzanne found a way to secure a higher annual return on an investment while finding a perfect place for her future charitable gift to the Museum when she created the Suzanne C. Knapp Charitable Gift Annuity—a giving vehicle which gives her an immediate tax deduction, a lifetime source of income in exchange for a charitable gift which will be transferred to the museum when she passes on.

Result:

"Creating the Suzanne C. Knapp Charitable Gift Annuity gives me another source of lifetime income to supplement my fixed income, and it has allowed me to contribute a gift to the Museum’s endowment at the Community Foundation after I die. I’m a big fan of gift annuities because they give me a quarterly check to augment income, earn a terrific tax deduction, and later support the museum endowment with the funds that are left. It’s my way to forever support the rich traditions that quilting embody by supporting a first-rate Museum that celebrates it every day," says Suzanne.

Dorothy Kraines: Honoring a Son’s Life

Dorothy’s Passion:

After her son Bill died in a car accident, Dorothy Kraines wanted to memorialize him in a way that befitted his life's work of applying his writing and filmmaking talents to fundraising in the nonprofit sector. Bill graduated from Lowell High School in 1972. In college, he nurtured his love of writing and American literature and developed his talents, writing short stories, a novel and screenplays, as well as completing many short films. In his career, Bill was a fundraiser for a number of prestigious regional and national nonprofit organizations.

Action:

Dorothy chose to establish the William P. Kraines Memorial Scholarship Fund at the Greater Lowell Community Foundation to help Lowell High School graduates pursue careers in English and the media arts.

Result:

"Bill melded his natural talents with his passion to change the world for the better," said Dorothy. "Because successful careers in writing, film or philanthropy require a solid educational background, we can honor Bill by helping college-bound seniors extend their knowledge and skills in language and the media arts."

Enid Rocha: The First Endowed Scholarship for African-American Students at Lowell High

Enid’s Passion:

The children of Lowell. During her 20-year teaching career at Lowell's Bartlett School and work with the YWCA, Enid Rocha developed a love for the children of Lowell. She believed that with the means to pursue higher education many of the city's children would grow up to make a difference in the community, both personally and professionally. Her husband Dr. Joseph R. Rocha, a distinguished professor of management at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, heartily agreed.

Action:

When Joseph, a longtime activist with the Merrimack Valley chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), passed away, Mrs. Rocha decided to honor his memory with a scholarship fund. Originally administered by the Merrimack Valley NAACP, Mrs. Rocha recently transitioned more than $13,000 to the Greater Lowell Community Foundation and Lowell High School. In doing so, the Dr. Joseph R. Rocha NAACP Scholarship Fund became the first endowed scholarship dedicated to the African-American and African students of Lowell High and the first fund in the school's Campaign for Educational Excellence. It is awarded to seniors who maintain a B average or better and plan to attend college in order to start a career in business, as Joseph taught.

Result:

"I chose the Greater Lowell Community Foundation and Lowell High School for Joseph's scholarship because they could ensure the money would grow over time and become available to more and more deserving students," said Mrs. Rocha. "Helping our high school graduates get through college so they may establish profitable business careers will provide rich rewards for the Greater Lowell community in the future. In turn, my husband's dreams for our community will be fulfilled."