Community Engagement Committee
The Community Engagement Committee (formerly the Projects Review Committee) reviews current and projected relationships with external organizations that conform to the LGC mission.
These alliances may take the form of partnerships, information sharing, shared publicity, and, with approval, financial support.
Heart and Soil Collective, 2025
The Community Engagement Committee is pleased to announce that the LGC Grant for 2025 has been awarded to Heart and Soil Collective in the amount of $3000.00. This groups stated mission is to connect people to the land where their food grows, making healthy local food and overall hands-on agricultural experiences in all areas accessible to all, particularly communities most in need. They have been recognized for these efforts by several community groups, USDA, Berkshire Taconic, Mass Cultural Council Berkshire Agricultural Ventures, etc.. The funds will be used to enhance two community gardens one in Pittsfield on the campus of 18 Degrees, West St. The other in Adams, located on the campus of the Old Stone Mill. Gardens in both these locations will be expanded and enhanced with Native pollinator plants this spring and Summer.
The gardens will be open and largely developed and supported by the communities in which they live. Workshops and educational tools will be provided by Heart and Soil in support these efforts.
Adams Visitor Center, 2024
In 2023-24, the town of Adams recognized that the green spaces in the town had been long neglected. This situation was the result of very limited available funds in the town for some time. Recognizing a need important to the long-term health of the town, a group of volunteers consisting of residents, merchants, and other businesses joined forces and became a group they titled, “Adams Beautiful”.
Their aim was to address what was required to improve the town’s overall appearance and image.
They got to work raising funds and working “hands on” to make many necessary changes. A key focus, because of its immediate visibility, was the “Visitors Center.” “Adams Beautiful” applied for a grant of $1500 from the Lenox Garden Club to address the outside gardens area at the Visitors Center. The grant dollars would cover much of the cost of installation needed to renew and enhance a garden bed near the entrance of the Visitors Center. Any other costs would be addressed separately by the “Adams Beautiful” group. The Projects Review Committee was impressed by the Towns’ commitment, the level of local volunteerism and the fact that their overall plan closely matched the principles stated in LGC’s mission.
Hence, in 2024 the Committee voted unanimously to award Adams Beautiful a grant of $1500.
