LRCS Awarded Grant to Fund Vehicle Purchase

Sara Thielbar (center) presents donation to Gary Lemay (left), President of LRCS Board of Directors, and Amin Abu Zaid (right), LRCS Residential House Manager.

Lakes Region Community Services (LRCS) has been awarded a $5,000 grant from the New Hampshire Electric Coop (NHEC) Foundation, in support of its acquisition of new vehicles for residential homes operated by LRCS.

According to LRCS’ Vice President of Operations, Dave Emond, having LRCS-owned vehicles at each of the 12 residential homes that LRCS operates will ensure that there’s safe and viable transportation available at all times for the staff and residents of each of the homes.  The direct-care staff that work at the residential homes provide daily 24/7 care to individuals with significant developmental disabilities, who often also have significant physical and medical disabilities.  As part of their role, frontline staff routinely perform errands that include prescription filling, grocery shopping, and more, and also regularly transport residents to doctors appointments and other in-community appointments.  “Having a safe and reliable means of transport is really pretty fundamental,” notes Emond.

Sara Thielbar, Executive Director of the NHEC Foundation, expressed the enthusiasm of the Board in making the grant to LRCS: “The purpose of the NHEC Foundation is to improve the quality of life for our members and the communities we serve. The work that LRCS does in support of often-marginalized and forgotten citizens of our community is squarely in line with that ideal and vision, and we believe enormously worthy of support. We’re delighted to be able to support LRCS, and the many individuals and families they serve, as well as the many other outstanding local nonprofits that the NHEC Foundation has the privilege of supporting through each of its quarterly grant-making cycles.”

Welcoming the good news of the recent grant award, Becky Bryant, LRCS President and CEO, reflected appreciatively on the impact of the New Hampshire Electric Coop Foundation: “The Coop, through its Foundation, has driven hundreds of thousands of dollars back into our local communities through the nonprofits that serve the region.  We’re grateful to be among the many organizations they’ve supported—especially during these particularly challenging times for most of us in the nonprofit sector.”