Nonprofits in Action

Making A Difference is a weekly feature in The Keene Sentinel aimed at raising public awareness of the vital role nonprofits play in the Monadnock Region. Stories focus on highlighting the achievements of the region's nonprofits as well as the individual volunteers and board members who are truly making a difference in our community today. This project is a collaboration between The Keene Sentinel and Giving Monadnock. To be considered for this series, please fill out the appropriate form or contact Giving Monadnock.

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The ten most recent stories featured in Making a Difference:

• Sunday, August 17, 2008
  Bringing music to the masses (or at least the region)
  In the mid-1960s, conductor James Bolle assembled professional musicians from around the country for a free public concert in Nelson. From that single event evolved a nonprofit organization that annually hosts nearly three dozen summer music performances for the public in the region.
• Sunday, August 10, 2008
  One week, two performances, an experience of a lifetime
  Tomorrow, about 50 children from the region will gather in Keene for a week-long theater day camp offered by Children’s Stage Adventures, Inc. Now in its third year, the five-day summer program, which is held at Keene State College’s Redfern Arts Center, offers youngsters age 5-16 practical experience in performing arts.
• Sunday, August 3, 2008
  Program turning confidantes into referral specialists
  Three nonprofit organizations have joined forces in an unusual collaboration that draws on the listening talents of hair stylists.
• Sunday, July 27, 2008
  Managing a musical environment is ideal ‘retirement’
  About two years ago, shortly before she retired as administrative assistant for a local accounting firm, Nan Bigelow launched a volunteer career with Keene Community Music Center.
• Sunday, July 20, 2008
  Cathedral of the Pines a place to remember, ‘catch your breath’
  Each year from May through October thousands of people from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds visit Rindge’s Cathedral of the Pines for prayer, meditation and reflection, or just to relax in its natural beauty.
• Sunday, July 13, 2008
  Sophia’s Hearth nurtures families in care of the young child
  Ten years ago an early-education school was launched in Keene to help train students at Antioch University New England. Sophia’s Hearth Family Center, named for the goddess of wisdom in some cultures, later evolved to become an independent non-profit that offers holistic early childhood education to children from birth through age three.
• Sunday, July 6, 2008
  In Keene, a nonprofit organization provides a no-conflict zone for kids of divided parents
  Often, in times of separation and divorce, children get caught in the middle of parent battles. For more than 15 years, All R Kids Supervised Visitation Center in Keene, generally known as ARK, has provided a peaceful, secure environment for supervised meetings and exchanges between children and non-custodial parents.
• Sunday, June 29, 2008
  Hannah Grimes: entrepreneurs and 'localvores' alike
  In the early 1990's, Mary Ann Kristiansen started making soaps at home, but found that local retailers were slow to carry her products. Ultimately, she started a nonprofit to help promote locally-made goods. She named her enterprise Hannah Grimes, after the 19th-century farmwife who had once lived in Kristiansen's Roxbury home.
• Sunday, June 22, 2008
  Local volunteer effects change in global organization
  Three years ago, Cherie Metivier joined the board of directors of the N.H. West Chapter of the American Red Cross. Since then, she's rallied community support for the Keene-based organization, which serves 40 towns throughout southwestern New Hampshire.
• Sunday, June 15, 2008
  CASA volunteer puts a premium on child advocacy
  More than six years ago, Jay Kahn was asked to join the leadership board of Court Appointed Special Advocates. The nonprofit, generally known as CASA of N.H., provides volunteer advocates for more than 1,500 neglected, abused, and abandoned children who annually wind up in the New Hampshire court system.