About five months ago, Paul Foster of Norwich received a shocking text. Marcel Jean, director and manager of the Tysea Orphanage in Jacmel, Haiti, was reaching out to Foster to let him know the funding the orphanage relied on to operate, was suddenly about to disappear. Their main benefactor was pulling out and the orphanage would have to close.

Foster had met Jean five years prior and gotten involved in Tysea by helping with educational costs; now Jean was reaching out to see if Foster might be able to assist him raise the funds to save the orphanage. Foster was immediately ready to help prevent the closing of the orphanage: “I couldn’t let that happen, I wouldn’t let that happen,” he said. … Read More

“How can we help?” Reverend Jan Hutslar and the folks at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Upper Valley in Norwich were able to answer this question by hosting the retrofitted RV that Simon Dennis, director of the Center for Transformation Practice (CTP) in Hartford, and his team put together to house two previously un-housed persons. 

The RV has been outfitted into two apartments that can each house a person comfortably with the necessary amenities for most activities of daily life. The church first became involved in the project after Dennis sent a letter to the congregation gauging their interest in hosting the RV home.… Read More

When Norm Levy decides to learn about a new topic, he does his research. As a member of the Norwich Energy Committee and an emerging Upper Valley philanthropist, Norm is a passionate advocate for extending access to lower cost solar electricity for low/moderate income Vermonters and Upper Valley nonprofits. A retired laboratory physician who has invested wisely over the course of his career, Norm set about wanting to ‘have fun and do good’, landing on a non-traditional investment model called “community impact investing,” specifically focused on installing solar arrays. 

Says Norm, “I believe lower income Vermonters care as passionately about climate change as their more affluent neighbors, but feel they have to focus their finances on the basic needs of food, shelter, clothing, and childcare.… Read More

Working with the Utah Division of Arts & Museums, the Montshire Museum of Science in Norwich, Vermont will study the social impact it has on the community and assist in refining a social impact tool for the museum field.

Thanks to a National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museums and Library Services (IMLS), the Utah Division of Arts & Museums, in partnership with Thanksgiving Point, had the opportunity to select museums across the country for the Measurement of Museum Social Impact (MOMSI) project. After a competitive application and review process, the Montshire was one of 38 museums selected for the study.… Read More

In October 2018, Nick Krembs, a retired carpenter and builder from Norwich, traveled to the United States border in El Paso, Texas. That year marked a huge surge in migrants seeking asylum from their home countries. Due to the drug cartels, corrupt police, torture, oppression, gang violence, and abuse, as well as the devastation and destruction of farms and their livelihoods from hurricanes – they fled.

Krembs’s sister, Jane Greiling, a retired nurse, had been volunteering in El Paso with the Annunciation House: a faith-based nonprofit organization that provides shelter, clothing, and food to migrants predominantly from Mexico and Central America.… Read More

For Norwich resident Deborah McLane Carter, the mission and ensuing work of one of the oldest family- serving non-profits in New Hampshire actually began over a 100 years ago with her grandfather, John McLane, who was instrumental in founding the NH Children’s Aid Society that later merged into the Child and Family Services of NH, now rebranded as Waypoint.

“I’m involved in Waypoint because of family history,” said Carter who is one of its nine board members. “There has always been a McLane on the board, and, when it became my turn, I gladly joined. My beliefs and values – as a part of our enthusiastic, cohesive, hard-working board – echo those of the founders, serving with the ‘shared vision of guarding children’s rights, serving children’s needs, and strengthening the life of the family.’”… Read More

Norwich Volunteers Take Active Role in Orchard Work

Some dozen volunteers from the town’s Willing Hands will once again be offering their time and labor this year at the Whitman Brook Orchard in Quechee. The Norwich-based non-profit serves people in need of all ages throughout the Upper Valley, having developed an efficient system for food recovery and distribution.

“We arrange for regular pick-ups with over 40 food donors and deliver to at least 58 organizations every week, all year long,” said Executive Director Gabe Zoerheide. “Together we provide one small but effective solution to a very big challenge.”

Many families and individuals in the Upper Valley struggle to make ends meet.… Read More

Nine years ago, one of the most damaging storms in Vermont’s history came roaring in, bringing the state to its knees, as some said, with more than 500 miles of state roads destroyed, 60,000 homes and businesses without power, and 200 bridges damaged or ripped off foundations.

One of those was the Norwich’s Kids Bridge over Blood Brook connecting Beaver Meadow Road and neighboring families to Huntley Meadow. Kids used the bridge to cross the brook on foot and bike to use the fields, playground, and continue on their way to school and town.

The wooden bridge, built by Eagle Scouts, was never replaced, despite an approved bridge design, necessary state and town permits, and approved site.… Read More

For Dr. Deborah Kennedy, food is not only what we eat each day, but also the key to good health. As a practitioner of nutritional medicine, Dr. Kennedy believes food has the power to transform our health for the better, and her upcoming textbook intends to expand upon that mission.

Dr. Kennedy’s life as a foodie started at the age 4 when she began learning how to cook, and led to her job as a cook and sous chef throughout high school and college. This passion for food eventually emboldened her to pursue cooking professionally and then to get her PhD in Nutritional Biochemistry from Tufts University.… Read More

Editor’s Note: What makes a person a real hero is when they are the hero yet they sing the praises of others. Frank Orlowski is that kind of hero. I honestly could not get the Quechee, Lebanon and Norwich Times out to each community without his help. Not only does he persevere with kindness and patience while selling advertising space to our local businesses, he pitches in and writes many of the articles (often with little notice). And, when the paper is delivered to my office, Frank arrives in his pickup and slowly but surely loads the boxes of extras onto the truck to deliver them around town.… Read More