By DONNA KENNY KIRWAN

PAWTUCKET — Elderly and needy city residents should be thankful for the “green” Christmas that has been provided by the Bristol County Savings Bank. On Thursday morning, the bank’s Charitable Foundation presented checks totaling $21,250 to eight local organizations.

Members of the Bristol County Savings Bank Charitable Foundation met with representatives from the eight organizations at the bank’s Pawtucket branch, located at 215 Armistice Blvd.
The largest check, for $5,250, was given to the Pawtucket Business Development Corporation to be used by the Leon Mathieu Senior Center for transportation for low and fixed income elderly. The Mathieu Senior Center is going to initiate a pilot program that will reinstate free shuttle transpiration for qualifying seniors to and from the meal site, doctor visits and medical rehabilitation appointments.
Earlier this year, the Rhode Island Department of Elderly Affairs instituted a $2 Ride co-pay as a result of the state’s budget deficit. At that time, Mayor Doyle announced that he would be seeking a corporate sponsor to underwrite the Ride co-pay for those seniors who could not afford it.
Doyle stated, “Many Pawtucket seniors living on low fixed incomes have several medical appointments each week, thereby the Ride co-pay causes them a considerable financial hardship. I am truly grateful to the Bristol County Savings Charitable Foundation for funding this pilot program, and I know it will make a big difference for many of these seniors struggling to pay their household expenses.”
Mary Lou Moran, director of the Mathieu Center, also expressed gratitude to the Bristol County Savings Bank. She noted that said while those seniors receiving Medicaid or attending an adult day care center are still eligible for the free transportation, there are many other seniors, perhaps with slightly higher incomes, but still living on a fixed amount, who are not. She said the senior center will start screening for eligibility for free RIde transportation among those who regularly attend the meal site.
Also receiving generous donations were St. Leo the Great Conference of St. Vincent DePaul, which received $4,000 in funds to assist families with heating fuel purchases and utility payments, and the Pawtucket Soup Kitchen, which was provided with $3,000 to purchase a much-needed kitchen range for its facility at St. Joseph’s Church.
Among the four $2,000 checks that were handed out, Pawtucket Day Child Development Center was provided with money to hire outside consultants in art, music, and instrument creation to train teaching staff for the Music and Art Start program that is part of the city’s after school program.
The Friends of the Pawtucket Library organization was given $2,000 to support “Project Write!”, which will provide instruction for intermediate- and advanced-level English as a second language (ESL) students in writing as part of the library’s Family Literacy Program.
Additionally, the Mental Health Association of Rhode Island received $2,000 to assist ACCESS-RI, a statewide program serving individuals 18 years of age and older who have experienced chronic homelessness and have been diagnosed with mental illness and/or substance abuse.
Also, St. Matthew Trinity Lutheran Church Food Pantry was the recipient of $2,000 in funds to purchase emergency food for its clients in Pawtucket, and the Katie Brown Educational Program was provided with $1,000 to support a pilot initiative on youth relationship violence prevention education in the Pawtucket public schools.
The Bristol County Savings Charitable Foundation was established in 1996 in celebration of the bank’s 150th anniversary, according to Kathy Mulhern, assistant vice president for the bank. The purpose of the foundation is to “give back” to the communities served by Bristol County Savings Bank, and contribute to the welfare of the people and institutions within those communities.
When Bristol County Savings Bank opened its Armistice Boulevard office in 2001, the foundation established the Pawtucket Advisory Board. Through the board, the foundation has provided $688,220 in total funding to over 50 different Pawtucket organizations in the past seven years.
The Pawtucket Advisory Board members are Mayor James Doyle, Dan Sullivan, president and CEO of Collette Vacations; Mike Tamburro, president of the Pawtucket Red Sox; Paul Tucket, president of Anawon Trust; and Ken Riley, assistant vice president/consumer loans, for Bristol County savings Bank.