1. The Southern NH Chamber of Commerce recently held a ribbon-cutting for the Pelham Police Department’s new Animal Control Shelter at 16 Village Green. The shelter includes an office, five dog kennel runs, a room for cats and smaller animals and storage space. It features heated floors, stainless-steel feeding bowls, built-in exhaust fans and numerous windows to give animals sunlight and fresh air. The American Rescue Plan Act funded the project, avoiding tax impacts on town residents.
2. Plymouth State University recently hosted its ninth-annual Students, Scholarships and Service Dinner, raising more than $53,000 for scholarships. The event exceeded last year’s dinner by almost $10,000, and welcomed 160 students, faculty and alumni. Additionally, a series of awards were presented to Professor Emerita Dr. Rebecca Weeks Sherill More — receiving the Raymond S. Burton Award — and Northeast Delta Dental CEO Tom Raffio (shown third from left) receiving the Robert Frost Contemporary American Award.
3. Advantage Truck Group (ATG) employees delivered hundreds of boxes of Cheerios and coffee donated through Haulin’ 4 Hunger, a charitable initiative by ATG, to Manchester nonprofit Families in Transition for its food pantry. The initiative also led to bulk donations from other ATG sites in New Hampshire to organizations in Lancaster, Lebanon and Seabrook. Shown left to right are ATG Manchester employees Jon Flebotte, Jim Connor and Kyle Quinn.
4. Merrimack Valley Credit Union (MVCU) held its annual Charity Golf Classic at the Atkinson Resort & Country Club, with the event raising nearly $40,000 in support of the credit union’s financial education program for MVCU members and the community, Financial Edge. The event included raffle prizes and a silent auction.
5. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recognized seven public water systems in New Hampshire with its Water Fluoridation Quality Awards: Concord, Durham/UNH, Hanover, Laconia (staff shown), Lebanon, Manchester and Portsmouth. The award recognizes systems that adjust fluoride concentration in drinking water that achieve a monthly average fluoride level in the optimal range for 12 consecutive months, as outlined in its Water Fluoridation Rating System. The CDC started the nationwide awards program in 2002.
6. Concord Hospital staff have pledged $150,000 to Concord Hospital Trust, the philanthropic arm of the Concord Hospital system, which will be fulfilled through a $30,000 annual investment over five years. The pledge aligns with a $20-25 million fundraising campaign supporting the system’s health care initiatives over the next four to five years.
7. The McDonald’s location at 1750 White Mountain Highway in North Conway reopened with a new double-lane drive-thru, added digital ordering kiosks and improved parking lot flow to help alleviate traffic. Representatives of the restaurant and its owner, The Napoli Group, LLC, were present at the reopening, joined by students and faculty from Conway Elementary School. The school received $3,500 in donated funds raised during the event.
