150 Main St. Lee MA 01238
Wednesday Nights through the winter, Dine at Chez Nous to Support Organizations Working to Improve Lives in the Berkshires
Each evening will be devoted to a different non-profit organization with 15% of the night’s net profit given directly to support their work in our community
n 1983 FCI began to focus on science and arts education for children, establishing a summer program with environmental themes, led by area specialists in these fields. FCI was encouraged to begin after school programs on-site and in area schools which began in 1988. This led to a partnership with the Southern Berkshire Regional School District that was formalized in 1990 and continues to the present. The partnership began with a few classrooms participating in interdisciplinary science and math residencies, often involving environmental themes and the arts. By 2000 FCI’s work in this district had expanded to reach 30 teachers, 600 students.
Over subsequent decades FCI has become a major player in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) education with partnerships in four Berkshire County school districts. Flying Cloud Institute now reaches over 3500 students each year through our in-school programs (SMArt Schools), summer programs (SMArt Summer Programs), after school and summer programs for girls (Young Women in Science Programs), and the Berkshire STEM Educators Conference (formerly BEEN Conference) and the Youth STEM Summit (formerly Youth Environmental Summit).
Please join us for our Community Nights this winter. Each week we will partner with a local nonprofit to highlight their cause. While we have always partnered with local organizations with different donations, including cooking classes, Chef for a Day, or gift certificates for dinner, recently we have been thinking about how to integrate our work more directly with the community that has supported us for almost 14 years. We are looking forward to giving back by doing what we do best, feeding people!
Here is what you can do to help: bring your friends and family and enjoy an evening out while supporting a good cause. It’s a great combination. In addition, everyone who attends to support Community Night will have their names entered into a raffle for a chance to win a dinner for 2 at one of our popular wine dinners!
Please mark the following nights on your calendar if you would like to enjoy a delicious meal at Chez Nous and take advantage of this easy opportunity to contribute to some of the community organizations doing important work to strengthen the Berkshires and beyond:
February 19 Flying Cloud Institute programs promote creative thinking, problem solving, and mastery learning in STEM discliplines through an integrated approach. They provide children from kindergarten through high school with opportunities to engage in real world experiences under the supervision of professionals in these fields who inspire them to reach their full potential.
February 26 Berkshire Coalition for Suicide Prevention The Berkshire Coalition for Suicide Prevention (BCSP) was established as a regional coalition of the Massachusetts Coalition for Suicide Prevention (MCSP) in 2009 with a mission of reducing self-harm and suicides. The mission of Berkshire Coalition for Suicide Prevention is for everyone to find an alternative to suicide and self-harm, to find relief from unbearable psychological pain, and for our community to meet their needs. BCSP is part of a network of regional coalitions throughout Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Coalition for Suicide Prevention.
March 4: Music In Common Empowers youth & communities against hate through dialogue, collaborative songwriting, multimedia and performance.
May 6: Berkshire Mt. Search and RescueBMSAR is an all volunteer, not-for-profit Search and Rescue Team, based in Western Massachusetts. We are available 24 hours a day for missing person searches in Western Massachusetts and the surrounding area. The team can provide trained search and rescue personnel, K-9 search teams, search management and other related resources, free of charge.
May 20: Railroad St. Youth Project RSYP’s professional staff pairs youth-generated ideas with community resources, empowering youth to create and oversee a wide range of innovative, life-changing projects. Unmatched in mission and scope, RSYP excels in helping youth find their voice and realize the benefits of their commitment to themselves and their community.
May 27: WAM Theatre THEATRE FOR EVERYONE THAT BENEFITS WOMEN AND GIRLS. WAM Theatre is a professional theatre company in the Berkshires of Massachusetts. Their vision is to create opportunity for women and girls, theatre as philanthropy.
