The Y Receives 2024 Community Advocacy Award

Eastern Bank Foundation (EBF) today announced that it has recognized Michael LaChance, CEO of YMCA of Greater Nashua, with a 2024 Community Advocacy Award (CAA) and award grant. This award recognizes LaChance for his decades-long leadership and considerable expansion of the YMCA’s footprint and programming, and for his organization’s impactful role in building healthy, confident, connected, and secure children and families. Fourteen honorees in total from across Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire came together for a dynamic afternoon of celebration and a roundtable.

Celebrating its 30^th Anniversary, EBF’s annual CAA awards select and spotlight outstanding nonprofit leaders and organizations that focus on the most critical needs of our communities. This year’s focus, enriching Early Childhood Development (ECD), is one of the core strategy areas of the Foundation’s commitment to advancing economic inclusion and mobility.

A regional leader in child care and early education, youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility, the YMCA of Greater Nashua has been a lasting and positive fixture in Southern New Hampshire for decades. The organization and its extensive developmentally appropriate programming seeks to instill values and provide opportunities for lifelong personal growth—beginning in the earliest years.

This year’s dynamic roundtable discussion covered many aspects of the ECD ecosystem, focusing on its role as critical infrastructure to support the healthy development of children, economic mobility for families, strong communities, and statewide economic and workforce competitiveness—especially in our region’s historically underserved communities.

Commenting on the transformative role of ECD and the Community Advocacy Award, LaChance said, “The first six years of a child’s life are crucial–a time when children develop their mental and social functions most rapidly. Studies have shown this development is greatly influenced by their educational environment. In our Early Education Center, our teachers nurture each child’s cognitive, social, physical and emotional growth through guided self-discovery and experiential learning. Eastern Bank Foundation’s commitment to early childhood development strengthens our ability to reach more children and families to ensure every child, regardless of age, income or background, has the opportunity to learn, grow and thrive.”

Commenting on Michael LaChance’s and YMCA of Greater Nashua’s impact to our communities, and on their importance to our present and future success as a region, Nancy Huntington Stager, President & CEO of Eastern Bank Foundation, said, “Mike and the YMCA of Greater Nashua are making a powerful, lifelong impact in the region through their many child-focused programs. They are living proof that providing trusted, accessible child care programs, as well as early education opportunities for young children and their families, is foundational for healthy development. By providing strong and caring support for our youngest residents and their families, we can build confident, successful families, which in turn strengthens the many communities, the economy and the workforces in our region.”

About Eastern Bank Foundation

Celebrating 30 years in 2024 as the philanthropic arm of Eastern Bank, Eastern Bank Foundation actively listens to and partners with our neighbors and fellow change-makers across nonprofit, for-profit, and government sectors to further community vibrancy and promote systems change. We invest with community-led organizations working to build economic inclusion, mobility and social justice in four strategy areas–advancing equity in the small business ecosystem, enriching early childhood development, securing safe and affordable housing, and promoting workforce development for adults facing barriers to employment. Knowing the roots of social and economic injustice are as stubborn as they are old, we employ a variety of levers–Philanthropy, Employee Volunteerism, Advocacy and Collaboration–to lift up and rise with our communities, especially in our region’s Gateway Cities.

Support the impactful work of YMCA of Greater Nashua and contribute to building stronger communities through their child-focused programs. Your donation helps provide essential child care and early education opportunities that are foundational for healthy development. Together, we can empower families and strengthen our region’s communities, economy, and workforce.