Financial & In-Kind Support

The college recognizes the importance of making financial and in-kind donations to the community. Recent contributions to the city and local projects include:

$550,000 from the Smith College Affordable Housing Fund to the Valley Community Development Corporation (CDC) for project development costs for the 96-98 King Street apartments
$536,000 in support of pedestrian safety improvements to Elm Street crosswalks
$220,000 from the Smith College Affordable Housing Fund to the Valley CDC for project development costs for the 46-48 School Street apartments
$151,862 contributed by Smith employees to the United Way of Hampshire County in 2010–11
$100,000 over four years to support public radio station WFCR in its capital campaign
$100,000 to the City of Northampton as one-time support for the Northampton public schools
$50,000 over five years to the Northampton Education Foundation
$17,500 in annual membership and in-kind support of downtown Northampton’s Business Improvement District
$8,000 for repainting bike lanes on Elm Street
$5,000 to the City of Northampton to help with public safety (fire and police) costs in the wake of the 2009 arsons
$3,500 to the Northampton Education Fund from the 2010 Smith Fit 5K road race
$3,470 in donations, venue space and custodial services to the Northampton Center for the Arts for First Night Northampton
$2,500 to the Northampton Neighbors Relief Fund set up by the United Way of Hampshire County to assist victims of 2009 arsons
$2,060 annual contribution to the Economic Development Council of Western Massachusetts
$2,000 annual sponsorship of the Daily Hampshire Gazette’s Newspaper in Education program
$1,300 in donations and venue space to the Northampton Arts Council for the Four Sundays in February series

$1,000 sponsor of WGBY’s French Connection Gala fundraiser in tribute to Smith alumnae Julia Child and Charlotte Turgeon, held at the Hotel Northampton
$1,000 sponsor of the Paragon Awards, which recognize outstanding volunteers in the Northampton community
$600 sponsor of the Hot Chocolate Run for Safe Passage for victims of domestic violence
$500 to the Hampshire Choral Society as a sponsor of its 2011 concert, held at Smith
$500 sponsor of the Northampton Family Fourth Celebration
$500 to the Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce in support of its Downtown Banner Program
$500 sponsor of the League of Women Voters’ statewide meetings on “Women’s Health in the 21st Century: What We Need to Know”
$500 for purchase of traffic signs for the State Street crosswalks located near the Smith College Campus School
Donated household and office furniture to ServiceNet for their homeless shelters
Provided linens, tables and chairs for the Friends of Children Iron Chef fundraiser
Created maps for the Friends of Northampton Trails and Greenways, Inc., “Exploring the Northampton Rail Trail Network” brochure
Donated perishable produce/dairy products to the Western Massachusetts Food Bank at the close of each semester
Provided professional meal preparation and delivery to the Cot Shelter immediately before the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays to provide relief to the volunteers during this busy period
Provided venue space at John M. Greene Hall for a performance by the Young@Heart chorus to benefit Safe Passage

Equipment

The college donates used computer equipment to area nonprofit organizations, churches and municipal departments. From July 1, 2009, through June 30, 2010, the college donated 123 Windows PCs and 16 Apple computers. The original purchase price of these totaled almost $250,000. Significant donations of equipment were made to Linda Manor, Northampton Public Schools, Collaborative Education Services, Conway Elementary, Northampton Montessori School, Cooley Dickinson, Dakin Animal Shelter and a number of family service agencies in the Pioneer Valley.

Five College Bus

Smith contributes $89,388 (plus $32,349 from the Student Government Association) of the $588,500 given by Five Colleges, Inc., in support of the PVTA (Pioneer Valley Transit Authority) bus service between Northampton and Amherst. The bus system, which carries nearly a million passengers annually, also opens the Northampton housing market to University of Massachusetts students, thus helping to promote full use of the city’s rental housing.

Academy of Music

The president of Smith serves as an ex-officio member of the Academy of Music board of trustees and also designates another member of the Smith community to serve on the board. Over the years the college has contributed computer hardware and software to the academy as well as funds for renovating and upgrading this historic building.

WFCR—88.5 FM

Through Five Colleges, Incorporated, Smith helps provide 168 hours a week of music, information and cultural programming on New England Public Radio.

General Facilities

Smith College provides rent-free use of its facilities to local public high schools for their graduation rehearsals and ceremonies. Graduation ceremonies held at Smith in recent years include the Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School, Hampshire Regional High School, Northampton High School (rain site) and the Hampshire Educational Collaborative. College facilities are also available to external groups to host meetings, conferences or other events for a modest rental fee plus direct costs and insurance. See the guidelines for use of college facilities by external organizations at the Web site above.

Athletic Facilities

Local school and community groups often use the Smith athletic facilities for practices or competitions. The Northampton High School indoor track team, field hockey, tennis, and lacrosse teams and the Pioneer Valley Interscholastic Athletic Conference track league host events at Smith throughout the season. Youth groups such as Baystate Swimming, NOMADS field hockey teams, Sugarloaf Youth Track club events, tryouts for local softball and baseball teams, Northampton Area Swimming, Pioneer Valley Swim Leagues and Northampton Rowing also use the facilities for their sporting events. Facilities are provided for free or on a fee-for-expenses basis. The Indoor Track and Tennis facility’s track is open daily from 6 to 8 a.m. from January to March for indoor walking for members of the community. Community members can purchase summer tennis passes and year-round squash membership passes to use the Smith courts. Faculty and student teachers provide sports instruction to local children in various sports throughout the year.

Conference Center

The Smith College Conference Center is available for rental to the community for private and professional events. Local businesses and residents may use the center for weddings, conferences, meetings and fundraisers. Overlooking Paradise Pond and offering flexible catering options (including Smith College Catering), the center is an attractive and easily accessed meeting and event venue for groups of all sizes.

Libraries

Smith libraries hold more than 1.6 million items—books, periodicals, CDs, DVDs, music, manuscripts and more. The William Allan Neilson Library is the college’s main library for the humanities and social sciences, supplemented by three branch libraries: the Anita O’K. and Robert R. Young Science Library, the Werner Josten Performing Arts Library, and the Hillyer Art Library for fine arts and architecture. Special collections include the Mortimer Rare Book Room, the Sophia Smith Collection (women’s history) and the College Archives. All libraries are open to the public, who may use most materials and computer databases on-site at no charge. Members of the Smith, Five College and Smith alumnae communities may borrow from the libraries with an authorized borrowing card. For a modest fee, library cards are also available to adult residents of Hampshire, Hampden and Franklin counties. These cards allow holders to borrow books from Neilson and the Young Science libraries.

Events

Community members are encouraged to attend lectures, films, poetry readings, concerts, vespers and interterm activities at Smith, most of which are free. Many concerts and plays are also open to the public for a modest fee.