BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. – Rockingham Meeting House Capital Reserve Fund received a $1,000 gift from Greater Falls Insurance Agency and Co-operative Insurance Companies in May.
The gift, awarded as part of Co-op’s Community Grants program, will be used to support conservation of the Rockingham Meeting House, a National Historic Landmark. The Meeting House is curated by the town of Rockingham through its Historic Preservation Commission. “We think the town’s commitment to preserving the Meeting House is great,” said Bridget Kelly, owner and agent of Greater Falls Insurance Agency. “We’re proud to support the commission’s efforts.”
“Every year, people from all over the world come to Vermont to visit our town’s Meeting House,” said Rosemarri Roth, senior meetinghouse museum docent. “The frame was raised in 1787, making it the oldest public building in its original form still standing in Vermont, telling a story of who we once were.”
Cooperative Insurance Companies’ Community Grants Program was established in 2004 to assist with community projects across Vermont and New Hampshire. Through the program, Co-op partners with its agents and directors to provide funds for capital campaigns and operational support throughout the two states.
“Groups like the Rockingham Historic Preservation Commission are meeting the needs in the same communities that Co-op serves,” said Randy Roy, Co-op’s senior vice president of marketing. “We think it’s important to do our part as neighbors to help them out, and this grant program is one more way we can do that.”
The meetinghouse reserve fund was one of 10 to receive a Community Grant from Cooperative Insurance Companies in 2021.
The Rockingham Meeting House Capital Reserve Fund was created at 2017 town meeting. The purpose is to provide funding for large-scale conservation and restoration projects to preserve the meetinghouse for future generations. Donations from the public help build the fund.
Since 1996 Great Falls Insurance has provided homeowner, automobile, business, and farm insurance in the Rockingham, Westminster, Walpole communities and beyond. GFI’s main goal is to provide great customer service by staying locally owned and operated. GFI owner and agency Bridget Kelly lives in Bellows Falls with husband Patrick and two children.