As people turn their attention to giving to local charities during the holiday season, the Press is happy to provide the following list of organizations, recommended by townspeople and staff as charities that are doing good work in the community. All are organized as not-for-profit, but questions about tax deductibility should be addressed to each organization. Many of them originate in Harvard; a number of them also serve a wider area that includes Harvard.

Buddy Dog Humane Society, Inc., 151 Boston Post Road, Sudbury, MA 01776; 978-443-6990. Founded in 1961, Buddy Dog is a nonprofit animal welfare organization dedicated to finding new homes for dogs and cats. The goal of Buddy Dog is to find responsible and permanent homes for all the animals in its care. For a list of animals awaiting adoption or for more information visit www.buddydoghs.com.

Churches: Several area churches minister to people in need, among them:

• Congregational Church, 5 Still River Road, Harvard 978-456-8788
• Holy Trinity Parish, St. Theresa's Church, 15 Still River Road, Harvard 978-456-3563
• Harvard Unitarian Universalist Church, 7 Elm St., Harvard 978-456-7370
• St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, 7 Faulkner St., Ayer 978-772-2615
• Seeds of Faith Community Church, 285 Ayer Road, Harvard 978-772-1884

Cleghorn Neighborhood Center, 2-18 Fairmount St., Fitchburg, MA 01420; 978-342-2069. The vision of the center is to build strong neighborhoods in Fitchburg, with an emphasis on the Cleghorn neighborhood, and to strengthen the Latino and Latino immigrant community in Fitchburg. The center accomplishes its mission through youth development programs, free continuing education for adults, family services, youth and adult leadership training, and civic engagement initiatives, such as voter registration, community cleanups, and more.

The Food Project, 10 Lewis St., Lincoln, MA 01773; 781-259-8621. The Food Project, a nonprofit, is a launching pad for new ideas about youth and adults partnering to create social change through sustainable agriculture. The goal of the organization is sustainable, local food systems that bridge race, class, age, and more, to ensure food security for all. www.thefoodproject.org.

For Art's Sake, P.O. Box 116, Still River, MA 01467. For Art's Sake is a nonprofit community art association dedicated to encouraging imaginative and creative thinking in children and adults, while involving people in the process and appreciation of the visual, literary, and performing arts. The For Art's Sake Community Association offers exhibitions, workshops, readings, performances, and a directory connecting artists with residents to explore artistic expression. For more information send e-mail to pccochrane@gmail.com, besshaire@charter.net or melissayahia@gmail.com.

Freedom's Way Heritage Association, 100 Sherman Avenue, Devens; 978-772-3654. Freedom's Way Heritage Association is a grass-roots 501(c (3) organization founded in 1993 by a handful of citizens and town officials, to help preserve, protect, and promote the shared history of the nationally significant resources of the region. The mission of Freedom's Way Heritage Association is to weave together the stories of the land, the people and their ideas, by using the common threads of significant open spaces and historic events.

Friends of the Council on Aging, P.O. Box 474, Harvard 01451. The Friends of the COA has a mission to support senior services in Harvard. Funds from the Friends help cover some hours for the COA's outreach coordinator and support special refurbishment projects at Hildreth House. The Friends also pays for the printing and mailing of the COA newsletter.

Friends of the Harvard Public Library, P.O. Box 506. The purpose of this organization is to stimulate community interest in the services and needs of the Harvard Public Library, to provide a program of assistance through volunteer help, and to sponsor programs that enable the library to keep pace with the growth of Harvard.

Fruitlands Museum, 102 Prospect Hill Road, Harvard, MA 01451. This nonprofit museum features the first Shaker museum in the world and has the largest archive of Harvard Shaker documents in the world. It also features a small collection of North American Indian ethnographic materials, and an art gallery that contains 100 Hudson River School landscape paintings and more than 230 19th-century vernacular portraits. For information about sponsorships, making a pledge or gift, or making a donation, contact Chief Executive Officer Tim Firment at 978-456-3924, ext. 237.

Great Dog Rescue New England (GDRNE) is a nonprofit, shelterless, all-breed rescue group. The organization is dedicated to animal rescue. Its dogs live in private foster homes until adopted; volunteers work from their homes. In addition to its primary goal of helping homeless dogs find homes, the organization donates money to spay and neuter clinics in the south to help solve the problem of pet overpopulation; engages in community outreach activities with local schools to help educate about animal rescue, responsible pet ownership, and proper pet care; adopts dogs to agencies that train dogs to assist physically disabled and hearing-impaired people. www.gdrne.com.

Growing Places Garden Project, Inc., P. O. Box 17, Clinton, MA 01510; 978-598-3723. Harvard residents Ciindy Buhner and Kate Deyst created the Growing Places Garden Project in 2001 with a mission to enhance food security for people with limited economic means. For the past six years GPGP has donated raised vegetable gardens to clients and helped them grow, harvest, use, and store their fresh produce. The GPGP serves several towns in the area, including Harvard. www.growingplaces.org.

Harvard Conservation Trust, P.O. Box 31, Harvard. The Conservation Trust is dedicated to the preservation of Harvard's unique character and valuable resources, and seeks to preserve Harvard's rural and agricultural character. The Trust's top priority is protecting town land from unwanted development so that open space can be preserved for future generations. www.harvardtrust.org.

Harvard Farmers' Market, P.O. Box 307 Harvard, Ma. 01451. The Harvard Farmers' Market is a not-for-profit organization founded in 2007 to provide locally grown and produced foods to the Harvard community. Its mission is to educate consumers about their food and who grows it, and to bring the community together in a celebration of farmers and food. The season runs from mid-August to the end of October. All donations go to promoting and expanding the market. www.harvardfarmersmakret.org.

The Harvard Schools Trust, P.O. Box 450, Harvard, 01451. The Harvard Schools Trust raises funds and fulfills grant requests for curriculum enhancement, extra-curricular experiences, special equipment, and staff development, none of which would be possible within the regular school budget. Since its formation in 1989, the Trust has awarded over $450,000 to the elementary school and Bromfield. The Trust is governed by a 15-member board of directors made up of parents and community leaders. The Trust's website, www.harvardschoolstrust.org, includes a list of funded grants.

Loaves & Fishes, P.O. Box 1, Ayer, MA 01432; 978-772-4627. Loaves & Fishes exists as a mission of love and faith to serve people of Ayer, Devens, Groton, Harvard, Littleton, and Shirley by providing food, emergency shelter, resource referral, other temporary services, and by advocating for changes by its clients that will promote independence and self-reliance. www.devenspantry.org. The pantry is currently seeking donations of items for its "Shop for Your Kids" and "Shop for You Parents" days, as well as food for holiday dinners.

The Museum of Russian Icons, 203 Union St., Clinton; 978-598-5000. The museum is a nonprofit educational museum featuring a collection of more than 300 icons from the 15th to the late 20th century. The museum supports education through a noncirculating research library, which includes written materials as well as audio and video resources (available by appointment) and can meet many student curriculum standards through its alignment with the Massachusetts visual arts, history and social science, and English language arts curriculum frameworks. It also offers educational scavenger hunts, one for visitors in sixth grade and under and the other for more advanced students. www.museumofrussianicons.org.

Nashua River Watershed Association, 592 Main St., Groton, MA 01450; 978-448-0299. Founded in 1969, the Nashua River Watershed Association's mission is to work for a healthy ecosystem with clean water and open spaces for human and wildlife communities. In addition, goals include restoring and protecting water quality for people, fish, and wildlife; conserving open spaces for water quality, wildlife habitat, farms, forests, and recreation; and encouraging careful land use with well-planned development. www.nashuariverwatershed.org.

Our Father's House, P.O. Box 7251, Fitchburg, MA 01420; 978-345-3050. Our Father's House provides emergency and transitional housing to homeless men and women in three different shelters in Fitchburg. Incorporated in 1983, the shelters provide meals, shelter, housing search, and advocacy services. Rooted in Judeo-Christian values emphasizing the dignity of the individual, its programs encourage and assist each guest to become self-sufficient.

The Salvation Army, 739 Water St., Fitchburg; 978-342-3300. The Salvation Army is an international movement, an evangelical part of the universal Christian Church. Its mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs without discrimination. The organization runs a number of programs that serve this mission, including those that feed hungry families, provide Christmas presents for needy children, and heat the homes of struggling senior citizens. It runs nearly 1,400 thrift stores, including stores in Fitchburg, Hudson, and Worcester. It operates in-residence adult rehabilitation centers across the country, runs youth camps, provides disaster relief support, and more. Its familiar red kettles collect money to support all of these programs, and can be found in Harvard at the Transfer Station on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.,

The Sterling Animal Shelter, 17 Laurelwood Road, Sterling, MA 01564; 978-422-8585. This is a no-kill shelter that seeks to find homes for cats and dogs. The shelter is open Tuesday to Friday, 11 a.m. to 5:45 p.m.; Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 6:45 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. All animals are vet checked, are spayed/neutered, and are current on vaccines. www.sterlingshelter.org.

Toys for Tots, a program of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. The mission of the program is to collect new, unwrapped toys during October, November, and December each year and distribute those toys as Christmas gifts to needy children in the community in which the campaign is conducted. In Harvard, drop boxes for toys can be found at the police station and the post office.

The Virginia Thurston Healing Garden, P.O. Box 145, Harvard, 01451; 978-456-3532. Incorporated in 2000, the Healing Garden is an educational nonprofit organization dedicated to providing a healing environment for women with breast cancer. Complementary therapies to standard medical care, psychosocial support, educational programs, and access to nature are provided as part of the Garden's mission to offer women a way to regain control of their health. Services are offered regardless of a woman's ability to pay. Donations can be mailed to the address listed above or online at www.healinggarden.net.

Volunteer Humane Society, 505 Center Bridge Road, Lancaster, MA 01523; 978-365-9470. This is a 32-year-old, no-kill, cat-only shelter. The shelter can accommodate 30 to 40 cats at any time; all are vet checked and are current on vaccines. The shelter is open to the public three days a week, but is staffed every day. Its mission is to find responsible and permanent homes for all the animals in its care, and to promote the spaying and neutering of cats. www.volunteerhumanesoc.org.

WHEAT Community Services, Inc., 123 High St., Unit #22, Clinton, MA 01510; 978-365-6349. Since 1982, WHEAT Community Services has served low-to-moderate income residents of Berlin, Bolton, Clinton, Lancaster, and Sterling by providing critical services during their time of need. Today, 20 years later, WHEAT serves nearly 2000 individuals by providing them with the resources they need to become self-sufficient.

Wild Apples, Inc., P.O. Box 171, Harvard, MA. Wild Apples, Inc. is a nonprofit organization whose primary activity is the publication of Wild Apples: a journal of nature, art, and inquiry. The journal brings together the works of artists, writers, and photographers who demonstrate a commitment to the arts and the way they shape our world. The organization also engages in outreach activities, such as art and poetry workshops and presentations at schools, libraries, prisons, and museums. For more information: www.wildapples.org.

Is there an organization that should be listed here next year? Send contact information to editor@harvardpress.com.