Small nonprofits often see needs that others might miss. They know their communities closely, build relationships from the ground up, and can create meaningful change with relatively modest resources. Piscataqua Savings Bank wanted to celebrate that work.
This year, PSB introduced the Community Catalyst Award, created in partnership with the Foundation for Seacoast Health to recognize smaller, locally rooted nonprofits making a meaningful impact across the Seacoast.
The inaugural award was presented to Kids 5 & Over (K5O), a Seacoast nonprofit providing scholarships that help children and teens participate in the activities they love. Along with the award, PSB and the Foundation presented K5O with a joint $10,000 gift to support its work.
But the idea for the award started with a simple conversation.
An Idea Over Coffee
The Community Catalyst Award grew out of a conversation between Piscataqua Savings Bank President and CEO Benjamin S. Wheeler and Foundation for Seacoast Health CEO Blair Demers.
“The idea started over a cup of coffee with Blair and me when we realized how much overlap there was in who we supported and how important those two institutions are in the city of Portsmouth,” Wheeler said. “And how cool would it be if we could work together.”
That conversation quickly led to the idea of creating something together that could shine a light on organizations doing important work without necessarily having the visibility or fundraising capacity of larger nonprofits.
“We wanted to create an opportunity that specifically recognized smaller, locally rooted organizations that are doing really meaningful work,” Demers said. “The idea was to shine a light on an organization making a significant impact with relatively modest resources and provide flexible funding that could help strengthen that work.”
For PSB and the Foundation, collaborating also meant they could combine their resources and community knowledge.
“We realized together we could pool our resources and make far more of an impact than we could as individual institutions,” Wheeler said.
A Shared Commitment to the Seacoast Community
The Foundation took the lead in identifying potential organizations for consideration, looking at factors including their reach, financial efficiency, and impact before narrowing the field to two finalists.
PSB employees then had the opportunity to select the inaugural recipient. For Wheeler, involving employees was a natural extension of PSB’s commitment to the community.
“The reason we’re able to donate so much money to this community is as a result of the hard work of each and every employee here at Piscataqua Savings Bank,” he said. “So it made complete sense for our employees to make this decision because, without their hard work and dedication to our organization, none of this would be possible.”
The process, with the help of the whole PSB team, ultimately led to Kids 5 & Over.
Why Kids 5 & Over?
Founded 13 years ago by Linda Beal, K5O provides scholarship funding for children and teens in Rockingham, Strafford and York Counties to participate in extracurricular activities, from sports and dance to music and art.
For Demers, what stood out was how clearly Beal identified a gap in the community and created a practical way to address it.
“There are kids who want to play a sport, take a dance class, learn to paint, or participate in another activity, but the cost or logistical demands put it out of reach for their families,” Demers said. “K5O has spent 13 years quietly removing that barrier for kids across the Seacoast.”
The organization has a focused mission and a straightforward model. Scholarship requests are reviewed by K5O’s volunteer board, with approved funds sent directly to the organization providing the activity.
“K5O is a great example of an organization that doesn’t need a large staff or complicated infrastructure to make a real difference,” Demers said. “They stay close to the families they serve and make the most out of every dollar.”
That is what Demers meant when she described K5O as an organization that “punches above its weight class.”
Making Room For Joy
The idea behind K5O began with Beal’s experience as an educator. She could help address some of the immediate needs she saw among students, but extracurricular activities presented a different challenge.
“I would hear students talk about things they wished they could do, or hoped they might be able to do someday,” Beal said. “Sometimes they would add, ‘after we pay for the car repair,’ or ‘after my mom gets her paycheck,’ or ‘after my dad is out of the hospital.’”
Those comments stayed with her. Families dealing with an unexpected expense or change in circumstances might suddenly have to cut activities that had once been manageable.
K5O was created to bridge that gap.
“There are children across the Seacoast who are missing out on activities they love,” Beal said. “When money gets tight, dance lessons, sports, music, art, and other activities are often among the first things to go. But for a child, losing an activity can mean losing much more than the activity itself. It can mean losing access to their community.”
Importantly, K5O scholarships aren’t based on whether a child is particularly talented or competitive. They’re about giving young people the opportunity to explore something that brings them joy.
“We never wanted a K5O scholarship to be solely about talent or achievement because having the chance to try and experiment is much more important,” Beal said. “We want the focus to be on discovery: finding something that makes a child feel excited, curious, confident, connected, or simply happy.”
For Demers, those opportunities are an important part of a healthy childhood.
“Young people need opportunities to participate, to build friendships, to connect with trusted adults, to be active, and to feel like they belong,” she said. “The health and well-being of a community is very much tied to how well we take care of our youth.”
A Long History of Support
The award also brought together two organizations that have supported K5O for many years.
Piscataqua Savings Bank was among K5O’s earliest supporters. In 2013, its first year as a 501(c)(3), K5O received a $250 donation from PSB. The Foundation for Seacoast Health was also one of the first organizations to provide K5O with grant funding for general operating expenses.
For Beal, that history made the award particularly meaningful. “Sometimes, what matters most is having someone believe in you before you have a long track record or knowing exactly where the journey will take you,” she said.
She also sees a meaningful connection between the organizations’ missions. “The Community Catalyst Award recognizes not just what K5O does, but why it matters, and a big part of that is building community,” Beal said.
The Foundation’s support has extended beyond funding, too. Beal describes its mentorship, community connections, and encouragement as important parts of K5O’s growth. “I deeply admire and appreciate the work they do to support local nonprofits and strengthen the Seacoast community,” she said.
Investing in What Comes Next
The $10,000 gift from PSB and the Foundation comes at an important time for K5O. Scholarship requests are up 44% this year, and the organization is focused on expanding its capacity while maintaining the personal connection at the heart of its work.
“This gift will translate directly into opportunities for Seacoast youth,” Beal said.
For PSB and the Foundation, that’s the larger purpose of the Community Catalyst Award: recognizing organizations that are already making a difference and giving them additional support to continue doing so.
“I hope it says that size isn’t the measure of an organization’s importance or impact,” Demers said. “There are small nonprofits throughout the Seacoast that know their communities deeply, see needs that others may miss, and find creative ways to respond.”
And for K5O, the goal remains remarkably consistent with the idea that started it all.
“We’re not looking for a bigger organization, but the ability to reach more children, support more families, and create more moments when a child discovers something they love and realizes what’s possible for them,” Beal said. “If we can continue to do that, one child at a time, then we are doing exactly what we set out to do.”
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