PEABODY — The JB Thomas-Lahey Foundation has donated $10,000 to the Peabody Education Foundation to support the foundation’s newly established Mental Health Awareness Initiative, a program that benefits Peabody’s students, teachers and parents.
“The Covid-19 Pandemic has had a profound impact on people’s health, ability to learn, work and live,” Peabody Education Foundation (PEF) President and Chairman David Gravel said. “The most important challenge we face today is how to adapt our educational system to address the mental health issues that have escalated during the past two years.”
PEF’s Mental Health Awareness Initiative was launched earlier this year in collaboration with North Shore Bank, the JB Thomas–Lahey Foundation and the GraVoc Charitable Foundation. Its mission is to provide resources including reading materials, motivational speakers and other resources to help the Peabody schools deal with the mental health issues that have escalated during the past two years due to COVID-19, as well as those issues that continue to challenge Peabody schools every day.
The JB Thomas-Lahey Foundation funds programs that support the healthcare needs of residents of Peabody and surrounding communities. The Foundation was created through the generosity of Josiah B. Thomas and Louis Marques. Thomas was a prominent citizen of Peabody. In 1898, he left $50,000 in his will to create a hospital in the town. Marques, who was later born at that hospital, left a donation decades later. The hospital grew to become Lahey Medical Center Peabody.
“The Foundation is thrilled to support the Mental Health Awareness Initiative of the PEF in hopes that it will bring much-needed balance and emotional support to our schools and give our students a greater sense of trust and belonging, make schools safer and increase academic achievement,” said Dr. Jeffrey L. Marx of the JB Thomas-Lahey Foundation.
“The Peabody Education Foundation’s Mental Wellness Initiative would not be possible without the support of community partners like the JB Thomas-Lahey Foundation, and we are thankful for their commitment and generous support of our mission,” Gravel said.
For more information on the Peabody Education Foundation, visit www.peabodyedfoundation.org.
