Arthur C. Anton, of Lowell, left, Nancy Cook, a volunteer, of Westford, and Christopher Dobens, a Boston Strong co-founder and Lowell High alumnus, were among the honorees at the Greater Lowell Community Foundation Awards dinner held Thursday at the Westford Regency. Sun photos / Bob Whitaker
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WESTFORD — Scott Hyder calls Nancy Cook the “beacon of hope” in Westford.
Five years ago, Hyder had just lost fellow Westford Police Officer Billy Duggan to suicide when Cook asked him to join her in fundraising to help prevent such tragedies. Cook’s tenacity and compassion immediately grabbed him.
“It was contagious,” Hyder said of Cook’s enthusiasm.
Hyder’s brother, Nick, who was a retired corrections officer, would also commit suicide before long. The suicide-prevention walk that Cook had started now became Hyder’s tool to get his message across that depression is an illness and that suicide is a subject that needs to be talked about rather than a taboo. Thanks to Cook’s commitment to the cause, the walk is still growing, raising $50,000 last year alone.
Lowell artist Andrew Duncan with his work at the Greater Lowell Community Foundation Awards Dinner Thursday at the Westford Regency.
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That commitment to the community and its people make Cook truly special, said Kay Doyle, president of the Greater Lowell Community Foundation, as she presented Cook and some others awards to recognize their contributions to the community on Thursday night.
“She cares deeply about the community,” Doyle said of Cook.
After decades of dedicating herself to countless causes in town — from the Senior Center expansion project to the Sept. 11 memorial construction — Westford native Cook was honored as the Volunteer of the Year at the Greater Lowell Community Foundation’s “Celebrate Giving!” award ceremony at the Westford Regency. The annual event recognizes those who embody the word philanthropy while giving out grants to community groups with worthy causes.
In addition to Cook, Arthur Anton of Anton’s Cleaners was honored for his philanthropic activities over the decades and Christopher Dobens, an Emerson College junior from Lowell who co-founded Boston Strong, received the Richard K. and Nancy L. Donahue Philanthropy Award.
Receiving the $7,500 Creative Economy grant to be distributed over the next two years were Angkor Dance Troupe Inc. of Lowell and the Roudenbush Community Center Inc. of Westford.
From left, Arthur C. Anton of Lowell, Angkor Dance Troupe’s Linda Sopheap Sou, with Arts Boston Executive Director Catherine Peterson and Roudenbush Community Center board member Patty Mason chat Thurday at the Greater Lowell Community Foundation award dinner in Westford. Sun / Bob Whitaker
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More than 30 other groups in Greater Lowell received grants ranging from $3,400 to $5,000.
Linda Sopheap Sou, executive director of Angkor Dance Troupe, said the organization will use the grant money to bring performances to communities outside Lowell to help introduce Cambodian arts to more residents. Many of the performers are teenagers.
Pattie Pichette, executive director of Roudenbush Community Center, said her group’s grant will be used to produce weekend offerings.
Cook, who serves on the Westford Council on Aging, was introduced as an elder advocate, philanthropist and an extraordinary volunteer. Cook would sit through the night with a terminally-ill cancer patient, Doyle said.
“I am incredibly humbled to have been chosen,” said Cook, who works as vice president of Concord Oil.
Cook had few words about her achievements. But her daughter, Tammy Fannon, of Westford, said “paying it forward” is Cook’s way of life.
Cook worked with some other Westford residents to establish the local chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Earlier this year, Cook completed an 18-mile walk in Seattle even though she had a broken foot, Fannon said.
Hyder said Cook has the ability to rally people around causes.
“She is the hub of the wheel” of the community, Hyder said. “Everybody knows everybody through her.”
Dobens said he has always liked to design and make T-shirts. Right after the Boston Marathon bombing, he decided to use his skills to help Boston send a message to the world that it was bouncing back, he said.
Anton, 89, said he still lives by his father’s motto of giving back to the community.
“He let me catch the wonderful, contagious feeling of what it is like to serve (others,” Anton said.
Catherine Peterson, executive director of ArtsBoston, said in her keynote address that arts and culture are a $1 billion industry in the Greater Boston alone. Lowell has been a role model in the region for pushing for “creative economy,” Peterson said.
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