FALL RIVER – The Highland Street Foundation cast a lifeline that will ease the impact of COVID-19-related bans for the Whaling Museum of New Bedford and Battleship Cove.
The Highland Street Foundation, which runs the Free Fun Fridays program, will be sending out checks this week to its partner organizations. In this area, it also includes the Children’s Museum of Greater Fall River and the Old Colony History Museum in Taunton.
In all, $750,000 will be disbursed among its 100 partner institutions to be used at their discretion to help recover from the COVID-19 crisis, said Highland Street Foundation Executive Director Blake Jordan.
Free Fun Fridays provides free access to museums, theaters and cultural sites on 10 designated Fridays throughout the summer. Free Fun Fridays has been eliminated for this summer due to social distancing bans, but the Highland Street Foundation wanted to do all it could to help its partner organizations by awarding the grants those organizations would receive to help while they’re closed to the public, Jordan said.
So far, the response from organizations about the awarding of the grants has been overwhelming.
“I’ve received so many emails and phone calls saying, ‘It’s unbelievable. You have no idea what this means to us’,” Jordan said. “It’s so nice to hear…. The feedback has been incredible.”
A modified version of the program, with each of the organizations providing a free day of admission, will be rolled out in the fall or whenever they’re up and running and ready for a free day, Jordan said.
“I said let’s get through the next few months…. We don’t want to put more pressure on them,” he added. “They really go out of their way to make it a special day -- some of them even come up with activities to keep people waiting outside busy.”
Though he said they don’t announce the amount of the individual awards for each organization, he said the grants are based on the size of the organizations and the numbers of Free Fun Friday visitors at each site.
“It’s extraordinary,” said Whaling Museum President and Chief Executive Officer Amanda D. McMullen of the welcome news. “When a foundation gives this type of support it’s immensely helpful.”
McMullen praised the Whaling Museum’s board of trustees for its support during this time. She said the Whaling Museum also has received many donations from individuals that will help maintain its staff through this period of closure.
In lieu of opening, the Whaling Museum has shifted to an online format with educational and informative content posted on its website, McMullen said.
The Whaling Museum’s Free Fun Friday day last year attracted about 2,400 visitors. McMullen said they’re considering a free day sometime around Halloween, but like every other organization, it’s really up in the air right now.
It was also happy news for Jo-Anne Sbrega, executive director of the Children’s Museum of Greater Fall River. The Children’s Museum’s Free Fun Friday last year logged in 1,400 attendees.
“It’s a welcome relief,” Sbrega said. She said the museum closing at this time of year means they’re missing out on funds from their busiest time of year for school field trips and events such as birthday parties.
Sbrega said this also would be the time of year when they would be applying for smaller locally based grants for summer programming, which is uncertain at this point.
“The big question is when we’re going to open, and nobody knows at this point,” she said.
While they’re closed, Sbrega said, they’re working on a new outdoor music-inspired play area and making weekly family activity videos in conjunction with Fall River Community Media. The videos are available on its Facebook page and on Channel 95.
Since it started Free Fun Fridays 12 years ago, the Highland Street Foundation’s partner organizations have increased from 10 to 100. Many families plan their vacations and entire summers around the days of free admission that in some cases would normally be a hefty price tag for families, Jordan said.
“Since we’ve been doing this we’ve only had a couple negative comments about the lines. They appreciate that they can go with their kids and they know it’s free. If you have a couple kids it can be quite expensive.”
According to Herald News reports, Free Fun Fridays at Battleship Cove have attracted upwards of 7,000 visitors. Even on the rainiest of days, thousands have flocked to the Battleship for the free day that also benefits nearby restaurants economically.
The Taunton Daily Gazette reported about 300 people visited the Old Colony History Museum in 2018 for its first Free Fun Friday.
For a growing organization like the Children’s Museum of Greater Fall River, affiliation with Free Fun Fridays and its calendar of events that’s viewed throughout the state brings exposure to new families outside of this area.
“We’ve had families from Worcester. We couldn’t do that kind of marketing on our own,” Sbrega said.