b'C H A P T E R T E Npeeling off $12,000 for that purpose. A motion was made, seconded and passed, and FCW has been in Scudder ever since.The treasurers summary for that same year testified to the boards dynamic commitment to help get things done in town. Earlier that year, when the balance stood at $20,312.75, directors agreed to donate $5,000 to Chathams government. It was to be used for research on the developing Stage Harbor Management plan (hardly the only time FCW has given a share of its dues pool to a town project, or raised even more dollars for such a purpose). At any rate, drawing on the remaining funds in late summer 92, the treasurer went ahead to invest in Scudder. Since then, when a special need has come up, the treasurer has withdrawn from that fund.Apart from its checking and Scudder accounts, FCW has a brokerage account with Commonwealth Financial Network. Should future benefactors want to contribute stock to the Friends, that account has an open door.Fortuitously, a goodly number of members often add gifts above their regular dues. As it stands, the different FCW accounts (checking, Dr. Walter Butler, FCW treasurer Scudder, etc.) are grouped under oneand vice president, has brought designation:Community Action Fund. analytical skills and computer That composite ensures that FCW will havepower to keeping abreast of the the money to cope with future calls for dollarebb and flow of the organi 2 ations support. funds.Looking back at recent annual reports, Treasurer Walter Buder notes that dues and donations bring in about $10,000 per year, or approximately 50 percent of our total income. The next largest income source stems from grants, made by five entities, in all.4 For many years, The Dreyfus Foundation has awarded FCW grants of $3,000 annually, but in 2002 it scaled back to $2,500. Other grants have been cut, as well. This is probably a widespread trend, comments Dr. Butler, one driven by the economic slowdown and drop in stock market valuations.Beyond the more than $36,000 spent by FCW on its Zoning Bylaw Revision initiative, there have been other major expensesa total of $9,250 in grants over four years to educational programs at Chathams public schools; and $2,500 given to the Town for Safety Navigation Buoys and for the Coastal Resource Donation Fund. FCW gives in another, critical way. As Treasurer Butler notes, cash donations are augmented by the many hours of volunteer service174'