The Martha’s Vineyard Community Foundation, formerly known as the Permanent Endowment for Martha’s Vineyard, has announced two new grants to Island organizations.

The MV Fishermen’s Preservation Trust received $25,000 to re-establish a commercially viable wholesale fish market in Menemsha, and the Community Ambassador Partnership was awarded $13,367 to provide medical interpretation training to better serve the Portuguese-speaking community with medical needs or questions, particularly in light of the pandemic and upcoming vaccinations for Covid-19.

“This year has highlighted the need to be flexible and nimble in responding to emerging needs,” community foundation board chair Anne Williamson said in a statement. “If we want to maintain a robust fishing industry based out of our harbors, then it’s critical to support a wholesale outlet for their catch.”

Executive director Emily Bramhall said the foundation has supported the Community Ambassador Partnership since it was formed at the beginning of the pandemic.

“It is so important that everyone in our community have access to real-time, culturally relevant information so they can make informed decisions, and nowhere is that more vital than medical settings,” Ms. Bramhall said in a statement.

The Fishermen’s Preservation Trust has launched a $500,000 campaign to create the Martha’s Vineyard Sustainable Food Collaborative, which would reopen the shuttered Menemsha Fish House and re-establish a wholesale outlet for the Vineyard’s small boat fishery. The $25,000 foundation grant from the Foundation enabled the trust to reach its initial start-up goal of $400,000 allowing needed repairs and equipment purchasing to begin, according to the announcement.

An earlier foundation grant of $16,850 to the Community Ambassador Partnership funded basic training for 10 additional interpreters resulting in almost 100 hours of interpretation in settings such as Covid-19 contact tracing and translation at the TestMV site. It also covered the salary of an interpreter coordinator, salaries for the actual services, the creation of a database of available interpreters and reduced the cost for liability insurance, according to the foundation.

The most recent grant will enable 13 interpreters to take a six-week, 60-hour class through Ace MV in partnership with Cross Cultural Communications System for a nominal $250 fee, with proceeds to pay interpreters working across the Island,  according to the announcement.