AMHERST — A nonprofit organization that has long supported efforts to provide housing for low- and moderate-income individuals, and helped launch the town’s first overnight emergency homeless shelter in 2009, is making a donation to the Amherst Affordable Housing Trust before closing down.

The Interfaith Housing Association of Amherst, through its Chairman Robert Ryan, announced to trust members at a recent meeting that the remaining $40,000 or so in its account will be given to the housing trust to support its mission.

“We saw the trust as the perfect venue for giving our funds,” Ryan said.

Interfaith Housing recently voted to dissolve, after providing money over the years for many different developments and initiatives, such as the Olympia Oaks apartments off Olympia Drive, and aiding the homeless shelter and current operator Craig’s Doors: A Home Association, Inc.  Some of the remaining balance will be going to pay for attorneys and other fees.

Interfaith Housing was established in November 1966 to get the Village Park apartments built, owning and operating that East Pleasant Street site for many years, but was dormant and then was revived to become a nonprofit working on affordable housing.

Erica Piedade and Carol Lewis, who co-chair the trust, thanked Ryan and the other Interfaith Housing board members for the generosity.

Book sale 

Amherst League of Women Voters Giant Book Sale begins Friday at the Fort River School gymnasium, 70 South East St.

The gently used books that have been donated by those in the community and sorted by volunteers are sold mostly for low prices, from 50 cents to $2, though there also will be rare books, coffee table and children’s books, DVDs and compact discs.

On the first day, the sale runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with Saturday and Sunday sales from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The sale continues Aug. 3 and 4, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with the final day Aug. 5, also known as Left Over Day, when what remains will be sold from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Jehovah’s Witnesses Convention

One of the largest Jehovah’s Witnesses conventions in the country, bringing 5,000 people from Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont and New Hampshire, is being held at the Mullins Center starting Friday.

The three-day event is titled “Declare the Good News!”

“We look forward to being encouraged by this year’s theme focusing on genuine good news,” local spokesman Don Lake said in a statement. “We warmly invite our neighbors to join us, confident that those who attend are certain to be refreshed.”

One couple expected to be present are Amherst residents Dr. Jon and Sharon Schiller. “We live in such a divided world,” Jon Schiller said. “Many are looking for a way to focus on positive things. That’s what my wife and I have found at our conventions.”

The event is free and open to the public, commencing at 9:20 a.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Mount Pollux benches

Amherst’s Conservation Department staff recently placed wooden benches at the top of Mount Pollux in South Amherst, where people have a 360-degree view of the surroundings from the glacier-formed drumlin.

Amherst resident Steve Locke volunteered his time to help town employees build the benches and install them near the peak.

Mount Pollux is a popular area for picnicking, exercising and viewing the Independence Day fireworks events and has also been a place for artists and art students to set up easels to paint.

In addition, scenes filmed at Mount Pollux were included in the motion picture “Janet Planet,” Annie Baker’s directorial debut that has been playing at Amherst Cinema, and recently the Conservation Commission approved use of the site for a small wedding and elopement ceremony. 

Composting workshop

“Let Compost Happen” is the title of a workshop on setting up an effective at-home compost system, being held at the Jones Library’s Woodbury Room Saturday at 10:30 a.m. 

Matthew Karas, conservation program manager for the Hampden-Hampshire Conservation District, will discuss the basics of residential composting, the different types of systems that are available, and what to do with finished compost.

With the proper system in place, composting food scraps and garden material can be turned into fertilizer and keeping biological material from entering landfills and producing methane.

Registration is encouraged and can be done by contacting the reference desk at 413-259-3096 or sending email to programs@joneslibrary.org.