Brian Phillips Photography
From left, Emma Panaggio, Emma Griffith, Lily Griffith, Valentina Phillips show off the shirts celebrating the Watertown Community Foundations’ 15th Anniversary.
For 15 years the Watertown Community Foundation has given money and organized volunteer events to help the community, and Saturday the group will hold a celebration at the Town’s biggest gathering of the year — the Faire on the Square.
As in the past, the Foundation will have a booth at the Faire, but this year there will be even more activities, and prizes for lucky raffle winners, said WCF Executive Director Jan Singer. She hopes to see some familiar faces, and hopefully some new ones.
“We’ve been around for 15 years and for some we are still a well kept secret. We don’t want to be,” Singer said.
Representatives of WCF will be easy to spot at the Faire on the Square, because they will be wearing bright green T-shirts with the foundation’s slogan: Give Where You Live.
“The more people who know, the more people who hear about us, when it comes time to give they will think of us,” Singer said. “It is so great when you give where you live. You can see your donations in action and feel the energy.”
Brian Phillips Photography
Representatives from the Watertown Community Foundation will be wearing bright green shirts at the Faire on the Square, and signing people up for the raffle.
The Foundation has educational grants for programs outside the schools to create or continue programs. It also has institutional grants to support organizations central to the Watertown Community, including the Watertown Boys & Girls Club Mosesian Center for the Arts and the Wayside Multi-Service Center, to name a few.
This year, the Watertown Education Foundation merged with the Watertown Community Foundation. The WCF will continue award grants to teachers and others in the Watertown Public Schools. The Foundation will also take over the Ed Foundation’s annual fundraising events, including the Spelling Bee and the Trivia Night.
New Entertainment, Food and Drink Offerings Coming to 2018 Faire on the Square
Faire visitors can stop by the Watertown Community Foundation Booth to find out more about what the group is about, grab some sunglasses, bubbles, and also enter the free raffle. More than 50 local businesses have given items to help the WCF’s raffle at the Faire.
“People are so willing and ready to donate,” Singer said.
Every hour, 10 items will be raffled off at the Watertown Community Foundation booth, between the musical sets on the main stage.
There are a wide variety of raffle prizes: A kid’s cooking class at CHOP CHOP, an adult class at The Mosesian Center for the Arts; doggie daycare at Toureen; tickets for the Revels, New Rep, Apple Movie theater, and The New England Aquarium; gift certificates for Fastachi, Sevan, Liz’s Hair Salon, Ritcey East, The Boys and Girls Club, Artemis Yoga, and La Bodega; a night at the Westin and even a police escort in the cruiser to school!
Brian Phillips Photography
More than 50 local businesses donated prizes for the Watertown Community Foundation’s raffle at the Faire on the Square.
WCF representatives will be walking around signing people up for the raffle, which is free of charge, but you must be at least 18 years old to enter. Also, people can submit their names at the WCF booth or at a location near the entertainment stage, Singer said. People must be at the Faire to win, but not at the booth. Winners will be texted, Singer said.
Faire attendees can also commemorate the day with pictures with their family and friends taken in the Watertown Community Foundation’s photo booth.
The Faire on the Square will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 22, 2018 at Saltonstall Park (next to Town Hall). Find out more about the Watertown Community Foundation at www.watertownfoundation.org