Charity

Community Foundation Awards $74K in Grants to Local Groups

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On June 16, at a reception for its 25 spring grantees, the Watertown Community Foundation (WCF) celebrated by distributing checks totaling $74,050.  In the twelve years since WCF was founded, WCF has awarded over $600,000 in grants to organizations serving Watertown. WCF Grant Committee Co-Chair, Rob Kelly, stated, “The Foundation is extremely happy to be able to recognize and financially support the outstanding contributions that these programs and organizations make to our vibrant community.”

All of the grants are funded from WCF’s Arsenal Education Income Fund. 13 Educational Program Grants totaling $23,550 were given to:

Friends of Watertown Music to ensure that instruments are available for Watertown’s free instruction program that starts in fourth grade. Historical Society of Watertown to publish a Watertown self-guided bicycle tour booklet, “Wheels Along the River.”
Improbable Players to present six theater workshops about substance abuse prevention and healthy choices for Watertown Middle School eighth graders. Perkins School for the Blind for their Watertown newspaper accessibility project.

Charity

Local Foundation Awards Grant to Help Music in Watertown Schools

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The Watertown Community Foundation awarded a grant to help the music program in the Watertown Public Schools. The Friends of Watertown Music announced this week that they were awarded one of the Watertown Community Foundation’s 2015 Educational Program Grants. “Our $2,250 grant will be used to purchase musical instruments and repair existing instruments so that more children will be able to participate in the excellent instrument program which is offered for free to all students in Watertown’s public schools, starting in fourth grade,” the Friends said in an announcement. Find out more about Watertown Community Foundation on their Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/WatertownCommunityFoundation – or visit the Watertown Community Foundation’s website www.watertownfoundation.org.

Charity

Watertown Woman Raising Money for Alzheimer’s Awareness

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Judy Johanson, of Watertown is rallying her team, This is Our Life, to raise funds and awareness for an Alzheimer’s Association event called The Longest Day on June 21, 2015. The Longest Day, focused on the summer solstice was created in recognition of the long days that are part of living with Alzheimer’s disease, according to the announcement from the Alzheimer’s Association. Johanson’s husband Steve was diagnosed with younger-onset Alzheimer’s just prior to his 59th birthday. Judy and Steve had previously reached out to the Alzheimer’s Association, Massachusetts/New Hampshire Chapter when his mother was diagnosed in her late 70s. The family used many of the free support services offered to families such as care consultation to help manage care for Steve’s mother.

Charity

Auction Raises More Than $50,000 for Watertown Boys & Girls Club

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The Watertown Boys and Girls Club held its Annual Spring Auction on Thursday, May 7 at the Oakley Country Club. Over 150 Club supporters were in attendance for the fundraiser featuring a live and silent auction. The event raised over $50,000 for our organization including $13,000 in camp scholarships. These funds are used to help defray the cost of attending our Summer Adventure Program at Camp Hale in Westwood, for kids whose families might otherwise not be able to afford it. “We wish to thank all our sponsors and guests for their support!

Business

Vote to Help Your Favorite Local Charity Win a Share of $30,000

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The Belmont Savings Bank Foundation today announced the next round of a $30,000 grant competition for its charitable giving initiative in Watertown. Previously, residents nominated local charities that are now eligible for a donation based on voting, according to an announcement from the bank. Through the initiative, the Belmont Savings Bank Foundation will invest $10,000 into three programs located in Watertown. The voting deadline is June 15, 2015. 

All approved organizations have a 20-day period to drive voting which is taking place on the Foundation website. During the initial round, Watertown charitable organizations had until May 20th to submit an application after being nominated.

Charity

Watertown Eighth-Grader Met the Governor, Ran Kids Clothing Drive

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Eighth-grader Honor Petrie was chosen to represent all of Watertown Middle School in a statewide event – Project 351 – where she got to meet Gov. Charlie Baker. This spring, she organized a clothing drive at the school that collected dozens of bags of clothes to give to Cradles to Crayons, a children’s charity. 

Watertown News asked Petrie about her experiences as Watertown’s ambassador to Project 351 and her clothing drive. Q: How were you chosen to represent Watertown Middle School for Project 351, and why did you want to become an Ambassador? A: I hadn’t ever heard of Project 351 until I was called down to the office one day at school, and my principal (Mr. Carter) explained to me what Project 351 is, and why I was chosen to be Ambassador. I was really surprised and so excited.

Charity

Relay for Life Will Welcome Inspiration for a Hit Book and Movie

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Attendees of the Relay for Life in Watertown will hear from the family that inspired the bestselling book and hit movie “The Fault in Our Stars.” This year, the Relay for Life Watertown Newton Waltham will be held at Victory Field in Watertown on May 30 from 3 p.m. to 10 a.m. on June 1. During the event’s Luminaria Ceremony, which honors and remembers those lost to cancer, at approximately 9 p.m., guest speaker Lori Earl, the mother of a young cancer patient whose battle with the disease inspired the powerful 2014 romantic drama “The Fault in Our Stars,” will address the crowd and share her personal story, according to an announcement from the American Cancer Society. Sign up to participate in the Relay for Life or donate by clicking here.

Charity

Watertown Man Raising Money to Help People in His Village in Nepal

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A Watertown man is looking to his neighbors in his current hometown to help neighbors in the village where he grew up that suffered major damage in the earthquake that hit Nepal. 

The 7.8 magnitude earthquake has killed more than 7,000 people, injured 14,000 and left much of the Himalayan nation devastated. The United Nations estimates that 300,000 homes were destroyed in the quake. Watertown resident Samrat Sengupta has started a GoFundMe.com fundraiser to help his village, Setidovan, Shyangja – located about 140 miles outside of Kathmandu. “There has been no news coverage or any media presence in my village because it is remote and it is small,” Sengupta wrote on his page. “Due to the damages to the roads and landslides, my village has not had access to any medical or housing assistance.