Charity

See Photos from the Fifth Annual Watertown Helps Out Day of Service

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Three hundred people came out on Saturday to volunteer at 22 locations during the fifth annual Watertown Helps Out! State Sen. Will Brownsberger and State Rep. Jonathan Hecht helped kick off Watertown’s annual townwide day of service at Hosmer Elementary School, then people went to work on their project. Community non-profits identify projects they need done. This year five new projects were added. The projects included gardening and yard work, assembling raised beds, cleaning trash from bicycle paths and parks or washing furniture in a community center.

Charity

It’s Not Too Late to Sign Up for the Watertown Helps Out Day of Service

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There’s still time to sign up to volunteer in this Saturday’s Watertown Helps Out event, hosted by Watertown Community Foundation. Watertown Helps Out!, the fifth annual Community Day of Service, kicks off Saturday, May 5, 8:30 a.m. at the Hosmer School Cafeteria. Join us on Saturday, May 5, 8:30-9:30 a.m. at the Hosmer School Cafeteria for light refreshments. Then get a T-shirt and head out to your chosen project! Projects can be anything from gardening and yard work, assembling raised beds, cleaning trash from bicycle paths and parks or washing furniture in a community center. Most run from 10:00 a.m. to mid-afternoon, and many can be done for as little as an hour.

Charity

Volunteers Sought for the Fifth Annual Watertown Helps Out Day

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Watertown Helps Out! The fifth annual Community Day of Service kicks off Saturday, May 5, 8:30 a.m. at the Hosmer School Cafeteria. Watertown Community Foundation provided the following announcement:

How do you give back to the community? Where are organizations that need your help? Are there opportunities for your family to serve? In 2014, the Watertown Community Foundation created a town wide day of service, Watertown Helps Out, to fill this need. This year, the fifth annual Watertown Helps Out day of community service runs Saturday, May 5. Starting at 8:30 a.m., join special guest volunteers State Sen. Will Brownsberger and State Rep. Jonathan Hecht as they help us kick off our Fifth Anniversary with light refreshments at the Hosmer School Cafeteria. It’s free, open to all, and there are family-friendly projects for volunteers of all ages.

Charity

Watertown Community Foundation Accepting Applications for Two Grant Programs

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The Watertown Community Foundation (WCF) announced two Spring 2018 grant programs to support local nonprofits, programs and projects. Approximately $55,000 will be distributed. One: WCF’s Program Grants will award grants designed to help organizations that serve Watertown develop new or continue existing programs with an educational focus (broadly defined). These are programs that operate outside of the Watertown’s public schools. Two: WCF’s Institutional Grants are designed to help institutions central to the Watertown community by providing funds to maintain critical programming and retain paid staff.

Around Town

New Executive Director of Watertown Community Foundation Appointed

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The Watertown Community Foundation is pleased to announce the appointment of Jan Craige Singer as its new Executive Director. The Foundation sent out the following announcement:

Jan brings more than two decades of management and entrepreneurial experience in digital media and marketing. She is a passionate believer in the power of small groups of people to build and sustain healthy, vibrant communities. Colleagues describe her as someone who is motivated, motivational, optimistic, and someone who thinks outside the box. A 25-year resident of Watertown, Jan combined her creative and business acumen as president and managing partner of Big Blue Dot, a Watertown-based boutique brand strategy, design, and marketing agency for kids and families, building an award-winning team serving a client list which included USAA, Disney, P & G, and Unilever.

Around Town

Community Foundation Awards Healthy Watertown Grants to 5 Local Groups

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The Watertown Community Foundation announced it has awarded $8,600 to five community organizations in December 2017 through its Healthy Watertown grant program. These funded everything from a new freezer and display tables for the food pantry to taxi rides for participants in the Senior Center’s events and Narcan for the Watertown Police Department to distribute. “Health concerns virtually every aspect of our lives, from nutrition and positive eating choices, to substance use and abuse, to social engagement as we age. These grants reflect that breadth of issues, and we’re thrilled to be able to make them for the fifth year,” said co-Vice President Emily Barclay. In addition to the Watertown Food Pantry, the Watertown Senior Center and the Watertown Police Department, recipients also included the W.A.T.E.R.Town Task Force for Substance Abuse Disorder and Live Well Watertown.

Around Town

Watertown Community Foundation Seeks Applications for Health, School Grants

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The Watertown Community Foundation (WCF) is pleased to announce that we are
accepting applications for two programs: the Healthy Watertown Grants program and the School Program Grants (offered in conjunction with the Watertown Education Foundation). Healthy Watertown Grants

WCF has $10,000 in available grant money for the Healthy Watertown program. We are looking to support new or existing health focused programs that serve Watertown residents. Examples of programs eligible for Healthy Watertown Grants include:
• Food pantry programs or equipment needs
• Programs/services fostering healthy aging
• Support programs for care-givers
• Nutrition and/or meals programs for seniors
• Programs combating obesity
• Programs designed to help substance abusers become or remain “clean”
• Health-related programs for infants and their families
• Supplies/tools for community gardens
Health programs that serve students in Watertown’s public schools should apply to the School-based grant program. Healthy Watertown Grant proposals are due: November 1, 2017.

Around Town

New Local Cable Show Puts Spotlight on Groups Making a Difference in Watertown

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A new show debuted on Watertown Cable on Thursday called Inside Watertown hosted by longtime local business and community leader Paul Airasian and your’s truly, Charlie Breitrose, editor of Watertown News. Paul and I have worked together a number of times beginning when I was editor of Watertown Patch and he was hosting Watertown Business Report on WCA-TV. That collaboration has continued, most recently when I helped in the offices of the Watertown-Belmont Chamber of Commerce during Paul’s time as executive director. When he moved on from the chamber, we looked around for other ways to work together and he came up with the idea of a local cable show. I had been a guest on Paul’s previous show, but we wanted to look at Watertown from a broader perspective.