Around Town

24 Groups Receive Share of $75K from Watertown Community Foundation

By |

On June 2, the Watertown Community Foundation (WCF) held a reception for its 24 spring grantees at the Arsenal Center for the Arts where it distributed over $75,000. Since WCF’s founding in 2003, it has awarded over $725,000 in grants to nonprofits serving Watertown. At the event, WCF Board Co-President, David Siegel, introduced newly hired Executive Director, Jennie Bass. Then as he handed out the checks, outgoing Executive Director, Michael Schade, stated, “We are fortunate to have these outstanding organizations working to make Watertown a special town, and we are lucky our Community Foundation exists to help support them.”

All of the grants are funded from WCF’s Arsenal Education Income Fund. 13 Educational Program Grants totaling $22,943 were given to:

Cunniff Elementary School for an afterschool parent-child book club fostering reading for pleasure and academic success.

Around Town

Watertown Community Foundation Announces New Executive Director

By |

The Watertown Community Foundation is pleased to announce that Jennie Bass is its new Executive Director. Jennie has over a decade of professional experience in the non-profit sector, most recently at Project Bread, where she has helped towns and cities across the state better use federal nutrition programs by training school administrators and community groups on issues of food insecurity, healthy school meals and federal nutrition assistance. She directed Project Bread’s Child Nutrition Outreach Program and was most recently the Director of Foundation Relations. Jennie has also done workforce development, helping community colleges, hospitals and health care companies provide training programs and growth opportunities for employees. She has a Master’s of Science in Nutrition and a Master’s in Public Health from Tufts and speaks Spanish.

Charity

Still Time to Sign Up for Watertown Community Foundation’s Volunteer Day

By |

The Watertown Community Foundation is preparing for the 2016 Watertown Helps Out day where people celebrate the town’s spirit by giving back. The foundation sent out the following announcement:

Join us on Saturday, May 7th for this year’s Watertown Helps Out: A Volunteer Day. Watertown Helps Out celebrates Watertown’s vibrant community spirit, and we encourage you to spend a few hours on May 7 giving back to our community. We hope to see you – come volunteer for a few hours with your family, a friend, or come and make new friends! Choose from many volunteer opportunities, such as:

Inventory library items and clean equipment at the Watertown Middle School
Clean up Whitney Hill, Fillipello Park and other public spaces
Garden, clean up and paint at the Watertown Boys & Girls Club
Spring clean at Gore Place
Plus options at Watertown Family Network, the Historical Society of Watertown, the Watertown Public Library and more…

Learn about all of the volunteer opportunities and register at: http://www.watertownfoundation.org/who2016

Before volunteering, come to the kickoff breakfast from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. on May 7th at The Arsenal Project at 485 Arsenal Street (inside, in front of Old Navy and Dunkin’ Donuts) to pick up your T-shirt and connect with other volunteers.

Around Town

Watertown Community Foundation Looking for New Executive Director, See the Job Description

By |

After a dozen years of operation, with steadily increased grant making, fundraising and programmatic impact, the community foundation for the Commonwealth’s fastest growing town is seeking an Executive Director (ED), the WCF board announced. During a period of unprecedented population, residential and commercial growth in the community, combined with increased demographic changes, this part-
time position offers the opportunity for more than full time impact in WCF’s core areas of focus: education, health, arts and the environment. In partnership with an active and engaged 16 member board, the next ED will be the face of the foremost philanthropy in this dynamic and diverse community, and will shape its impact at a critical time. Position Description: The ED is responsible, under the Board’s direction, for the strategic growth and ongoing operations of the Foundation, in support of the WCF mission. This includes strategic planning concerning areas of WCF’s community awareness and involvement (visibility), ensuring impact through grant-making and other programs (impact), fundraising (development), and conducting core administrative functions (operations).

Around Town

Michael Schade Stepping Down from Community Foundation, New Directer Sought

By |

In the six years that the Watertown Community Foundation has been lead by Michael Schade, the non-profit has more than doubled the amount of grant money awarded and expanded the areas in which the money impacts. This week Schade announced he will be stepping down as executive director in June. “It has been an honor and privilege to partner with WCF’s dedicated volunteer Board of Directors on many endeavors to enhance the quality of life in Watertown,” Schade said. “Now, I am looking for the right opportunity to bring my management skills and creative experience to another organization or business in order to improve their results.”

Before becoming Executive Director, Schade spent 25 years designing and managing computer-based training programs and related projects for companies such as Xerox, General Motors, IBM, State Farm Insurance and Otis Elevator-Europe. He was also a public school teacher in Hawaii and Massachusetts.

Around Town

Watertown Community Foundation Seeks Paid High School Summer Interns

By |

Again this summer, the Watertown Community Foundation (WCF) is providing seven high school students who live in Watertown with the opportunity to have a paid summer internship with a local company or organization of their choice. This should help open doors for students to pursue opportunities with a variety of businesses, organizations, or agencies. It is a great way for high school kids to explore a career field of interest. Why?: Gain work experience, explore a potential career field, build your resume, network, make money, and have fun! What is the commitment?: A minimum of 20 hours per week for 6 weeks (more is OK).

Charity

Watertown Community Foundation Accepting Applications for Spring Grants

By |

The Watertown Community Foundation (WCF) announces two Spring 2016 grant programs to support local nonprofits, programs and projects. Approximately $70,000 will be distributed. One: WCF’s Educational Program will award grants designed to help organizations that serve Watertown develop new or continue existing programs with an educational focus, broadly defined. Two: WCF’s Institutional Support is designed to help institutions central to the Watertown community by providing funds to maintain critical programming and retain paid staff. Grants under this program impose neither restrictions on the use of funds nor any program requirements.

Around Town

Watertown Community Foundation Hands out $12K in Health Grants

By |

More than $12,000 in grants went to organizations working to make Watertown a healthier place, and will fund efforts to stop substance abuse, a school gardening program and more

The Watertown Community Foundation (WCF) Board of Directors has awarded $12,550 in “Healthy Watertown” grants funded by Tufts Health Plan Foundation to the following organizations serving Watertown. Improbable Players: A grant to continue alcohol and drug abuse prevention education for the 6th grade students at Watertown Middle School. Watertown Health Department and Live Well Watertown: A grant to help implement an after school wellness program that prepares high school students to educate and empower middle school students to make healthy lifestyle choices when enter high school. Watertown Health Department and Watertown Police Department: A grant to help fund a substance abuse task force coordinator to raise awareness of substance use disorder in the community and further goals of prevention and education, and support, intervention, treatment and recovery. Watertown High School Counseling and Academic Program: A grant for transportation so WHS students with emotional and behavioral disabilities can attend tours at two nearby colleges.