Around Town

Tufts Health Plan Foundation Awards Nearly $1.9 Million in Grants

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Tufts Health Plan Foundation today announced new community investments reflecting a commitment to a community approach for making our cities and towns great places to grow up and grow old. The nearly $1.9 million supports 15 nonprofit organizations working in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. 

“Building communities that are responsive to the needs of older people is essential as our society ages,” said Thomas P. O’Neill, III, chair of the Tufts Health Plan Foundation board of directors. “Our investments support community-based organizations in their efforts to implement age-friendly policies and practices.” 

The new grants reflect a trend of increased regional and local efforts to create age- and dementia-friendly communities, and to re-imagine the relationship to health care and community. The initiatives promote cross-sector collaboration, expand engagement of older people, advance improvements to support the health and wellbeing of older people, and address the social determinants of health. 

“Each community has its own unique needs. Tufts Health Plan Foundation focuses resources in communities that want to achieve age-friendly practices that are relevant, focus on under-represented communities and engage older people in the process,” said Nora Moreno Cargie, president of the Tufts Health Plan Foundation and vice president of corporate citizenship for Tufts Health Plan.

Around Town

Watertown Boys & Girls Club Raising Funds to Send Kids to Summer Camp

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Watertown Boys & Girls Club campers hit the beach at Camp Hale, the club’s summer camp. The Watertown Boys & Girls Club has started a fund raising effort to make sure that all youth in the community will be able to attend summer camp. The Boys & Girls Club sent out the following information:

Give the gift of camp to a child in need. Be part of building great futures. Many of the youth who attend Watertown Boys & Girls Club for after-school programs, swim lessons, league sports teams, school vacation programs and summer camp, depends on the financial aid provided by the Club to be able to participate in these important youth experiences.

Charity

Local Stars Wow the Audience at the 2019 Dancing with the Watertown Stars

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Kellie Spillane, a Watertown Middle School teacher, and Matt Davis perform a West Coast Swing during the 2019 Dancing with the Watertown Stars. Ten competitors hit the dance floor at the Hellenic Cultural Center Friday night, but only one could take home the 2019 Dancing with the Watertown Stars trophy. The amateur dancers came from a variety of places, whether born and bred town residents, working for a business or department in Watertown, or being a Watertown elected official. Each teamed up with one of the three professional dancers to put together his or her routine. Watertown teacher Chad Foster lifts Lilia Weisfeldt during his routine at the Dancing with the Watertown Stars.

Around Town

Marshall Home Fund Will Present Grants to Dozens of Local Groups

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The following information was provided by Marshall Home Fund:

Please join the Marshall Home Fund at its annual Program Grant Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, May 22, 3:30-5:00 pm at the Watertown Public Library. The MHF will distribute a total of $75,000 to the following organizations for programs that will benefit Watertown’s older adults: Armenian Relief Society, Carroll Center, Lexington Chamber Music Center (for concerts in Watertown), Mass Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, MetroWest Community Development, Mosesian Center for Arts, New Repertory Theater, Perkins School for the Blind, Project Literacy, Springwell, Watertown Council on Aging, Watertown Families Together, Watertown Farmer’s Market, Watertown Fire Department, Watertown Health Department, and Wayside Youth and Family Support. Established in 2005, the Marshall Home Fund is a nonprofit, community-based charitable foundation dedicated to serving Watertown’s older adult population. In addition to its annual program grant awards, MHF also provides financial assistance to older adults with emergency needs. These individuals must be referred to MHF by local agencies, town officials, or organizations.

Charity

Volunteers Wanted for Annual Watertown Helps Out Day

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Three hundred people came out for the fifth annual Watertown Helps Out! The sixth annual Watertown Helps Out will be held on Saturday, May 4, 2019, and the Watertown Community Foundation is seeking volunteers

On that day, volunteers will head to locations around town to do work with local non-profit groups on projects in the community. Volunteers are needed at First Parish Watertown, Metro West Collaborative Development, Mosesian Center for the Arts, Asperger/Autism Network, Gore Place, and Wayside Youth and Family Support Network

To sign up click here: https://www.watertownfoundation.org/watertown-helps-out-2019/

Charity

Get a Massage and Help Doctors Without Borders in Yemen

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The following announcement came from the event organizers:

It started with a desire to help the people of Yemen who according tothe United Nations, are currently enduring the worst humanitariancrisis on the planet.  From there it grew into a collaborative effortrevealing the true kindness and common humanity of the people ofWatertown. Six local massage therapists and Reiki practitioners have come together to donate their therapeutic skills to host a fundraiser called MASSAGE AID FOR YEMEN with all the proceeds going to Doctors Without Borders earmarked for Yemen. The First Parish Church of Watertown has graciously donated the space.  Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice & the Environment, World In Watertown and The Survival Education Fund, Inc.  are co-sponsoring the event and helping to advertise it through their newsletters, social medial accounts and at their events. Many local small businesses, churches and non-profits have enthusiastically agreed to post fliers for the event in their windows or on their community bulletin boards and Trader Joe’s in Allston has generously offered to donate food for the event. There are many heartwarming stories about the response this event isgenerating throughout Watertown.

Charity

Concert Featuring Music of Strong Women Will Raise Money to Fight Lung Cancer

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The Follen Angels will perform at Upstage Lung Cancer’s fund raiser at the Mosesian Center for the Arts. The following announcement was provided by Upstage Lung Cancer:

Upstage Lung Cancer (ULC), a nonprofit celebrating a decade of raising awareness in the fight against lung cancer through the performing arts, presents a one night only concert benefit Here’s to the Ladies! From Lady Day to Lady Gaga on Thursday, April 18, 7:30 p.m. at the Mosesian Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal Street, Watertown. 

Presented in partnership with the Addario Lung Cancer Foundation, all proceeds from the performance support the critically important cause of early lung cancer detection research. 

A spectacular evening of riveting music, Here’s to the Ladies! From Lady Day to Lady Gaga features the unforgettable music of exceptional female performing artists known for their gifts of song and courage. Enjoy selections from jazz standard icon Billie Holiday (known as Lady Day) to modern pop superstar Lady Gaga.