Around Town

See Who Got Health Watertown Grants from the Community Foundation

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The Watertown Community Foundation sent the following announcement:

From indoor gym equipment for Watertown Head Start Program to keep pre-schoolers moving all year long to healthy lunches for vacation camps at the Boys and Girls Club leveling the field for all, The Watertown Community Foundation has announced the recipients of this year’s Healthy Watertown grants.  

“We are THRILLED to have received the Healthy Watertown Grant for the Watertown Boys and Girls Club. We have been hoping to do this initiative for years, and finally we will be able to offer healthy lunches during our vacation camps.” — Mary Kern WBGC

Seniors will have a chance to take Zen Art classes plus attend a summer supper club.  Firefighters will get Mental Health First Aid training through Wayside Youth & Multi Service Center. “Thanks so much for this award. We are very excited to be able to offer MHFA to the firefighters!” — Laura Kurman

Lt. Dan Unsworth will continue to help community members and their families cope with opioid addiction and challenges facing their families with the Free Community Narcan Program. Watertown For All Ages will begin their study on transportation needs for seniors and every senior in town will get a chance to find out how to cook and eat healthy with Seasoned, a new magazine from CHOP CHOP Magazine.

Charity

Some Watertown Organizations to Support on #GivingTuesday

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Giving Tuesday, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, kicks off the charitable giving season. This year it is Nov. 27, and if you want to give where you live here are a couple of options. A Watertown-based organization aiming to stop child abuse, a program at the Perkins School for the Blind, and the Watertown Boys & Girls Club are seeking donations during #GivingTuesday. Watertown Community Foundation
There is no better way to see the true impact of your donation than to give where you live.

Charity

Watertown Scouts Collected Hundreds of Bags of Groceries for Food Pantry

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What does the generosity of Watertown residents look like when combined with the hard work from scouts? It looks like 200 bags of groceries for families in need in Watertown. This was truly a group effort. Boy Scouts from Troop 30 teamed up with Cub Scouts from Pack 30 to participate in Scouting for Food, a nationwide program of the BSA. Working with Stop & Shop at 171 Watertown St., scouts asked store customers to donate items needed most by clients of the food pantry — peanut butter, rice, beans, jams and cleaning supplies — to fill the pantry’s shelves.

Charity

Grants from Tufts Health Plan Foundation Helps Children & Older Adults

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Twenty-seven local organizations each will receive a grant of up to $10,000 from Tufts Health Plan Foundation’s new Momentum Fund. The fund was established to foster new ideas and support cities and towns in their efforts to make their communities better places to grow up and grow old. 

“We developed the Momentum Fund to help smaller communities and organizations that want to do this work,” said Nora Moreno Cargie, president of Tufts Health Plan Foundation and vice president of corporate citizenship at Tufts Health Plan. “They are adopting more inclusive policies, building accessible parks and public spaces, and integrating age-friendly practices.”

The Momentum Fund is supporting 10 projects in Massachusetts, 10 in Rhode Island and 7 in New Hampshire. Each is community-led, addresses healthy aging and includes older people in the planning and implementation process. “Many New England communities recognize older people as tremendous assets,” said Phillip González, the Foundation’s senior program officer.

Charity

Tremedal Concert in Watertown Features the Music of Dillon Bustin

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The latest Tremedal Concert will feature The Songs of Dillon Bustin: As Performed by His Friends. 

The following information was provided by Tremedal Concerts:

Dillon Bustin is a songwriter, a playwright and a retired arts administrator. This concert, which brings together a host of his friends, folks who have recorded his songs over the years, is also a grateful tribute to the best kept secret in New England Folkdom. The sheer volume of Dillon’s prolific output, all produced in the background of long a successful career as an arts administrator with various organizations in the Boston area, most recently, a 10 year run with the Hibernian Hall in Roxbury. We are sort of bidding Dillon a bit of a farewell, as he and Martha have moved to Rockland, Maine … still, we hope there will be frequent sitings!!

Charity

Tickets Still Available for Watertown Rotary Club’s $10,000 Raffle

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The Rotary Club of Watertown is hosting a raffle where the first prize is $10,000 raffle, and tickets are still available. 

The drawing will be held at Donohue’s Bar & Grill, 87 Bigelow Ave., Watertown, on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018. The even runs from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., with hors d’ouevres and a cash bar. Each ticket costs $100, and only 300 will be sold. First prize $10,000, second prize $500 and third prize $200.

Charity

Tufts Health Plan Grants $25K to Local Groups, Including One Sending Care Packages to Troops

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Tufts Health Care Foundation provided the following information:

Five community organizations will receive grants as a result of a new program engaging Tufts Health Plan employees in grantmaking. Each of the company’s five business resource groups (BRGs) recommended an organization for a grant up to $5,000 from the Tufts Health Plan Foundation. 

“The Tufts Health Plan BRGs were established to create opportunities for education, mentoring and leadership, to support diverse communities through volunteering, and to foster a culture of respect and inclusion,” said Tufts Health Plan President and CEO Tom Croswell. “These grants are the result of a new collaboration between the Foundation and the BRGs that grew out of our desire to strengthen community connections.”

“The organizations recommended by the BRGs are aligned with their missions and present opportunities for the Foundation to support work important to employees,” said Phillip Gonzalez, the Foundation’s senior program officer. “Each business resource group took a unique approach and identified a process and focus for their community investments. They learned how difficult, and rewarding, these decisions can be.”

The organizations receiving the first-ever grants for this program include:

BAGLY, Inc. (Boston Alliance of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer Youth) Boston, Mass. 

Recommended by Prism, the LGBTQ and allies BRG
To support Health Education and Risk Reduction Team (HEARRT), a program that educates and trains LGBTQ+ youth about mental and physical health.