Watertown News (https://www.watertownmanews.com/category/more/charity/page/19/)
The Watertown Community Foundation invites you to join the 9th annual Town-wide Spelling Bee. The Spelling Bee is open to all elementary school students in grades 1-5. Online registration is open now by going to http://goo.gl/MnQh3M. Tickets for raffles or T-shirts can also be purchased online at the same site. Raffles include an Amazon Fire and Bose wireless speakers.
Kallet, Epstein and Cicone will perform on March 9 in Watertown. The trio of Cindy Kallet, Ellen Epstein and Michael Cicone will perform in Watertown in the latest Tremedal Concert. The concert will be at the First Parish Church, 35 Church St. in Watertown on Saturday, March 9, at 8 p.m. Tickets have sold out. Organizers of the concert describe the group as:
Cindy Kallet, Ellen Epstein and Michael Cicone have had the pleasure of performing together in concerts, coffeehouses, and festivals throughout New England since 1981.
Eric Greene, who started An Eye at a Time, and a 75-year-old goat herder getting his first pair of glasses. The son of a Watertown optometrist has set up a charity to bring eye care and eyeglasses to areas of the world where they lack such care. Eric Greene founded An Eye at a Time to bring free eye care clinics and brings in volunteer eye care professionals, examination equipment, and glasses to people around the world. He started it when he was an optometric assistant at his father’s (Martin Greene) office, Greene and Greene Optometry in Watertown. Greene has started a GoFundMe.com site to raise money for his effort.
The following announcement was provided by Watertown Savings Bank:
On Tuesday, March 26 Watertown Savings Bank (WSB) will distribute $75,000 to the 28 local community organizations chosen by their its banking customers, in the bank’s 23rd Annual Customer Choice Awards. “Our Customer Choice Awards program is one of which we are particularly proud,” said President and CEO Brett Dean. “The list of winners reflects the important work being done by non-profit organizations throughout the communities we serve.”
Dollars to be awarded are based on the number of votes each organization received. With a maximum amount of $3,500, and this year’s top vote-getter receiving $5,000, all organizations who received one percent of the total number of votes are being awarded funds. All organizations that received one percent of the total number of votes are being awarded funds.
Watertown’s John Airasian will run the Boston Marathon this year, his first full marathon, to raise money for Boston Children’s Hospital. A Watertown man has decided to run the Boston Marathon for the first time to raise money for the hospital that cared for his young son when he needed surgery. John Airasian has pledged to raise $10,000 for Boston Children’s Hospital, and hopes to surpass that amount. He wants to help the people who helped his son. “A few years back, my son Michael was admitted into Children’s Hospital to have an internal cyst removed from his throat and I was able to witness the care that all the Doctor’s, Nurses and Staff at BCH give,” Airasian said.
The Belmont-Watertown United Methodist Church will host Hearts for Homes: An Evening of Music and Refreshments on Saturday, Feb. 9 at 7 p.m.
The event will raise money for the New England Justice for Our Neighbors, a group that supports clinics that provide free and quality legal services to low income immigrants. The suggested donation for the event is $15. Heart for Homes will take place at the Belmont-Watertown United Methodist Church, Watertown Campus at 80 Mt. Auburn St., Watertown.
Professional Dental Image provides dental care for people who cannot afford it each month. A Watertown dental practice has started providing free dental care for people in the community who cannot afford it. Professional Dental Image in East Watertown provides free dental care to people with urgent need and who cannot afford to pay for the work, said Dr. M. Zakkoom, who runs the practice with his dental partner Dr. M. Kamel. “We wanted to do it to give back to the community,” Zakkoom said. “Every first Thursday of the month we fit people in with our regular appointments.
The Watertown Public Schools PTOs, the Watertown Police and local businesses have teamed up to collect donations for food pantries in town after hearing about the need due to the Federal Government shutdown. Donations of non-perishable and non-expired food are being collected at several locations around town. The drive started after people in town heard about the recent increase in use of food pantries, said Lauren Coughlin Unsworth, one of the organizers. “The idea came up when we heard that the government shutdown was creating a larger demand our local pantries and that they had a great need for donations,”
Coughlin Unsworth is on the Lowell School PTO as well as the board of the Watertown Community Foundation and she teamed up with Watertown resident and owner of Get Lively, Jan Taylor. Taylor approached local businesses along with the Rotary Club of Watertown, and Coughlin Unsworth used her contacts in the schools.