Community Fund for Wellesley gives out $50k in grants to worthy nonprofits

Community Fund for Wellesley has awarded nearly $50K in grants this year via its CFFW endowed fund and the Al Robinson Fund for Arts to local nonprofits in health care, food insecurity, environmental protection, community building, education, and arts organizations.

Held at Papa Razzi on Thursday, the annual grant awards event drew a crowd of 75, which included donors, award recipients, and volunteers. It’s this group that board member Wendy Paul during opening remarks credited with helping the Community Fund for Wellesley effectively distribute funding. “You’re the folks who know about community need,” she said, “and those are really important people for us to be working with.”

This year’s round of recipients included five first-time grant awardees. Among them was the Kiwanis, which is using their grant funds for a pilot mental health program that focuses on the health and well-being of the community’s youth and their families. President of the organization (and a Wellesley Select Board member), Beth Sullivan Woods, spoke of “the incredible rise in anxiety, isolation, and mental health struggles in our youth,” and how caregivers need help to navigate the often-complicated mental health services realm.

Grant funding for Wellesley Theatre Project will help the arts organization fund a program formed to serve Wellesley’s elementary school-aged METCO students. Executive director of WTP, Hillary Drew, spoke of how participating students spend  one of their “stay days” learning the basics of acting, dance and music, in fun and engaging format. 

This endowed fund of the Community Foundation for MetroWest has awarded grants worth more than $760,000 since its founding in 2008.

Community Fund for Wellesley’s 2024 grant recipients