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Wellesley Service League’s Centennial Youth Service Award app deadline is 3/31/21

February 14, 2021 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

Wellesley Service LeagueThe Wellesley Service League (WSL), a non-profit service organization with a mission to serve the needs of the Wellesley community, is accepting applications for its annual Centennial Youth Service Award.

Applicants should live in Wellesley or attend Wellesley High School; expect to complete their senior year in high school in spring 2021; and have demonstrated unusual dedication and selflessness in a volunteer capacity. Ideally, this volunteer service will have been performed in the local community.

Recipients will each receive a $1,500 award from Wellesley Service League, and their names will be engraved on a permanent plaque that hangs in the Wellesley Community Center.

Access the Wellesley Youth Service Award application here.

Email the completed application and any questions to: Kimberley Moldaver-Carr, immediate past president, Wellesley Service League, at [email protected].

The application deadline for the Centennial Youth Service Award is March 31, 2021. Please note that children of active WSL members or those of WSL executive board members are ineligible to apply.

More on the Wellesley Service League

The Wellesley Service League (WSL) has presented the annual Centennial Youth Service Award for 36 years. The mission of the WSL is to recognize outstanding volunteer service among our youth and encourage the spirit of volunteerism within the community.

Find more information here about the Wellesley Service League‘s community partnerships; how to join; and the history of 90+ year-old service organization.


  • Thank you Swellesley Report supporters & on to Year Sweet 16
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Filed Under: Clubs, Fundraising, Volunteering

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Wellesley Council on Aging seeks volunteers to help seniors register for COVID-19 vaccines

January 29, 2021 by admin Leave a Comment

The Wellesley Council on Aging continues to help seniors register for COVID-19 vaccines, and is welcoming more volunteers to assist in this effort. People aged 75+ are now eligible to register for vaccinations to be administered beginning on Feb. 1.

The Commonwealth has a map that shows where you can register for vaccinations, though demand for the vaccine is outstripping supply, so appointment openings can be hard to come by and you might need to try numerous times and locations. The town’s Health Department is hoping to offer clinics of its own, but first needs to get a fresh supply of vaccines.

For those needing assistance making registrations, the Council on Aging is offering help. Please keep in mind that it may be a several days before you hear from a volunteer, but if you would like to be added to the list for assistance, please send email to [email protected] or call us at (781) 235-3961.

The COA has more than a dozen volunteers working on this and could use more. If you are able to navigate the computer system and would like to help those who cannot or need assistance, please contact the COA office and its volunteer coordinator can get you signed up and trained.  Email the COA here.


  • Thank you Swellesley Report supporters & on to Year Sweet 16
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Filed Under: COVID-19, Health, Senior citizens, Volunteering

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MLK Day 2021 events schedule—Wellesley, Massachusetts

January 17, 2021 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

World of WellesleyMLK Day, World of Wellesley invites everyone to its Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day community events, which will this year take place virtually on Monday, Jan. 18.

The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Committee will use the pandemic as an opportunity to bring the community together to not only talk about the phenomenal legacy of Dr. King, but to also engage in a series of virtual events focused on “Good Trouble: More Than Just a Day—A Call to Action.”

Schedule of Jan. 18, 2021 MLK Day events:

Good Trouble Virtual “Breakfast:” 8:30am – 10am

Good Trouble: Art Workshop,  Grades K-7, 12:30 – 1:30pm
Student art will later be displayed at the Wellesley Public Library.

Good Trouble: Book Group, Grades 8-12 – 1:30pm – 2:30pm
Book groups will be facilitated by Wellesley Public School Students and focus on a short piece from Sterling Hayden’s Wanderer.

Family Story Time: Family event – all ages 2:30pm – 3:10pm
Children and families are invited to listen together to the story of Vitamin D and Me – How Humans Outsmarted the Sun, an amazing story of how and why human beings have different color skin tones.

Register for events here.

MORE:

Martin Luther King Jr. Day, 2020

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Filed Under: Education, Embracing diversity, History, Volunteering

Little Arnie's

Wellesley Hills Junior Women’s Club grant applications due Feb. 1, 2021

January 6, 2021 by admin Leave a Comment

The Wellesley Hills Junior Women’s Club (WHJWC) grant applications will close on Feb. 1, 2021. The Club awarded grants of over $60,000 in 2020, focusing on the needs of vulnerable populations during the coronavirus pandemic.

The 2021 Wellesley Hills Junior Women’s Club grant application is available here. Following the grant review process, applicants will receive written notification of the committee’s decision by the end of May 2021, regardless of whether they are awarded a grant or not. Particular emphasis is placed on those programs that have a significant impact on the Wellesley community.

If you have any questions about the Grant Program, please contact the WHJWC at:  [email protected]

Applications must be received or postmarked by Feb. 1, 2021.

Here are some examples of grants awarded by the WHJWC:

[Read more…]

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Filed Under: Clubs, Fundraising, Volunteering

Martin Luther King Day 2021 activities scheduled in Wellesley, Massachusetts

January 5, 2021 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

World of Wellesley invites everyone to its Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day community events, which will this year take place virtually on Monday, Jan. 18.

MLK Day, Wellesley
Members from the WHS Cheer Team were on hand in 2020 to celebrate MLK Day with dance.

The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Committee will use the pandemic as an opportunity to bring the community together to not only talk about the phenomenal legacy of Dr. King, but to also engage in a series of virtual events focused on “Good Trouble: More Than Just a Day—A Call to Action.”

Schedule of Jan. 18, 2021 MLK Day events:

Good Trouble Virtual “Breakfast:” 8:30am – 10am

Good Trouble: Art Workshop,  Grades K-7, 12:30 – 1:30pm
Student art will later be displayed at the Wellesley Public Library.

Good Trouble: Book Group, Grades 8-12 – 1:30pm – 2:30pm
Book groups will be facilitated by Wellesley Public School Students and focus on a short piece from Sterling Hayden’s Wanderer.

Family Story Time: Family event – all ages 2:30pm – 3:10pm
Children and families are invited to listen together to the story of Vitamin D and Me – How Humans Outsmarted the Sun, an amazing story of how and why human beings have different color skin tones.

RSVP here.

What a difference a year makes

This time last year the WOW-sponsored MLK Day Breakfast at Wellesley College received extensive media coverage. The breakfast at Alumnae Hall was the place to be to honor King, the late civil rights activist who  in the 1950s and 1960 led non-violent protests to demand the rights of African Americans.

Approximately 200 Wellesley community members attended the 2020 event including Wellesley College President Paula Johnson; Massachusetts State Senator Becca Rausch; Massachusetts State Representative Alice Peisch; all five members of the Wellesley Board of Selectmen; the chiefs of both the Wellesley’s Fire and Police departments; and many others.

[Read more…]

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Filed Under: Embracing diversity, Holidays, Volunteering

Village Table in Wellesley is a loaves-and-fishes story

December 22, 2020 by Deborah Brown 2 Comments

In the basement of an historic Wellesley church that can trace its history back to Puritan times, a modern and spacious industrial kitchen hums with activity. Volunteers, masked up and socially distant, work together under the direction of Gary Arthur, a Wellesley Village Church member with 17 years’ experience managing food services at large industrial kitchens. Like a well-oiled machine, group members work at their stations to prepare and package hundreds of healthy and delicious meals that will be distributed to food insecure recipients in locations from Wellesley to the Greater Boston area.

Village Table, Wellesley
Village Table volunteers put together meals in Wellesley Village Church’s commercial kitchen. Photo credit: GA

The feeding program is called “Village Table” at Wellesley Village Church, and it was started in the church’s fully licensed commercial kitchen in response to the rise in food insecurity during the coronavirus pandemic. “People are hungry,” Arthur says, “and they’re getting in food lines. Food insecurity is right at the top of the list of problems for so many. But we can do something about it.”

It’s been a pretty big something. Already over 1,000 meals per month are going out the door. Included in that number are ongoing donations to the Community Fridges program in Jamaica Plain, Dorchester, and Roslindale; Family Promise Metrowest; Food for Free in Cambridge; A Place to Turn in Natick; and food pantries both here in Wellesley and beyond.

In addition, over Thanksgiving a group sponsored and delivered hot meals, clothing, and personal items to over 300 people on “Methadone Mile” in Boston, a one-mile stretch of Massachusetts Avenue. There, volunteers served those struggling with problems that may include nutritional deficit and/or hunger; addiction; being underhoused; loss of community of origin; and mental illness.

Village Table, Wellesley
Teriyaki chicken skewers, prepped for inclusion in Village Table meals. Photo credit, GA

On a mission

Essential to the mission of Village Table is maintaining the dignity of every individual. “We don’t want anyone to feel underprivileged or feel like they have to self-identify as needy. We really try to minimize shame,” Arthur says. It’s all about looking at food need through a lens of community. If one person benefits from food security, that doesn’t mean that person is unaffected by the food insecurity of others. “Need is something that affects the entire community,” he says.

To that end, Village Table food is anything but hastily slapped-together rations. Meals are nutritious and delicious, prepped and packaged with love by volunteers committed to the goal of helping others. Teriyaki chicken skewers on udon noodle salad is one example of the kind of restaurant-quality meals Village Table provides. Roasted lemon chicken, with simmered farro and vegetables is another. Meals are put together in two separate 3-hour cooking sessions, then packaged for delivery in a third session. Distribution is handled by a combination of Wellesley volunteers  and those from the Greater Boston community who load up their vehicles and shepherd the meals out to where they’re needed. We’re talking over  a thousand meals per month, and that’s just since the inception of the program in fall 2020.

“We officially got going in September for the pilot.” Arthur explains. “We got funding together and we started doing it. October was our first operation. We planned for 600 meals.”  But in a loaves-and-fishes scenario, additional donations meant the group was able to stretch their resources and reach that 1k meals milestone,  all without sacrificing portion size or quality.

Coincidence? I think not

Village Table, Wellesley
Gary Arthur, Wellesley Village Table

Providence seemingly went to work to reach this point. Three years ago, Arthur and his wife Carmen Suen moved into Wellesley along with their two children, who they enrolled in their neighborhood public elementary school. The family found their way to Village Church, felt comfortable there, and joined the congregation.

Arthur just so happened to have a lifetime of experience in industrial food service. “I’ve been managing food services at large industrial kitchens for 17 years. U Chicago. Notre Dame.” Perhaps his largest-scale gig was at Texas A&M University, where he was part of the team that fulfilled delivery  of 30,000 meals a day at 41 on-campus locations. Then an opportunity at MIT brought the family to the Boston area, which in turn led to Arthur self-starting a new venture. Once COVID hit, that project was put temporarily on hold. “I realized God may be saying that wasn’t my path right now,” he says.

Once that epiphany hit, things started coming together with Village Table. Fast.

Head Pastor Rev. Dr. Sarah Butter was all in with the idea of using the church’s commercial kitchen to help serve the greater good. “We live in a hungry world. People are hungry physically and spiritually, and hungry for care and community. Village Table emerged at just the right time, with just the right leadership, to work at the intersection of these hungers. Volunteers and recipients alike are fed by the process of shopping, cooking, packaging, and delivering meals to any in need of a bit, or bite, of care. It’s a marvelous embodiment of love alive in community, in real time, in real ways. I’m grateful for Gary’s vision and the contagious energy that has given birth to this ministry that feeds so many people in so many ways.”

Indeed, there is much gratitude to be parceled out. Arthur credits the Foundation for MetroWest for the non-profit’s recent $5,000 grant to support the work of Village Table. He also thanks New England Country Mart, a wholesaler as well as a direct-to-consumer grocery delivery platform that provides fresh premium produce to restaurants, institutions, and grocers. “Country Mart provides us with a lot of food,” Arthur says.

Wellesley Village Church
Wellesley Village Church, Central St.

How to volunteer

There’s no question that as Village Table increases its reach, more volunteers will be needed for help with shopping, food sourcing, gardening, cooking, cleaning, distribution, marketing, grant-writing, and more. But right now, due to COVID concerns, the volunteering is limited to a small group of church members. The hope is that in the near future, anyone with the time and the heart to serve will be invited to participate.

For now, please instead consider a monetary donations to Village Table.

“There’s enough love in this town to make a difference for hungry people. That’s the part I love,” Arthur says.

Keep Village Table close to your heart right now

It would be an omission of note to leave out a recent tragic turn of events that has affected Gary Arthur and his family. Our hearts go out to Gary as he mourns the sudden death of his 44-year-old son Michael David, who was shot and killed last week during a robbery at the store where he was working in Portland, Ore.

While this story was written prior to this tragedy, Gary’s pastor, Rev. Sarah Butter, on behalf of Wellesley Village Church, invites donations to the Village Table in memory of Michael David Arthur.

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Filed Under: Churches, COVID-19, Food, Fundraising, Volunteering

Wellesley Service League grateful to be part of holiday cheer

December 19, 2020 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

The members of the Wellesley Service League (WSL) have completed their goal of spreading seasonal cheer during the volunteer organization’s yearly Holiday Giving Tree initiative. Chairs Angela Kenny and Carol Morrow said, “…it took a veritable village of volunteer sleigh drivers, elf packagers and decorators, holiday shoppers, list checkers and messengers, and community well-wishers” to ensure that all gift donations were ready to go to participating families.

Wellesley Youth Commission Director Maura Renzella took over from there, another partner in the long-standing tradition that adds to the excitement of the season for everyone involved.

 

Wellesley Service League, Holiday Giving Tree
Wellesley Service League, Holiday Giving Tree

 

Wellesley Service League, Holiday Giving Tree
Wellesley Service League Holiday Giving Tree volunteers are ready to roll.

 

Wellesley Service League, Holiday Giving Tree
Wellesley Service League, Holiday Giving Tree — it’s a wrap.

More on the Wellesley Service League

[Read more…]

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Filed Under: Clubs, Fundraising, Holidays, Volunteering

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Wed 21

Wellesley Select Board online office hours

April 21 @ 8:30 am - 10:00 am
Wed 21

Select Board office hours

April 21 @ 8:30 am - 10:00 am
Thu 22

Ben Franklin, The Early Years: Wellesley Historical Society online lecture

April 22 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Sat 24

WellesleyRocks concert: Shira Doron & Patrick Hayden; Bigfoot acoustic

April 24 @ 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm
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Virtual lab tour, pooled COVID testing

April 26 @ 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm

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