Charities Being Presented At The Next Meeting

TownGreen promotes local climate awareness education for youth and adults across Cape Ann. A $10,000 grant would allow TownGreen to expand their local field trips and community engagement programming, plus help to set up a new citizen science project that will likely focus on marshes. In 2025, TownGreen is launching a Cape Ann climate adaptation, mitigation, and resilience working group to convene municipal leaders and staff with community organizations and state leaders to learn, discuss, and make progress on climate projects.

Lanes Coven is a theater company which has included education as a core component of its mission since inception. Research shows that theater tools in the classroom provide a foundation for students to gain social skills and expand their confidence to express themselves. In February/March, Lanes Coven will be partnering with O’Maley 8th grade English teachers to bring actors and theater tools into the classroom to enhance understanding of the standard Romeo & Juliet teaching unit.  A $10,000 grant would supplement the anticipated funding for the O’Maley program as well as support scholarships for Lanes Coven’s inaugural youth Shakespeare camp to be held at Windhover this summer, and support compensation for a part-time education coordinator.

A $10,000 gift would go towards several key initiatives at The Grace Center, addressing the needs of women seeking a safe and supportive environment in the Cape Ann community. Funding would support women-centric programs such as self-defense, yoga, art therapy, and music therapy. In addition, our Women’s Needs Fund would provide essential items, including underwear, bras, feminine hygiene products, and personal hygiene supplies – basic necessities for maintaining health, comfort, and dignity. Funding would also provide functional and comfortable footwear for our female guests to navigate daily life with confidence and a sense of self-worth.

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Charities Currently In “The Hat”

3 charities are randomly picked from “the hat” to present at each meeting. Charities remain in “the hat” for 2 years following their nomination. Charities are invited to nominate themselves again if their nomination has expired.  Award recipients are eligible be nominated again 2 years after receiving an award.

Previous Charity Recipients

The Gloucester Boxing Club was established in 2105 by a few volunteers to provide a safe space for kids in Gloucester to exercise and express themselves. The September 2024 grant of $11,000 will enable the club to provide free memberships for any kids who cannot afford to join, as well as cover the annual cost of insurance and other programs offered to the youth of the community.

Essex County Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) trains volunteers who make sure that children who have been abused and neglected do not suffer further in an overburdened system.  During COVID the use of CASA was severely diminished, and CASA is working to resume support of foster children in the region. The June 2024 grant of $11,800 will be used to fund CASA Advocates in the Salem Juvenile Courts where Cape Ann families are served.

CORE Peer Recovery and Resource Center  offers a community of mutual fellowship and support for people in recovery from substance use disorder. With their March 2024 gift of $11,125, CORE will provide fitness equipment and offer more health programs at their Gloucester addiction recovery center.

Healing Abuse, Working for Change (HAWC) will use their December 2023 grant of $11,000 to support direct client assistance, specifically emergency hotel stays, for a homeless parent experiencing intimate partner or domestic violence, as Massachusetts is currently experiencing a shelter crisis.

Since 2004, the First R Foundation has promoted literacy to Kindergarten and First Grade students who attend the Gloucester and Rockport schools. With their September 2023 gift of $11,170, the First R Foundation will purchase books for the students that will be given to them from October 2023 through May 2024. Each student, many of whom do not have books of their own at home, will receive a brand new book each month, plus one for each classroom.

Cape Ann Trail Stewards protects and improves access to open space and trails across Cape Ann. The volunteer Board of Directors and on-the-ground trail stewards are supported by a part time, paid Operations Director. Cape Ann Trail Stewards will use their June 2023 grant of $10,295 to expand the Operation Director’s available hours, thus enabling them to expand their work on Cape Ann.

Essex County Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) trains volunteers who make sure that children who have been abused and neglected do not suffer further in an overburdened system.  During COVID the use of CASA was severely diminished, and CASA is working to resume support of foster children in the region. The June 2024 grant of $11,822 will be used to fund CASA Advocates in the Salem Juvenile Courts where Cape Ann families are served.

Backyard Growers has empowered hundreds of local households to grow their own food and worked with 31 other schools and districts to roll out their own seed-to-fork programs, as well as providing consulting to work with organizations including housing authorities and senior centers to help their service populations learn how to grow their own food. Backyard Growers will use their March 2023 gift of $10,398 to complete a community garden, toddler playspace, and picnic area at the Popular Park Housing Development, a Gloucester Housing Authority neighborhood off Maplewood Ave.

A $9,698 grant in November 2022 funded a one-time cash grant program to families working with Wellspring’s Homelessness Prevention & Family Stabilization Program. Wellspring provides the grants to help families avoid the crisis of becoming homeless. Grants are used to cover rent, transportation costs, and household expenses so that family members can continue to get to work, cover utility bills, and remain housed.

Cape Ann Art Haven has been providing our Cape Ann community with art education since 2008. Half of their programming is delivered free to those in financial need, so all children have access to the benefits of art education. Since the pandemic Art Haven has seen unprecedented interest in their programs as families seek the educational, inspirational and overall wellness benefits of art for their children.  The September 2022 gift of $10,896 from 100 Who Care Cape Ann will enable Art Haven to grow their support staff and enable them to offer more classes, programs and community events.

Together Gloucester has developed a reputation for stepping up to help our neighbors when they need it most.   They will use the June 2022 $12,680 grant from 100 Who Care Cape Ann to continue their efforts to connect the generosity of the community with individuals with great needs, which they are made aware of through referrals from local schools, agencies, and advocates.   This grant will allow them to be even more responsive and they are hopeful that it would prompt others to support our mission as well.

Maritime Gloucester will use our March 2022 gift of $12,770 to bridge a $20,000 funding deficit for the new Maritime Science Education Center, set to open in April 2022. The purpose of the Maritime Science Education Center is to fill the STEM gap in Cape Ann students’ educational experience. The Center will provide STEM-focused, experiential place-based learning through interactive live animal exhibits related to our local environment and working harbor, and learning stations that include the Great Salt Marsh, inner and outer harbor, plankton lab, lobstering, invasive species, Gloucester fishing fleet and history, and a digital exploration station.

Cape Ann Animal Aid, our local animal shelter, has observed a COVID-related boom in animal adoptions which has led to a shortage of veterinary services for routine care, sick visits, and spay/neuter procedures, and an uptick of unplanned births for cats and dogs in our community. Therefore, they are planning to use their November 2021 gift of $10,700 to:

• offer post-adoption veterinary care to those who would have difficulty obtaining it; and
• expand the “Spay Mama” program, a shelter initiative that covers the cost of a spay surgery for local cats and dogs that have recently given birth (where the mother is spayed and returned to her owner while the puppies/kittens are fixed, vetted, and adopted out through the shelter).

The Cornerstone Creative, an after-school youth mentorship woodworking and craftsmanship program, will use their July 2021 $12,000 gift for after-school program scholarships and improvements. Specifically, they plan to:

• provide scholarships to five students to attend their after-school program,
• purchase a more powerful dust filtration system for safer air quality in the woodshop, and
• purchase a shop vehicle that would be used for transporting and delivering projects and materials.

The Sunrise Fund will use their May 2021 grant of $10,068 to provide scholarships to Cape Ann residents seeking assistance for addiction treatment. The cost for individual to enter inpatient residential treatment is $4900. The cost for one month of sober living ranges from $1000-1800. $10,000 could fund inpatient treatment for two individuals, or 5-10 months of sober living for multiple individuals

Generous Gardeners, will use their February 2021 grant of $11,468 to implement a new hanging flower basket program for Main Street.  The grant will fund 25 self-watering baskets and the purchase of a 60-gallon watering tank that will fit in a volunteers’ trucks. Generous Gardeners is an entirely volunteer group of gardeners dedicated to the beautification of Gloucester, who cares for 45 public flower garden spaces, including the quarter mile of formal beds on Stacy Boulevard are planted with 30,000 tulips, 3,000 daylilies, 900 dahlias and 2,000 annuals each year.

Our November 2020 gift of $10,180 to the Cape Ann Kids Holiday Fund (a collaboration between Pathways for Children, Action Inc., and Wellspring House, Inc.) will enable 101 kids to receive a $100 holiday gift card. With so many families struggling with lost wages, lack of childcare, and financial instability, the need in our community is greater than ever. Like much of our lives right now, toy drives and “Holiday Stores” need to look different this year. Current restrictions prevent the three organizations from providing ‘in person’ holiday toy shopping, as they have done in the past. These gift cards will offer families the safest, most flexible option to provide that special toy or item for their children.

The Grace Center will use their July 2020 gift of $14,200 to connect under-served and homeless guests to vital services during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the existing budget, the Grace Center is unable to meet the new needs for transportation and technology services.  Like everyone, guests want and need to get back to work and turn to our staff for employment help – a service staff is not well equipped to provide. Taxis must be used to get to Doctor appointments, detox facilities, pick-up prescriptions and go to job interviews. Cell phones and iPads are needed so that guests can make onsite private medical calls and employment inquiries.  Increased resources could provide employment apps and virtual employment programs /guides.  Funding from 100 Who Care Cape Ann will both support Grace Center guests’ basic needs and help them move forward during these challenging times.

The Cape Ann Emergency Relief Fund (via Action, Inc.) will use their gift of $12,000 in May 2020 to help hourly workers impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. The Fund will support food service, retail, hospitality, childcare and other hourly workers struggling with lost income.

Gloucester Education Foundation will use their January 2020 gift of $11,649 to support the O’Maley Academy After School Program, which provides quality after-school and summer programs to hundreds of kids each year, at no cost to their families.  O’Maley Academy offers classes and activities in subjects ranging from theater, to robotics, to video journalism, and gives kids the opportunity to explore new interests, make new friends, and find a place where they feel safe and connected to a community of supportive peers and adults.

Backyard Growers will use their gift of $10,829 in October 2019 to support their school garden program, which reaches 100% of pre-K through 7th graders in Gloucester Public Schools (over 1,800 kids!) with a true seed-to-fork experience. It will also enable them to rebuild and expand their garden at Gloucester preschool with new, narrower beds that are more accessible to little ones, and launch a new gardening program for O’Maley Middle School 8th graders in collaboration with O’Maley teachers.

Wellspring Educational Resource Collaborative (WERC): A gift of $12,198 in July 2019 will support the salary of a Youth and Young Adult Counselor. WERC is a program designed to help high school seniors and graduates of Gloucester High School advance in their careers and education. WERC provides mentorship and resources for college, occupational education, or job searches.

Previous Charity Nominations

* indicates charity award recipient

GIVING CYCLE 6 (July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025)

September 2024 – $11,000

Gloucester Boxing Club*
Awesome Gloucester
North Shore Health Project

GIVING CYCLE 5 (July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024)

June 2024 – $11,822

Essex County Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA)*
Grateful Friends
Gloucester Marine Genomic Institute (GMGI)

March 2024 – $11,125

CORE Peer Recovery & Resource Center*
Gloucester Trees
Gloucester SaLT

December 2023 – $11,000

Healing Abuse, Working for Change*
Wags 2 Riches
TownGreen

September 2023 – $11,170

First R Foundation*
Outside Mind
Gloucester Adventure, Inc.

GIVING CYCLE 4 (July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023)

June 2023 – $10,295

Cape Ann Trail Stewards*
Supportive Living, Inc.
Healing Abuse Working for Change (HAWC)

March 2023 – $10,398

Backyard Growers*
Gloucester Education Foundation
Gloucester Writers Center

November 2022 – $9,698

Wellspring’s Homeless Prevention & Family Stabilization Program*
Action Inc.’s COMPASS Program
SeniorCare’s Age & Dementia Friendly Cape Ann Program

September 2022 – $10,896

Cape Ann Art Haven*
Sail GHS
CCB Foundation

GIVING CYCLE 3 (July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022)

June 2022 – $12,680

Together Gloucester*
Pathways for Children
Longevity Bench Project

March 2022 – $12,770

Maritime Science Education Center at Maritime Gloucester*
Gloucester Boxing Club
Cape Ann Art Haven

November 2021 – $11,296
Cape Ann Animal Aid*
The First R Foundation
Together Gloucester

July 2021 – $12,000
The Cornerstone Creative*
The Cape Ann Art Haven
North Shore Health Project/ONEStop Harm Reduction Center

GIVING CYCLE 2 (July 1, 2020 – June 30, 2021)

May 2021 – $10,500
The Sunrise Fund*
Gloucester Education Foundation’s Response Fund
Pathways for Children’s Family Enrichment Program

February 2021 – $11,468
Generous Gardeners*
Maritime Gloucester
North Shore Health Project/ONEStop Harm Reduction Center

November 2020 – $10,180
Cape Ann Kids Holiday Fund*
Wags 2 Riches Dog Rescue
YMCA’s Summer Learning Loss Program

July 2020 – $14,200
The Grace Center*
Essex County Greenbelt
The First R Foundation

GIVING CYCLE 1 (July 1, 2019 – June 30, 2020)

May 2020 – $12,000
Gloucester Emergency Relief Fund (via Action, Inc.)* – due to the pandemic, the group was unable to meet; therefore the Steering Committee donated the 4th quarterly funds to an organization on the frontlines of mitigating COVID-19 impact on Cape Ann’s most vulnerable citizens.

January 2020 – $11,649
Gloucester Education Foundation – O’Maley After School Program*
Rose Baker Senior Center – Art Program
YMCA of North Shore – Summer Learning Loss Program

October 2019 – $10,829
Backyard Growers*
Gloucester Stage Company
The Open Door

July 2019 – $12,198
Wellspring Education Resource Collaborative*
The Grace Center – Women’s program
Gloucester Education Foundation – O’Maley After School Program

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