This year, the Community Fund for Wellesley seeks to award grants of up to $5,000. While all grant levels will be considered, the typical grant has ranged from $1,000 to $5,000.
The mission of the Community Fund for Wellesley is to promote the common good and to benefit all residents of our town. We serve as a permanent source of funding to foster innovation and collaboration in support of community needs and opportunities.
The Community Fund for Wellesley was established in 2008 in celebration of Wellesley’s 125th birthday. A dedicated group of town residents had a vision to create a fund that would exist to benefit members of the Wellesley community for generations to come. As we enter our 17th year, we have made grants of over $800,000 to more than 50 local non-profits and Wellesley town departments.
Our 2025 grant cycle is now open!
The Community Fund for Wellesley (“CFFW”) is committed to supporting organizations that are working towards creating a stronger, more vibrant community in Wellesley. The CFFW promotes the common good and benefits all Wellesley residents by serving as a source of funding to foster innovation and collaboration across organizations that support our community’s needs. In celebration of our 15th anniversary, the CFFW awarded a total of $100,000 to organizations benefiting Wellesley residents working in the areas of Arts and Culture, Community Building, Education, the Environment, and Health and Wellness.
The special occasion was celebrated by over 60 nonprofit leaders, Town representatives, donors, and founders of the fund at Papa Razzi in Wellesley on November 2nd. The event was festive and convivial, celebrating the grant awardees and bringing together the non-profit community in conversation and connection. Photos below:
The Community Fund for Wellesley COVID-19 Relief Fund was established with an initial gift of $10,000 from the Community Fund for Wellesley. This initial gift was used to ensure an immediate source of grant support in the town.
Established with an initial gift of $10,000 from the Community Fund for Wellesley. This initial gift was used to ensure an immediate source of grant support in the town. Since April 2020, the Wellesley COVID-19 Relief Fund has granted $125,000 thanks to generous donations from many Wellesley residents and the business community.
Grants have been used for a multitude of items and programs, including Personal Protection Equipment (PPE), meals for neighbors who otherwise would not have access, technology for elderly neighbors to connect to their loved ones, a summertime ‘COVID-safe’ mobile movie theater, support for remote education, mental health resources, youth employment and and many other essentials during this time.
This fund is a partnership between The Community Fund for Wellesley, an endowed fund of the Foundation for MetroWest, a tax exempt 501(c)3 organization, and the Wellesley Select Board, that addresses unmet needs in our community resulting from the ongoing Coronavirus crisis.
The demand for mental health care is far greater than treatment availability both nationwide and in our own backyards. In an effort to increase access to resources and services, the Community Fund for Wellesley, a town fund of the Community Foundation for MetroWest, awarded Human Relations Service of Wellesley (HRS) $80,000 in funding over two years.
The funding provided by the Community Fund for Wellesley allowed HRS to use its Intake and Referral Program to provide access to high quality mental health treatment in unique ways. The team increased the referral list and cultivated symptom specific resources for specialists in areas such as transgender care, eating disorders, and culturally specific matters. They also followed up with and assessed the outcomes of their referrals.
HRS is a private, non-profit mental health agency serving families and children in Wellesley, Weston, and Wayland. Their mission is to heal lives and strengthen our community: to treat, reduce, and prevent mental illness and to support the well-being of children, families, and institutions in our towns. HRS offers a broad range of outpatient diagnosis, crisis intervention, and treatment to any resident, and is the principal provider of outpatient mental health services in the three towns, serving hundreds of individuals each year.
For high school students who live or learn in Wellesley. The YIP Wellesley program runs every spring.
The Community Fund for Wellesley’s Board of Directors is composed of individuals who reside or work in Wellesley and who represent the diverse aspects of the community. This allows the Fund to maintain a broad perspective on the town’s needs and opportunities. The Community Board is also responsible for reviewing and evaluating grant proposals from local nonprofits and Town entities to determine the eligibility for and amount of funding support.
Ellen has served in a volunteer and elected capacity in Wellesley for more than two decades. She served for 3 consecutive terms or 9 years on the Wellesley Select Board including time as Chair. During her tenure on the Select Board, Ellen dealt with a wide range of matters and helped to advance major initiatives involving multiple Town boards, a broad spectrum of public and private institutions and organizations at the state, regional and local levels. Ellen has also served as President of the Wellesley League of Women Voters and as a Town Meeting Member for over 20 years. Ellen and her husband David have lived in Wellesley since 1992. Their two adult children attended WPS. Prior to her municipal work, Ellen directed programs for the MA Department of Public Health. She is co-owner and manager of a small real estate investment company and holds degrees from Tufts University and the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
A twenty-five-year resident of Wellesley, Wendy has enjoyed her career here as a community volunteer and advocate. After many leadership roles in her children’s school PTOs, Wendy was elected to two terms on the Wellesley School Committee, appointed to a term on the Town’s Advisory Committee, and has served as a Town Meeting Member since 2011. Continuing her advocacy for education, Wendy is presently on the Executive Board at Walker School & Home, providing intensive services for children and families facing complex emotional, behavioral, and learning challenges. Wendy is married and has two adult children.
My husband and I have lived in Wellesley since 1997 and we raised our 3 children here. I have been a Town Meeting Member for approximately 10 years in total and I served on the Wellesley Friendly Aid Board for six years. About 15 years ago, as a result of volunteering to teach an ESL Conversation Class, I decided that Wellesley should have a coordinated ESL program. In 2011 I initiated and developed Wellesley ESL through the support of the Wellesley Library, Wellesley Friendly Aid, and the Fund for Wellesley who provided some of the startup funds. After 6 years as the Program Coordinator of Wellesley ESL, I became the Director of Project Literacy of Watertown, which is a large library based program with over 600 students, 20 classes and 200 volunteers. In 2017, I became a Board Member of the Marshall Homes Fund of Watertown where I served on the grant review committee. Annually the Marshall Home Fund provided over $100,000 in grants to programs that support Watertown’s elderly population. In 2021 I retired, and today I enjoy travelling, being a grandparent, and gardening; and am enjoying getting more involved with civic affairs now that I have more time. I am currently serving as a Town Meeting Member, am on the Sustainable Wellesley Leadership Team, and am a member of the Charles River Regional Council Environmental Committee.
Tina Chen, her husband Justin and their children Olivia and Owen, moved to Wellesley in 2018. Tina is the Director of B2C Sales Enablement at Wayfair. Prior to moving to Wellesley, Tina and her family were based in Asia where she worked as a management consultant at McKinsey, advising clients across Asia and the Middle East with a focus on growth strategy and family-owned business management. Tina holds a BA in Applied Mathematics from Harvard and a JD from Harvard Law School.
A New Englander (Rhode Island) by birth, Susan grew up in Colorado. After earning a degree in English and working for several years at Emory University in the publications office, she and husband David moved to Boston for the first time. Susan worked in the Harvard Development Office as publications coordinator for their capital campaign until moving to Germany, where she spent the next 18 months tutoring English, editing scientific manuscripts, and practicing her German. Returning to Boston, Susan took a job in publications with the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where she worked until starting a family and a subsequent move to Rochester, Minnesota. A lifelong interest in child development led Susan to return to college to earn a second degree in education and work in an elementary school after her first two children started kindergarten.
Nearly 30 years ago the Clapham family returned (yet again) to the Boston area, this time settling in Wellesley, where Susan has been active as a community volunteer while raising four children, all of whom completed their education in the Wellesley Public Schools. She served as copresident of the parents’ group at the Wellesley College Child Study Center, as well as the PTOs at Sprague, WMS and WHS and Central Council. Following two years as co-chair of the WEF Spelling Bee, Susan chaired the WEF Grants Committee for two years. Susan was president/copresident of the Wellesley League of Women Voters for several years and has been a Wellesley Town Meeting member for more than 15 years; she previously served on the Advisory Committee 2020-23.
Wendy and her husband Rich have lived in Wellesley since 1998 and have raised their two children and 15-year-old Golden Doodle here. A graduate of Bates College and Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, Wendy has devoted the past 23 years to raising her children and volunteering in the community. She has held leadership positions in schools, her synagogue, and community organizations in and outside of Wellesley. Wendy served as a Town Meeting member for 13 years, is a past President of the League of Women Voters Wellesley, and is currently on the Executive Board of the Wellesley Service League. Outside of Wellesley, she serves on the Bates College Alumni Council.
Lisa has worked as a mental health nurse for the past 35 years, providing direct care and teaching. Lisa feels strongly about education, prevention and rehabilitation when it comes to mental health and believes our communities need to do more to support this. Currently, she serves on the advisory board for Elliot House, a rehabilitation program for people with chronic, debilitating mental health issues because she thinks it is important to support the resources in her own community that provide a safe and nurturing place for people living and working in Wellesley. Lisa teaches in the baccalaureate nursing program at Regis College, is a graduate of Simmons College and received a master of science in nursing from the University of Massachusetts.
As a career coach and workforce expert, Julia has developed her own business providing career coaching for students and young professionals globally. She draws her knowledge from a 15-year career in retained executive search. She held senior management positions in sales, fundraising and human resources. She also served as the former Assistant Director at the Center for Women’s Leadership at Babson and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Art History from Princeton
University. Locally, Julia is a three-time PTO President in the Wellesley public schools. She is a Wellesley Town Meeting member, Board Member of Wellesley Friends of Veterans, and in the Wellesley Service League where she coordinates all Wellesley Free Library volunteer activities. She has been a Vestry member at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Newton Lower Falls. She was a Board Member at Wellesley Education Foundation where she raised over $25,000 as a volunteer Boston Marathon charity runner, and she volunteered for a decade for Wellesley Youth Football. She has served as the longtime Secretary for her class at both Princeton and Groton School. As a hobby, she enjoys singing and performing in musical theater. She is married to her husband, Nick de Peyster, and has 3 adult children.
Rekha Sampath is a Senior Vice President at Eastern Bank, where she plays a pivotal role in overseeing Bank financial operations and strategy. Rekha is on the Boards of the Ronald McDonald House Charities of New England, where she supports the organization’s mission and financial strategy, and the League of Women Voters Wellesley, where she directs membership activities. She is part of Walnut Ventures, a group of experienced entrepreneurs and executives who invest in and mentor seed and early-stage companies.
Prior to Eastern Bank, Rekha spent more than 25 years at complex global institutions, including MassMutual, Broadridge, Sun Life Financial, Deloitte, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. She has held leadership roles in finance, strategy/communications and technology, and has significant experience directing innovation programs. Rekha holds an undergraduate degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Toronto and an MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. She lives in Wellesley with her husband and two teenage daughters.
We are grateful to our Founding Members, and to subsequent donors, for their support of our mission. The Founders early commitment expanded our opportunities to make an impact in the community. With their and others continued support, we have successfully established an important source of community philanthropy and catalyst for new ideas to keep our community strong.
Wellesley Youth in Philanthropy Campaign Change-Makers have committed to a gift of $5,000+ to help the Foundation for MetroWest and the Fund for Wellesley build a permanent fund to operate the Wellesley YIP program, so that this program will remain a fixture for Wellesley youth and local nonprofits forever.
The Community Fund for Wellesley is an endowed fund of the Community Foundation for MetroWest, which is a 501(c)(3) public charity and is fully tax exempt. The tax ID is 04-3266789. There are a number of ways you can make a donation.
Please make check payable to Community Foundation for MetroWest and note Community Fund for Wellesley on the memo line.
Community Fund for Wellesley
c/o Community Foundation for MetroWest
3 Eliot Street
Natick, MA 01760
Please contact us via email or call (508) 647 – 2260 if you are interested in transferring assets.
If you have any questions or would like more information about making your gift, please call us at (508) 647-2260 or email us and we’ll be happy to help you.
Thank you! We appreciate your support.