Westwood Community Chest contributions help residents

The Westwood Community Chest announces the close of another strong fiscal year when the community responded to help their neighbors who are in need of financial assistance. Contributions increased across all categories, including individual residents, businesses, special events and special campaigns with key businesses in town.

"We're incredibly grateful for the response and especially for the partnerships that we have formed with these businesses in town,? said Mary Ellen LaRose, president of WCC. ?Without their participation, we wouldn't be able to help nearly as many people. We'd like to especially thank Roche Bros., High Street Market and Whole Food Markets Dedham for sponsoring our Fill the Chest campaign. Decor & More and the Westwood Basketball Association also helped us by sponsoring special events. Additionally, Chiara was the host of our second annual An Evening of International Food & Wine. Medfield Wine Shoppe also contributed to that evening.?

WCC grants applicants financial assistance through a confidential temporary assistance program. The organization works with several town organizations such as Youth and Family Services, the Council on Aging, Westwood Public Schools, Westwood Police and other town departments to ensure that community members get the help that they need. The average award given was $600 to meet basic needs?medical expenses, utility bills and housing payments. In some cases, $1000 was awarded when catastrophic conditions have existed.

This past year, WCC granted $23,000 in utility awards including, oil, electric, gas, sewer water and primary phone. Many of those awards prevent utility shutoffs. $5,000 of medical bills were paid directly, $3,000 in housing costs, $11,000 of extenuating awards in various categories, and $14,000 of campership awards were also paid. These are just some of the types of awards that were paid.

Camperships are another very important part of the WCC mission. Sending children to camp each summer is a treasured part of families' experiences and a child's learning experience. Unfortunately, for some families, when hard times hit, that experience isn't always possible. WCC offers help. Once again this year, the WCC held three grant rounds in March, April and May. The WCC awarded up to $400 per child with a total of $750 per family and awarded approximately 35 camperships.

WCC is able to fund these financial grants and campership awards from donations to our annual appeal and from partnerships with businesses in the community. This year, WCC raised well over $67,000 from our annual appeal in the fall.

Most importantly, the WCC needs to spread the awareness of its mission so that everyone in Westwood who needs temporary financial assistance knows that Westwood Community Chest is there to help. For more information, visit wcc.cfsites.org or follow the WCC on Facebook, or call us at 781-366-0470.

Source: http://www.wickedlocal.com/westwood/news/x946754784/Westwood-Community-Chest-contributions-help-residents?rssfeed=true

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