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Community Chest officially opens the Community Closet

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On May 2nd the Community Closet officially opened its doors with a ribbon cutting welcoming eligible shoppers and community members into the space. The new Community Closet is a free resource for eligible residents of Concord and Carlisle created by the Concord-Carlisle Community Chest in partnership with TriCon Church.
If anyone in the community would like more information about the Community Closet, whether it be volunteering, donating, or shopping, please visit our webpage (www.cccommunitychest.org/community-closet) or contact us at  closet@cccommunitychest.org

The Concord-Carlisle Community Chest Celebrates its Day of Giving!

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The Concord-Carlisle Community Chest was thrilled to host its annual Day of Giving event in person on June 3rd, outdoors at Verrill Farm. Nearly 100 Community Chest Board Members, recipient organizations, business supporters, donors, and community members attended the event where $488,393 in grants were awarded to 25 local organizations that serve Concord and Carlisle residents.

PHOTOS: Kate Eden Renyi Photography

 

Grant recipients for 2021 include: Carlisle Council on Aging, CCHS – Partners in Rhyme, Center for Parents and Teachers, Concord Area Preschool Association, Concord Children’s Center, Concord Council on Aging, Concord Prison Outreach, Concord Youth Theater, Concord-Carlisle Adult & Community Education, Cooperative Elder Services, The Decibels Foundation, Dignity in Asylum, Domestic Violence Services Network, Eliot Community Human Services, Gaining Ground, First Connections, Mass211, MetroWest Legal Services, Minute Man Arc for Human Services, Minuteman Senior Services, Nashoba Learning Group, The Nature Connection, Open Table,ThinkGive, Town of Concord Recreation Department.

In addition to grants to local nonprofit organizations, the Community Chest impacts the community through targeted funding opportunities such as their Camp Scholarship Fund, which is helping 18 children attend camp in 2021 with over $3,100 in scholarships; the When-In-Need Fund which distributed more than $15,000 in support for emergency needs such as rent, car repairs, and utility bills this year; and the Cornerstone Fund which established a Scholarship in collaboration with the Scholarship Fund of Concord and Carlisle and awarded its inaugural $5,000 scholarship to a graduating CCHS student.

 

This past year also provided the Community Chest a unique opportunity to support the local business community by joining the efforts of Concord Together and establishing The Concord Together Business Fund to offset the costs incurred by the COVID pandemic. Through this short term fund the Chest provided 53 grants totaling $259,000 to local businesses.

The Community Chest was honored to celebrate its business donors at this event including longtime supporters Cambridge Savings Bank, Cambridge Trust Company, Middlesex Savings Bank, and Verrill Farm, as well as its newest business supporter, Suzanne & Company.

For more information about the Concord-Carlisle Community Chest, visit www.cccommunitychest.org.

PHOTOS: Kate Eden Renyi Photography

Community Chest Community Quest

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Concord-Carlisle Community Chest brings you a fun, family Spring event the weekend of April 30-May 2, 2021!

We typically gather in the spring for an indoor gala or fundraising event, but this year continues to push us to try new things. We are excited to have a community event – a Community Quest! – where family members of all ages can join!

Click here to purchase your ticket!

It’s a weekend of scavenger hunts, challenges, and chances to win great prizes from local businesses all in support of the Concord and Carlisle community. 100% of ticket sales are directed to local nonprofit human services organizations serving our neighbors most in need.  

  • Prizes available from:
    Blue Dry Goods (value $100)
    Brine Sporting Goods (value $94)
    Comella’s (value $50)
    The Concord Bookshop (value $99)
    The Dotted i (value $45)
    Discovery Museum (value $62)
    Joy Street Life + Home (value $108)
    Karma (value $115)
    Reasons to be Cheerful (value $20)
    Revolutionary Concord (value $100)
    Saltbox (value $100)
    Sorrento’s (value $30)

Ticket price is $100 per team and includes 1 entry into the raffle. Additional raffle entries can be purchased for $10 each. Challenges and instructions will be emailed to you on April 29. Get ready to have some fun while supporting your community!

Purchase your ticket today! 

Maybe you’ll be winner of one of these fabulous prizes:

Thanks to the sponsors:

 

 

Volunteer & Support Opportunities @ Concord

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Center for Parents and Teachers

Community for Restorative Justice

Concord CAN (Climate Action Network)

Concord-Carlisle Community Chest

Concord Education Fund

Concord Family Network

Concord Garden Club

Concord Land Conservation Trust

Concord Museum

Concord Players

Concord Prison Outreach

Concord Public Library

Cooperative Elder Services

Council on Aging

Dignity in Asylum

Emerson Hospital Auxiliary

Friends of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail

Gaining Ground

Household Goods

Minute Man ARC

The Nature Connection

OARS

Open Table 

Rotary Club of Concord

The Umbrella Arts

Town of Concord Board and Committees

Village Art Room

The Walden Woods Project

West Concord Green Thumbs

Youth Sports

Holiday Gift Card Program

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Each year, the Town of Concord’s Community Services Division, in collaboration with the Concord-Carlisle Community Chest, organizes a town-wide Holiday Giving Program to provide lower-income Concord residents financial support during the holiday season. Due to COVID, we are seeing an especially steep increase in need throughout our community this holiday season.

 

This year we are unable to accept donations of toys and gifts. Instead, we would greatly appreciate the donation of a gift card in any amount, from any merchant. As always, we encourage you to think locally, as town merchants are struggling and would greatly appreciate the purchase of a gift card. Please also consider donating a gift card from a supermarket, pharmacy, or a local restaurant. Of course any donated gift card will be appreciated by our neighbors in need, and we thank you in advance for your participation in this seasonal program.

 

Donations will be accepted through December 13th. Gift Card donations can be mailed to Bonny Wilbur, Concord’s Community Services Coordinator, 55 Church Street, Concord, or they may be placed in the donation drop boxes located at:

  • Concord Public Library, 129 Main Street, Sudbury Road entrance
  • Concord-Carlisle Community Chest, 19 Main Street, Suite #2
  • 55 Church Street in West Concord

 

Please know that if you are able to donate, it will be going to a neighbor in need.  If you have any questions about the program, or know someone in Concord who is in need of assistance, please contact Bonny Wilbur, Community Services Coordinator, at tel. 978-318-3034, or bwilbur@concordma.gov .

 

On behalf of Concord’s Community Services Division and the Concord-Carlisle Community Chest, we wish you a very happy, and healthy, holiday season!

 

 

 

Concord-Carlisle Community Chest partners with Concord Together to create the Business Fund

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The Concord-Carlisle Community Chest announces the availability of grant funds to local businesses. 

The Community Chest has partnered with Concord Together to create the Concord Together Business Fund. These funds will go directly to help small businesses with urgent needs in light of the COVID-19 crisis. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis.

Visit  www.cccommunitychest.org for more information or click here to apply.  

Concord Together is a collaboration led by local landlords and business owners to curate and focus town-wide efforts to protect, promote, and preserve our vital small business community.  We aim to support vulnerable small businesses through the COVID-19 crisis with meaningful action – providing financial grants, offering marketing tools and ideas, linking out to a range of resources, and by encouraging town-wide patronage and support of the shops, restaurants, and tourist destinations that are such a key part of our cultural heritage.
ALL ideas, volunteers, and skill sets are warmly welcome.  We created this initiative on the foundation of a central idea – together we are stronger.  Concord, Together.

For more information contact:

Sharon Spaulding, Spaulding Management LLC, ses@spauldingco.com

John Boynton, Bradford Street LLC, jb@bradfordmill.com

Jane Obbagy, Concord Chamber of Commerce, director@concordchamberofcommerce.org

Jennifer Schunemann, Discover Concord, jen.schunemann@gmail.com

Feel Good Friday

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It’s been a tough week, so many unknowns and so much bad news pouring in  – it’s difficult not to get overwhelmed by it.

So, we’d like to fill your head with some good highlights from the past week. Our community is strong and coming together to answer immediate needs, helping  each other and proving to be creative problem solvers.

Thank you to Emerson Hospital employees for your dedication & hard work. We are grateful to all of you!

Christine Schuster, President & Ceo of Emerson Hospital sent this today:

Our team is working around the clock to manage this unprecedented challenge. They are navigating this situation with careful planning and a relentless commitment to our community. 

Our Emerson Hospital Heroes – nurses, doctors, respiratory therapists, environmental services, and all staff have stepped up in every way. They confront the COVID‑19 pandemic each day, worried about the future, the health of their patients, their families, and themselves.

In order to continue to fight this battle we need critical equipment and supplies. Your support has never been more important and will save lives!

Keep our Emerson Hospital Heroes and community safe. Your donation in any amount will help Emerson to:
• Acquire additional respiratory equipment
• Obtain medical-grade personal protective gear
• Outfit areas of our hospital to increase patient capacity
• Support our financial stability while elective procedures and treatments have been postponed in order to keep patients safe.

With your support, we can focus our energy on caring for our community. We will emerge from this crisis much stronger together.

Thank you for your support!

 

Thank you to the volunteers who answered the call for homemade masks and starting sewing! A number of Concord & Carlisle residents have been busy gathering supplies, cutting material and sewing masks for Emerson Hospital and other medical facilities in the area.

Thank you to Open Table and those who have donated time and food to make this an even more valuable resource in our community. They are continuing to accept donations at their bins at Crosby’s Market behind the 105 Everett Street building.

Thank you to the Concord-Carlisle Community Chest for working hard to rally support and donations for the W.I.N. Fund (When in Need Fund) with The Driveway Project.

Kate Eden Renyi Photography is launching #thedrivewayproject in hopes to raise local support within the Concord and Carlisle communities during the COVID-19 crisis.

Donate a minimum of $50 to the Concord-Carlisle Community Chest’s WIN (When In Need) Fund – please designate The Driveway Project (WIN Fund) – that helps Concord and Carlisle individuals and families with unexpected or emergency expenses, and Kate will show up at your driveway and take a professional lifestyle photograph documenting this unique time. Thinking outside the box and social distancing attire encouraged!

Thank you to Superintendent Dr. Laurie  Hunter and staff / administration who have been excellent communicators and working hard to bring classrooms online, keeping our kids stimulated and connected while keeping parents well informed.

Thank you to our local merchants for finding creative ways to sell and deliver your goods / services!

Here is the Friday promotion that Farfalle Market, Copper Penny Flowers, Revolutionary Concord and Concord Teacakes offered for a Fun Family Friday. The package included pasta dinner and garlic bread from Farfalle, cupcakes form Concord Teacakes, a fun puzzle from Revolutionary Concord and a gorgeous arrangement from Copper Penny Flowers.

Be sure to see what other local merchants & restaurants / cafes are doing with take out options, curbside pickups and deliveries.

Thank you to ThinkGive for launching the Community Challenge – sign up now!

Thank you to The Center for Parents and Teachers for moving important speaker events online so we can call be informed and get access to these wonderful speakers.

Thanks for tuning in to LivingConcordour new weekly podcast, reading our newsletters, liking posts, following us on social media and sending us important information that we can share with the community.

 

Be well.