Special to the Patriot-Bridge
The Bunker Hill Associates Grants Committee awarded grants to aid local nonprofits in servicing the needs of the Charlestown community. Grants were awarded to Charlestown Youth Football and Cheerleading, Charlestown Youth Hockey, The Boys and Girls Club, Turn it Around Charlestown, the Kennedy Center, the Charlestown Lacrosse and Learning Center, and the Charlestown Neighborhood Council from the David M. Whelan Scholarship Fund totaling $22,500 in contributions. Representatives of each organization presented their plans to the committee, providing a breakdown of fund allocation and highlighting program needs that will benefit the community.
Kelliegh Moses from Charlestown Youth Football and Cheerleading sought a grant to purchase new helmets for players. Kelliegh has been involved in Charlestown Pop Warner for over 11 years now, which serves 95% of Charlestown youth!
John Sutich of Charlestown Youth Hockey explained how most of their budget goes toward ice time from their Learn to Skate and Play Hockey Programs to their travel hockey teams. This grant will help CYHA more efficiently serve the 300 families and approximately 450 youth and teens involved in their program!
Derek Gallagher from the Boys and Girls Club presented to the grant committee with the goal of addressing “learning loss recovery” through their programs with homework help at the Club. With this grant, they plan to purchase dry erase tables, age-appropriate books, educational tools, and technological teaching aids.
Mswati Hanks and Sarah Coughlin from Turn It Around Charlestown plan to use their grant to help build out their Turn It Around Junior Program. It will fund six months of programming, assisting with speakers, training, field trips, and grocery and dinner expenses.
Crystal Galvin of the Kennedy Center plans to use their grant for their Meal Pack Project, providing students with bags of food over school vacation. Partnering with every school in Charlestown to identify food insecure families, this grant will allow the Kennedy Center to expand their program to provide over 500 meal packs and 50 senior meal packs and reach over 250 families!
Blake Riley from the Charlestown Lacrosse and Learning Center, which has been around since 1997, presented to the grant committee in the hopes of securing a grant to help with purchasing Chromebooks and Chromebook carts to assist kids in doing online homework, tutoring, reading groups, standardized test preparation and other programs such as Coding and STEM and Lego programming. With this funding, Blake and the CLLC hope to reach more families in Charlestown and extend their hours.
Lastly, Nancy Johnsen from the Charlestown Neighborhood Council sought funds to help pay for a website that can keep the community up-to-date on CNC happenings, notices, and events (i.e. community meetings). The CNC was also interested in a small fund for printing materials to distribute to the public during meetings and to hang signs around town to notify people of important upcoming meetings. Kim Mahoney and the Associates generously proposed a David Whelan Scholarship Fund-specific donation to support the CNC because he loved the CNC and this town, and it would be a fitting tribute.
The Bunker Hill Associates thanks all the organizations who came forward with their plans to serve Charlestown’s youth, families and elderly. Our organization is proud to aid in their initiatives and looks forward to assisting these groups in serving the great community of Charlestown.