If you are aware of a Wayland nonprofit that accepts donations and is not included on the list, then please let us know. We seek to limit this list to social, charitable, community and established religious organizations, for which contributions are tax deductible.

7/14/08:  The Boston Heart Walk will be held on September 13 at the DCR Hatch Shell from 10am to 2pm.  www.bostonheartwalk.org

7/10/08:  WayCo Softball League offers Raffle.  Wayland - In addition to providing a recreational activity three nights a week for more than 150 young Wayland softball players, the WayCo Softball League is sponsoring a raffle featuring everything from Red Sox and Patriots tickets to manicures, car washes, and gift cards to area restaurants and businesses.  The league, started last summer by four graduates of Wayland High School’s Class of 2006, has expanded from four to ten teams after just one season of play. Games are now played at the Cochituate Ball Field on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, starting at 6 pm. There are five games each night, and the public is invited to come cheer on the teams. Players range in age from a high school juniors-only team to nine teams formed in a draft pick by the nine other captains.  Among the items to be raffled off later this summer are a donation from the Boston Red Sox: a baseball autographed by Curt Schilling. Other items include a one-month membership to Longfellow Sports Club; two 9-hole rounds of golf, Wayland Country Club; Frozen Ropes, Fast Pitch rental; Premier Sports Cards, gift card; Russell’s Garden Center, hanging plant, and Thunder, the Sports Source, gift card.  Gift cards for services have been donated by: Beautiful Nails and Spa, Salon d’elegance, Scrub a Dub, and Somerby’s Salon. The following area restaurants have also been generous: American Joe’s Bar and Grille, Finale Dessert Company, Lotus Flower, Papa Gino’s, Sky Restaurant, and TGI Fridays.  Money raised through the raffle will help offset league expenses, which this year will include the purchase of a memorial bench to be placed at the ball field in honor of Dan Burgess, a league founder who died suddenly on March 25th at the age of 20. League organizers also plan to support scholarship efforts in Burgess’s name. Buoying the league’s fundraising efforts are a group of young Wayland women, known as the WayCo Ladies. They will be selling tickets around town during the next several weeks or you may contact them at: waycoladies@gmail.com or 508-572-5152. WayCo Softball is on the web at: www.waycosoftballleague.com 

6/26/08:  Visit Sudbury Valley Trustees properties in Wayland.  Sudbury Valley Trustees is a land conservation group founded in 1953, by seven Wayland Residents. It is dedicated to protecting and preserving open spaces in the 36-towns that are in the Concord, Assabet and Sudbury River basins. SVT properties extend as far north as Lowell and Tewksbury and as far south as Upton and Holliston. SVT manages over 3,000 acres of land in this area including over 500 acres in Wayland!  The Wayland properties that are listed on this flyer are open to the public at no charge. They are wonderful places to take your children for a lazy summer afternoon picnic and stroll.

6/26/08:  The Massachusetts Environmental Trust is launching a new “Land and Water Conservation” license plate that will support the conservation of land critical to the protection of the Commonwealth’s water resources. Similar plates in other states have conserved tens of thousands of acres in recent years through funds raised. This new tool for land conservation is needed here now more than ever. To learn more, please visit the Trust’s website at www.MassEnvironmentalTrust.org or www.masslandandwater.com.

6/6/08:  Wayland Public Schools Foundation's Hats Off Campaign runs through June 13.  For almost 25 years, the Wayland Public Schools Foundation has supported teachers by funding classroom innovations and create units of study not covered by the regular school budget.  Make a donation to the Wayland Public Schools Foundation is a perfect way to acknowledge your children's teachers and conforms to the gift-giving policy distributed by Superintendent Gary Burton.  All donations to Hats Off (Honor and Appreciate Teachers and Staff) are earmarked for professional development, providing opportunities for Wayland teachers to stay abreast of educational trends and new approaches that will inspire great teaching and learning.  Donations also qualify for matching gifts at participating companies.  To donate, visit the Wayland Public Schools Foundation's website.  Certificates can be ordered and paid for online and or downloaded and mailed to: P.O. Box 97, Wayland Public Schools Foundation, Wayland, MA 01778.  An acknowledgement certificate will be sent to designated teachers and/or administrators with your name and personal greeting.  The donation amount will not be disclosed.  The deadline for Hats Off donations is Friday, June 13.  For late submissions, delivery of acknowledgement certificates cannot be guaranteed before the end of the school year.  For more information, contact Carmela Wise or Sohie Lee.

5/31/08:  The Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition is hosting a fundraiser called Against the Tide, at Hopkinton State Park, June 21, 7:30am-12pm. The event supports research for the prevention of breast cancer. Individuals and teams are welcome to participate in a one-mile swim, two-mile kayak race and/or three-mile fitness walk! All contributions (minimum of $150 to participate) will directly benefit MBCC and its sister organization Silent Spring Institute. Help us work towards prevention of the disease, and support those afflicted. Every little bit counts. For more information, please contact Jennings Culver at culverj@dickinson.edu  or 1-774-270-0306.

5/23/08:  Your donation turns innovation into award-winning reality.

5/15/08:  The Pan Mass Challenge Kids Rides need tons, teens and inbetweens to spin their wheels to raise money for cancer research and treatment.  Rides will be held around New England in June, each offering a way for kids to become part of the PMC mission.  Post-ride parties feature DJs, refreshments, face painting, and silent auctions.  Proceeds from the PMC Kids Rides will benefit the Pan-Massachusetts Challenge, which supports cancer treatment at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute through its Jimmy Fund.  PMS Kids Rides involve young people in volunteerism and fundraising in a safe and athletic way.  Contributions can be made payable to the Pan-Mass Challenge.  To register, visit http://kids.pms.org.  For more information, call 781-449-5300.  Local rides include PMC Wellesley-Weston (Sunday, June 1, ages 3-13), and PMC Natick (Sunday, June 1, ages 3-12), PMC Upton (Saturday, June 21), Wildwood Challenge (Medfield, Saturday, June 21).

3/28/08:  Tom and Laurie Antonellis are walking in the AIDS Walk Africa 2008.  AIDS Walk Afrcia 2008. AIDS Walk Africa is one of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation's most important fundraising and awareness-building events, and for the first time ever will be held in Swaziland, home to one of the world's fiercest AIDS epidemics. To sponsor them, donations can be made either by cash, credit card or a check made payable to the “Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation” with a notation of Team Antonellis in the memo line. Any amount large or small is greatly appreciated. Please mail your contributions to: Team Antonellis, 212 Oxbow Road, Wayland, MA 01778, and they will forward your checks to the Foundation. If you prefer, you can make a secure donation online.  Your contribution is fully tax-deductible.  (If you are interested in helping us with our airfare or donating airline miles, please contact us as soon as possible.)

3/11/08:  The Fresh Air Fund is seeking host families in the Wayland area to open their homes to a New York City child for two weeks this summer.  Since 1877, the Fund has given more than 1.7 million youngsters the opportunity to enjoy the simple pleasures of summer in suburban and rural communities.  For more information, contact Penny Beer at 508-358-4437 or call the Fresh Air Fund at 800-367-0003.

11/26/06:  The Wayland Charitable Committee provides short-term, emergency help to Wayland residents in financial need. Recipients must have lived in Wayland for at least one year. Payment is made directly to vendors or the suppliers of services. Assistance is provided for utilities, rent, medicine and pharmaceutical needs, food, clothing, and many other items.  Applicant’s names are kept in confidence. The degree of financial disclosure depends on the size of the request. Residents in need of financial help are encouraged to contact the Committee’s answering machine at 508-358-3624.

There are many opportunities to help at the Wayland Council on Aging.  Click here for details

1/1/08:  ESOL Tutors Needed. The Wayland Library has sponsored an ESOL Program for 18 years that has trained over 200 tutors. We have a waiting list of learners who need help, but right now lack corresponding number of volunteers willing to tutor these students a couple of hours a week. Training classes for new tutors have been scheduled at the library on five Thursday mornings starting on January 17. No teaching experience or foreign language ability is required in order to be a tutor. We will train you, painlessly, even enjoyably, to offer this service to someone who really needs help. You will work one-on-one with adults who desire to improve their abilities in spoken and written English. For more information, please call Ginny Steel at 508-358-7517.

9/27/07: Volunteers needed to help struggling readers at the elementary level. All three Wayland elementary schools are looking for volunteers for two days/week for 30 minutes/day to listen to and support the most challenged readers in the class. During each 30-minute session, the child and volunteer will be engaged in reading books at the student's independent level. Enjoy this very rewarding experience helping children succeed in reading! If you are interested in this volunteer opportunity, please contact Jennifer Needham, Reading Specialist, at (781) 246-8561. A CORI check will be required.

Wayland's Pandemic Flu Task force seeks volunteers.  If you are interested in serving your community, please e-mail either Arnold Soslow, MD (a.soslow@comcast.net) or Steven Locke, MD (slocke@hms.harvard.edu). Let us know in what capacity you would like to serve. Please provide your name and address, and describe how your neighborhood defines itself (such as Happy Hollow, Claypit, Cochituate, Damon Farms, Mainstone, etc.). We also need your contact phone numbers and areas of expertise (e.g. information, pharmacy/medication, medical, nursing, medical assistants, physician assistants, nutritional, educational, food service, veterinarian or bereavement). We are also seeking donations of a personal computer and software (Windows XP, Word, Excel, Access) for our Pandemic Flu E-Mail Registry. Someone skilled in Web page design and development would be greatly appreciated, as we need to set up an interactive Wayland Pandemic Flu Web site.