THE Fund for Wellesley becoming a reality

Wellesley residents looking for a way to give back to the community now have a unique opportunity to help get a new project off the ground. The Fund for Wellesley, which seeks donations from private citizens, is being established as a permanent fund that will provide grants to individuals and nonprofit organizations doing work in the town.

“We recognize there are donors who are very philanthropic in Wellesley... who may not have a specific project or area in mind, but want to make sure their contributions are well used and well placed,” said Susan Hurwitz, chairman of the Community Board of the new fund.

In a letter to potential “founding donors,” The Fund for Wellesley is described as “an innovative permanent resource to support deserving programs and projects that will benefit the town and its residents.”

Work on the project began a year ago when Selectman Katherine Babson proposed the idea and put together a committee to begin discussing possibilities. “There seems to be a great deal of generosity within the community,” said Babson, who was aware of such funds in other communities, and thought Wellesley could benefit from finding a way to “tap into those private resources for public projects.”

Now, the idea is coming to fruition. The fund was announced Monday night at the Board of Selectmen’s meeting by Hurwitz, Becky Epstein and Judy Salerno, executive director of the Foundation for MetroWest, a local organization that will manage the administration of the fund.

In its simplest terms, Hurwitz said, the fund’s mission is to “promote the common good and to benefit all residents of the town.”

Though the specific guidelines for the grants are still being drawn up, “As a general principle, the board will look for proposals that represent programs or projects that represent a well-planned approach to solve a problem or take a preventative approach to potential problems,” she said.

A Fundraising Committee and Community Board have been established and are now beginning the next phrase of getting The Fund for Wellesley off the ground: fundraising, establishing the general guidelines, and reaching out to local nonprofits and town boards. Gifts to the fund can be made in the form of cash, check, mutual fund or real estate, or through a donor-advised fund or private foundation.

More information will be released sometime this summer, and the fund is planning to distribute its first grants - in the vicinity of $25,000 - $50,000 - by the end of 2008.

“We’re very excited about it because we feel there’s an opportunity to do something very special for the community,” said Salerno. “You see it so often, communities that have great resources, but there are many needs in those communities... the goal is to engage as many people as possible in Wellesley in the process of giving back to the place they call home.”

To learn more about The Fund for Wellesley, or to donate, contact Judy Salerno at the Foundation for MetroWest at 508-647-2260 or jsalerno@foundationformetrowest.org.