Harwich Fund Awards $21,500 Supporting Local Nonprofits

HARWICH – The Cape Cod Foundation’s Harwich Fund recently doled out $21,500 for nine local nonprofits serving vital community needs, including protection from the cold winter elements.

The grant awards are as follows:

• The Harwich Children’s Fund will receive $5,000 to support its Winter Outerwear Drive, providing new winter coats, boots, mittens, and hats for youth ages 1-18.
• Behavioral Health Innovators received $2,500 to support students living with substance use or mental health disorders through the Positive Alternatives for Students Support (PASS) program.
• Cape Kid Meals received $2,500 to feed approximately 40 children on a weekly basis during the 2024-2025 school year through its Childhood Hunger Relief Program.
• The Homeless Prevention Council received $2,500 to support personalized case management for residents facing housing insecurity.
• The Harwich Conservation Trust received $2,000 to establish a wheelchair-accessible trailhead at the Robert F. Smith Cold Brook Preserve.
• The Alzheimer’s Family Support Center received $2,000 to support bi-monthly caregiver support groups as part of its efforts to help individuals with Alzheimer’s and related disorders and their families.
• Harwich Jr. Theatre/Cape Cod Theater Company received $2,000 to offer a town-read and produce a youth play based on a popular children’s book, with an in-class theater education component.
• The Lower Cape Outreach Council received $2,000 to purchase 80 winter coats for Harwich youth and seniors.
• The new nonprofit Grateful Mug Café received $1,000 to help open and operate a café employing students and alumni with intellectual, developmental, and physical disabilities.

“Through generous donations from a growing network of individual donors, we have now awarded $76,000 in grants to help strengthen the critical framework that supports the Harwich community since the fund was established,” said Brian Scheld, Chair of the Harwich Fund Advisory Committee, who acknowledged more work must be done to meet town needs.

“While our Harwich Helping Harwich strategy has made an impact in our community,” he said, “the grant requests we receive from the nonprofit sector serving Harwich residents are more than twice the funds we have available for grant making. That’s why future fundraising is critical.”

To learn more about The Harwich Fund, click here.