The Wellington Community Foundation will host its 2018 Kickoff Fundraiser “Building a Stronger Community” on Friday, May 18 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Wellington Community Center, located at 12150 W. Forest Hill Blvd.
The event will be the foundation’s first since signing a memorandum of understanding with the Wellington Village Council.
The memorandum made the foundation’s partnership with the village official, and the foundation has since begun working closely with village staff on projects designed to improve the lives of Wellington’s seniors, veterans and youth.
“The memorandum of understanding has allowed us to do the many things we want to do for people in the community,” Wellington Community Foundation Chair Tom Wenham said.
With the “Building a Stronger Community” fundraiser, the foundation seeks to raise funds necessary to continue working alongside the village, particularly with Wellington’s community services staff in order to support those residents in the community who need it the most.
“It is all for the greater good of the community, so you really can’t go wrong,” Wenham said, inviting the entire community to attend the May 18 fundraiser.
At the event, the foundation will update the community on its neighbor helping neighbor campaign, and board members will provide detailed information on the foundation’s recent and current projects, what they hope to accomplish by working with the village and the foundation’s plans to make a positive impact moving forward.
“I think the focus of this fundraiser is completely different than any of the fundraisers we have done before,” Wellington Community Foundation Secretary Mickey Smith explained. “The focus for this event is entirely on kicking off our campaign to build a stronger community, in order to fund projects we will be doing alongside the village.”
So far, the foundation has been able to provide necessary funding for several local projects benefiting seniors and veterans, which village officials have brought to the foundation’s attention.
The Community Services Department works on the vetting and paperwork process for the projects, while the foundation gets the opportunity to raise the funds necessary to complete them.
“Community Services Director Paulette Edwards and her staff, and really everyone in the village government, have been phenomenal and extremely easy to work with,” Smith said.
The foundation’s projects, as explained by both Wenham and Smith, can range from minor home improvements for seniors and veterans to purchasing school uniforms for children. In the Wellington community, a priority has been to help senior residents as much as possible, so that they can remain living at home.
“The event’s title, ‘Building a Stronger Community,’ is both literal and figurative,” Smith said. “The specific projects to come up on May 18 will center on improving people’s homes in order for them to stay there.”
Wenham noted that the funds raised by the foundation can be used either for the work they do in collaboration with the village or for charitable projects that the foundation does independently.
“But we’re always looking toward seniors, veterans and children to determine what project will be next,” Wenham said.
Wenham and Smith emphasized the community roots of the foundation and encouraged members of the community to attend the event, even if just to learn more about the foundation’s mission and what it currently does and plans to do in the future.
“I am very much looking forward to [the fundraiser] because I think it is unlike any fundraiser in our county and in our village,” Smith said. “It will be a very relaxed and casual community event, and just a way for us to try to better inform the community on what we have been doing and what we will plan to do with funds that are raised.”
Entry to the “Building a Stronger Community” fundraiser is free of charge, although RSVPs are requested.
Donations to aid the foundation in its charitable efforts will, of course, be welcomed and appreciated.
Hors d’oeuvres, water, soda, beer and wine will be provided at the casual fundraising event, sponsored by the Boynton Financial Group; Lesser, Lesser, Landy and Smith; and First Bank of the Palm Beaches.
To RSVP for the event, e-mail contact information to Wenham at twenham@wellingtoncommunityfoundation.org. To learn more about the foundation and its mission, call (561) 333-9843 or visit www.wellingtoncommunityfoundation.org.
