LOCAL CHARITIES DESCRIPTIONS

No one should die homeless in Falmouth, but they do. BTEO provides temporary housing and loving support to homeless individuals in Falmouth and has completed five seasons of providing stable and safe housing for up to 12 people concurrently. BTEO works collaboratively with other local resources to identify persons in crisis and refer individuals to other programs for whom their program is not appropriate.  

BTEO accepts individuals who agree to:

1.  Remain clean and sober. 

2.  Work toward obtaining more stable housing and necessary services.

3.  Seek employment when/if appropriate.    

What is gleaning? . . . .an old concept of harvesting surplus farm crops and redirecting them to nourish local families.

Boston Area Gleaners (BAG) is an amazing community nonprofit that rescues high-quality surplus that would otherwise go to waste. Volunteers distribute the fresh food to local hunger relief agencies for people in need. BAG’s volunteers have established a strong community of caring helpers and made possible this win-win solution to hunger relief.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

• BAG has over 50 New England farms as sources for fresh produce
• BAG partners with 51 food banks, pantries, meal programs, low-income markets, etc.
• Bag supplies 8 counties in Massachusetts
• since 2004, BAG has gleaned over 3.8 million pounds of local fresh produce
• in 2019 alone, it met its goal of distributing over 1 million pounds. 

COVID-19 UPDATE:  With food industry suspensions leading to tremendous waste while basic needs skyrocket, BAG has quickly responded with the priorities of mobilizing food distribution and re-engineering on-farm gleaning.

The Cape Cod Climate Change Collaborative, founded in 2016, has a mission - to reach carbon neutrality—or net zero—on Cape Cod and the Islands by enhancing communication, collaboration, and activism among organizations, programs and individuals committed to mitigating the climate crisis.

To accomplish its goals, the collaborative focuses on education and action.  Its initiatives include:

• the annual Forum on Climate Change and Net Zero Actions brings speakers from top research, academic, religious, business and government to have an exchange of ideas and resources.
• support of four action networks that are among the 21 member organizations of the collaborative
• the Climate Action Newsletter & the Climate Action Alert (both launched in July 2020)

The Collaborative’s 3rd annual Climate Change Forum took place ONLINE on October 23rd, 2020 . The Faith Community Environmental Network (FCEN) provided the focus on Climate and Eco-Justice.  FCEN’s goal is to help save the Cape from the effects of climate change while making sure that marginalized people are not disproportionately affected by the solutions.

The Cape Cod and Islands Major Crisis Relief Fund (MCRF) is a disaster response organization that provides humanitarian aid to local individuals and families. Addressing critical, long-term needs that are unmet by traditional forms of private and public disaster aid,  MCRF fills existing gaps in preparing for and responding to natural disasters, such as blizzards and hurricanes, and man-made crises such as terrorism and health epidemics like we are currently exeriencing. 

Services include financial aid for food, housing, transportation, and medical/mental healthcare and are provided in the following way:

• Immediately following a major crisis, MCRF  will disburse funds, regardless of economic circumstances, to maintain survival and well-being as needed
• MCRF funds are available to help affected individuals and families who demonstrate economic need in support of their long-term recovery efforts

Cape Cod Council Of  Churches

The Covenant to Care  program, created and administered by the Cape Cod Council of Churches maintains the Fostering a Dream Fund to help foster families on Cape Cod and the Islands realize the dreams of children and teens in their care.  Foster kids lead challenging lives.  A child is placed in foster care when his or her family is going through a crisis.  In crisis situations, children are removed from their parents because they are unsafe, abused or neglected or their parents are simply unable to care for them. 

Donations to the Fund help meet a child’s needs that their foster parents are unable to cover with the support they receive from the State.  These extra expenses include such items as: scholarships for summer camp; enrichment lessons for dance, swimming, music, and art; bicycles, helmets, and educational toys; and medical items not covered by MassHealth: 

Impact: The Fund helps about 75 children each year, with average annual grants of about $200 per child. 

No Place for Hate (NPFH) is a community organization whose purpose is to build bridges and combat bias that is based on race, religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity or expression. In addition, NPFH helps to promote respect for all people through advocacy and education.  

These goals are accomplished through:

1. community events that include lectures, film screenings, workshops, and
2. educational offerings that provide opportunities for learning, conversation, and reflection.

In times of crisis NPFH promotes appropriate communal responses.

  "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."  
 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

There are increasing numbers of hungry people on Cape Cod as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.  The Falmouth Service Center, the Bourne Friends Food Pantry, Christ the King’s St. Vincent De Paul Society Food Pantry and the Sandwich Food Pantry all work together to ease stress and reduce this hunger by providing supplemental food, thus improving the quality of life for our neighbors in need.  

Our food pantries are supported through donations of food, money, time and talents of hundreds of volunteers.  They serve through food banks, home delivery, holiday baskets, community meals, mobile fresh markets, garden plots and more!  

Support from the local communities allows food to be purchased at greatly reduced prices from the Greater Boston Food Bank.  This includes canned food, fresh produce and frozen meat. 

Falmouth Volunteers In Public Schools, Inc. (VIPS) enriches the lives of students by promoting volunteerism, creating impactful programs, and forging community partnerships. For nearly 40 years, Falmouth VIPS has provided preschool through high school students with experiences, skills, and opportunities that extend and enhance the curriculum. Our major program areas include mentoring, health and wellness, financial literacy, career preparation, and academic support.

Close to 1000 volunteers log 40,000 hours a year in the 7 Falmouth schools.  VIPS encourages and facilitates student volunteerism and community service, with students contributing a significant portion of our total hours logged each year.

The Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project (WLRP) was formed in 1993 with the mission of returning fluency of the Wampanoag Nation's indigenous language as the principal means of expression, recognizing that language is inextricably linked to cultural preservation and the spiritual well-being of tribal citizens.

The Project, which is a formal collaboration of the Assonet, Mashpee, Aquinnah and Herring Pond Wampanoag communities, ensures the survival of the language through the following programs:

• The Weetumuw School, a full-day Montessori-themed language immersion school for children from PreK through grade 3.
• Annual summer language and culture enrichment programming for children ages 6-12 years
• After-school language enrichment program for elementary school students in the Mashpee Public School District
• Credit-bearing Wôpanâak Language classes offered In partnership with the Mashpee Middle-High School
• Weekly  'Lunch and Learn'  language especially for tribal elders

Additionally, because there are no Wôpanâak books for children, WLRP creates their own, writing and illustrating and having them published. The books are offered free to tribal families to reinforce language usage and acquisition at home.