Another Successful Year for Wayland Community Fund

The generosity of Wayland residents has carried the Wayland Community Fund through another year and set it up for success for several months down the road.

The Wayland Community Fund began in 1997 as a means "to provide short-term, emergency financial assistance to Wayland residents," according to the website. In the past 15 years, the fund has provided more than $380,000 in assistance to Wayland residents.

Staffed entirely be volunteers and dependent on donations to do its work, the fund found itself severely depleted and in danger of suspending its operations in late 2011. An mailed appeal to 5,000 Wayland residents, however, hit a cord and donations came pouring in.

"You never know who is going to contribute," fund Chairman Mike Patterson told Patch after the appeal. "When the chips are down, Wayland residents did come through."

Now 18 months since that 2011 appeal, Patterson said in a letter that Wayland residents have continued to "come through."

"People who had helped us in the fall of 2011, continued to remember us and this year we have received enough unsolicited contributions to carry us well into FY 2014," Patterson wrote in a letter to media. "

The fund assisted individuals this year in paying everything from rent to medical expenses, though it was most often called upon to assist with paying utility bills.

Sixty percent of the requests the fund received in the past year were for assistance paying utility bills. Another 19 percent of requests were for rent assistance, 16 percent were for medical expenses, and miscellaneous items such as food and children's clothing make up the remainder of the requests, according to Patterson's letter.

Patterson said that the fund's dollars should last until at least fall 2013 and he doesn't want to send out appeals for funds until absolutely necessary.

"We are a small organization, and we tend to live on the edge," he wrote.

Patterson thanked the many people who have contributed to the fund's successful year and asked that they continue to think of the Wayland Commuity Fund when making their charitable giving decisions.

"We receive no funds from the town of Wayland, and we have no operating or administrative costs," Patterson wrote. "Every penny you contribute goes directly to helping a Wayland resident in financial need."

To contribute to the Wayland Community Fund, tax deductible contributions can be sent to: The Wayland Community Fund c/oThe Treasurer/Collector’s Office, Wayland Town Building, 41 Cochituate Road, Wayland MA 01778.