This past May, the Westfield Foundation trustees hosted their public annual end of year meeting at the Westfield Memorial Library. President Janet Sarkos reflected on her tenure at the Westfield Foundation. Since she joined the board in 2013, the Foundation has added 14 new funds, bringing the total of funds to 122. Assets under management in those five years have more than doubled from $11.9 million to $24.4 million. The board awarded over $1.5 million in grants to community organizations and awarded over $750,000 in scholarships to promising young students.
This past year, the Foundation awarded their first grant from the Betty Bogaert fund. Bogaert was a longtime Westfield resident who died in 2016 and left a bequest to the Foundation. The grant will be used by the town of Westfield for the Mindowaskin Park playground, which is currently being renovated.
The Foundation recognized three trustees who have completed their six-year term on the board: Darielle Walsh, Ray Kostyak and Jay Boyle. They also welcomed four new trustees for 2018-19: Corey Wu-Jung, John Schmidt, Lawrence Darrow and Tim Boyle.
Guest speakers, Westfield Area Youth Volunteer Experience (WAYVE) Program Directors Jill Dispenza and Vicki Simpson, thanked the Foundation for their generous grant to Jewish Family Services of Central New Jersey (JFSCNJ) which allowed the creation of the WAYVE program in the fall of 2017. WAYVE provides youth in Westfield and surrounding communities with quality volunteer opportunities throughout Union County. The mission of WAYVE is to match agencies and individuals in of volunteers with teens and young adults looking to enrich their lives through volunteerism. WAYVE is coordinated by JFSCNJ.
Since 1975, the mission of the Westfield Foundation has been to provide funding support in the arts, health, aging, historic preservation, social services and civic projects. In pursuit of these goals, the Foundation has granted over than $6,400,000 to various organizations.
Money to support the Foundation’s grants has been and continues to be provided by concerned and caring Westfield residents.
For more information about the Westfield Foundation grant or donor opportunities, please contact Betsy Chance, Executive Director at 908-233-9787. You can visit the Foundation’s website for further information at: https://thewestfieldfoundation.com.