The Harwich Fund Awards $30,000 in Grants to Nonprofits Serving Community

SOUTH YARMOUTH —The Harwich Fund of The Cape Cod Foundation recently awarded $30,000 in grants to eleven nonprofit organizations serving the Harwich community. Grants will provide warm clothing and nutritious food to residents in need and support essential transportation for veterans, mentorships, educational programs, and outdoor adventures for children and youth, and a new community resource, Harwich’s Old Bank Street Firehouse.

This year’s grant recipients are:

Behavioral Health Innovators, Inc., $3,000
The PASS program (Positive Alternatives for Student Support) is an intervention model created to serve students who face in-school or out-of-school suspension. Through PASS, students develop positive coping skills, reduce or abstain from drug use, gain tools to effectively self-regulate, manage their anger, set goals, maintain their physical health, and communicate family concerns all while forming healthy peer connections. Behavioral Health Innovators anticipates serving 40 Harwich students and their families during the 2025-2026 school year. 

Cape Cod Museum of Natural History, $2,500
The Cape Cod Museum of Natural History offers ongoing programs that engage minds and ignite wonder for children. This grant will help fund The Coastal Explorer Science Program which brings STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) programming directly to 465 Harwich Elementary K-4th grade students with its mobile classroom. 

Cape Kid Meals, $3,000
This grant helps reduce the number of hungry children over the weekends and vacation weeks, so they can return to school ready to learn, and to provide nutritious snacks to help sustain children’s energy levels during their school day. CKM anticipates serving 57 Harwich children and their families every week through the Cape Kid Meals’ Childhood Hunger Relief Program of the 2025-26 school year. 

Cape & Islands Veterans Outreach Center, $1,500
For some veterans, reliable transportation means the difference between regular preventive healthcare and only discovering a condition once it has become acute. This grant will go towards providing free, round-trip transportation to life-sustaining medical appointments for veterans. Cape & Islands Veterans Outreach Center anticipates providing 50 rides to 40 Harwich veterans in 2026. 

Harwich Children’s Fund/Friends of Harwich Youth, $5,000
This grant will help fund the 2025-26 “We Have You Covered” Clothing Drive. The Harwich Children’s Fund helps children in the Monomoy Regional School District with essential needs and referrals for services. They expect to help 300+ Harwich residents this year. 

Harwich’s Old Bank Street Firehouse, $2,000 
In 2022, The Harwich Fire Association and the Harwich Conservation Trust purchased the 2.2 acres of land at 203 Bank Street which housed the town’s first firehouse. This grant will help fund new kitchen appliances for the venue, which will now host events, such as educational seminars, dinners, and local club events. The Firehouse will be open to all members of the community.

Homeless Prevention Council, $3,000
Each year, HPC helps about 500 Harwich residents who are at risk of losing their housing, whether rented or owned. This grant will support HPC’s Personalized Case Management program for Harwich residents. The program provides long-term, professional, and comprehensive support to individuals and families who are unstably housed, struggling with finances, and/or at risk of homelessness. 

Lower Cape Outreach Council, Inc. $2,500
As a result of the rising cost of living index in Barnstable County, many of LCOC clients in Harwich have found it even more difficult to manage basic human needs expenses, including the purchase of new seasonal clothing. Partnering with Operation Warm, a national nonprofit, these funds will help supply approximately 110 Harwich youth and seniors in need with winter coats this holiday season.  

Pleasant Bay Community Boating – 2026 School Programming, $2,500
PBCB provides school programing to Harwich Elementary School students every May and June through Pleasant Bay Community Boating’s (PBCB) First Sail. This grant will give on-the-water experience to 25 Harwich Elementary School children who would not necessarily have the opportunity otherwise. The curriculum includes an introduction to boat safety, proper lifejacket use, understanding the parts of the boat, how wind and waves affect the course, and the opportunity to take the tiller and “drive”. 

The Family Table Collaborative – Meals for The Harwich Community Fridge, $2,500
These funds will provide prepared, nutritious meals to the Harwich Community fridge twice a week, every week for a year. Harwich residents in need of a prepared meal can come into the Community Center and take home a prepared meal whenever the Community Center is open with no registration or qualification concerns. They estimate this program helps 200 Harwich residents, mainly seniors, per year. 

 YMCA Cape Cod – Non-Summer Food for Harwich Early Education Center and After School Programs, $2,500
This grant will help fund the non-summer food expenses for the YMCA’s Harwich Early Education Center (EEC) and Harwich After School Program. From October 2024 through September 2025, they served 29 children at their Harwich EEC and 40 children through the Harwich After School Program. This year, they expect to serve approximately 70 Harwich residents again. 

To donate to The Harwich Fund, visit harwichfund.org or send a check payable to The Harwich Fund to: The Cape Cod Foundation; 261 Whites Path, Unit 2; South Yarmouth, MA, 0266