Baystate Financial's Charitable Foundation

The mission of the Baystate Charitable Foundation, established in 1999, is to raise money through various events to support local New England area charities.  Two of the major charities that Baystate Financial supports are the DSS Kids Fund and Friends of the Children-Boston.

Department of Social Services Kids Fund

The DSS Kids Fund is a non-profit entity, created in 1999 to serve as a support system for abused and neglected children in the care of the Massachusetts Department of Social Services.  Tax-deductible donations to the DSS Kids Fund enable DSS to provide the children with clothing, toys, books, holiday gifts, and other necessary items.

Kids Fund programs depend upon the support of private and public-sector donors, as well as those concerned citizens who want to make a difference in the lives of at-risk children.

Tax-deductible donations to the Kids Fund greatly assist DSS in our mission of Caring For Kids. Contributions may be used for a variety of purposes, such as sending foster children to summer camp, giving a college-bound foster teenager a computer to succeed in school, or enabling a foster child to take music lessons or play youth soccer.  In addition to helping 8,000 Massachusetts children in foster care and 3,000 children in residential care, the DSS Kids Fund provides support for 30,000 needy children who remain with their birth families while receiving services from DSS.

Friends of the Children – Boston

Friends of the Children – Boston is an innovative non-profit organization that is hiring professional mentors, called Friends, to work with the city’s most at-risk youth.  Each mentor works with eight children, giving each child at least four hours of one-on-one time each week, beginning as early as kindergarten, and continuing to work with the child through the next 12 years.

The organization identifies children who, given their circumstances, are most in danger of school failure, abuse, neglect, juvenile delinquency, gang and drug involvement, and teen pregnancy.  In December, the organization accepted its initial group, 32 first graders from the Marshall Elementary School in Dorchester.  The school serves a population of children who live in neighborhoods where poverty and crime are rampant.

Friends focus on growth in reading and math skills, positive identity, life, social and emotional skills, moral character, work ethic and life-long learning. Every dollar given is invested into the organization. Smaller donations, such as tickets to sporting and cultural performances, enable the children to attend events that would otherwise be out of their reach; while larger donations can help fund mentors each year.

 Neither the DSS Kids Fund nor the Friends of the Children - Boston are affiliated with New England Financial or New England Securities Corp.