MassBay Community College Textbook Assistance Fund
through the MassBay Community College Foundation
Special Second Collection: March 21-22
Students at community colleges tend to be stretched thin between a multitude of obligations and financial strains.
Most MassBay students are more than just students – many work multiple jobs, many are raising children or caring for family. Many, even with generous scholarships and tuition programs, face significant financial challenges. And when money is tight, basic needs like food, rent, heat, and medical care must be prioritized over academic needs like textbooks.
When students don’t have their textbooks at the start of the semester, they fall behind very quickly. MassBay experience shows that students who do not get their books within the first few weeks of class are much more likely to drop out.
The MassBay Community College Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, raises funds to support the important work of the college and provide resources to help students succeed. Our gift to the MassBay Community College Foundation for the Textbook Assistance Fund will help students prepare for a successful future regardless of economic barriers.
Throughout Lent we will share their story with you below and in the bulletin as we prepare for our collaborative-wide Special Second Collection on the weekend of March 21-22.
Our gift will allow each of us to share in answering Lent’s clarion call to love extravagantly.
Stacey Okada, a Wellesley resident who graduated from MassBay and now serves on the Foundation Board of Directors, spoke movingly at Mass about the transformational impact of the assistance she received as a student:
Donations can be made during the Special Second Collection at all Masses on the weekend of March 21-22.
Please make checks payable to your parish (“St. John Parish” or “St. Paul Parish”), with “Lenten Gift 2026” in the memo. Checks may also be mailed to the Collaborative Business Office (39 Washington St. Wellesley, MA 02481) or dropped at either parish office during business hours.
Last weekend, Stacey Okada, a Wellesley resident who graduated from MassBay and now serves on the Foundation Board of Directors, spoke movingly about the transformational impact of the support and financial assistance she received as a student: I'm Stacey Okada, and I've been on the Foundation Board of Directors for about five years now. But… my connection to MassBay began in 2013 when I, having just had a baby ten weeks prior, and while also raising a toddler, enrolled as a student in the MassBay Biotech program. That decision, along with a professor who saw something in me and steered ...
The MassBay Community College Foundation believes strongly that education is a powerful door to the future. Right now, many bright, hardworking students are walking through that door at MassBay. There are students eager to build careers in jobs that will one day serve our local community - as nurses, first responders, automotive technicians, and Early Childhood educators, to name a few. There are recent high school graduates whose two years at MassBay will provide a head start in earning a four-year degree at a significant savings. Others are changing careers and need to gain specific skills in areas like health ...
When people think about the cost of college, they usually think about tuition. For many MassBay students, tuition is only part of the cost. The bigger challenges, that make learning hard, often include transportation to and from campus, heat, health care, access to food, a safe place to live, and textbooks. Books often cost $100-$300 per book each semester. Students often tell us, “I had to choose between buying groceries and buying textbooks.” When students do not have their textbooks books at the start of the semester, they fall behind very quickly. MassBay experience shows that students who do not ...
Many of us picture college in a familiar way. We think of dorm rooms, meal plans, walking to class, and maybe a part-time job for extra money. For those who went to college this way, the basics were covered, and that made learning easier. For most students at MassBay Community College, college looks very different. These students balance more than schoolwork. Many are working full or part-time jobs. Some are raising children or caring for parents. Many are doing all of this at once. They travel to campus with full lives behind them and show up ready to learn ...
Each year, in preparing for Lent, we reach out as a community to one particular place of need through our Lenten Gift. This year, we will stay very close to home, reaching into our own backyard to help students at our local community college be able to focus on their studies without undue financial stress. Students at community colleges tend to be stretched thin between a multitude of obligations and financial strains ...
