Operation ELF (Everyone Loves Families) has delivered hope at the holidays for at-risk children for over 25 years. Last year, over 1,800 children, who otherwise wouldn’t receive any gifts, had their personal wishlists answered by neighbors across Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The need continues to grow. Some of our 18 trusted agency partners have already asked if we can increase the number of children we sponsor - and we need help to make sure each child’s wish is granted.

To make the holiday season a time of surprise for children and help parents make ends meet, Operation ELF matches children’s lists with people who find joy in the holiday season by sponsoring a child or children. Every child’s wish list is unique. The shelters and agencies we work with ask for the wishes of the children in their programs, ranging from infants to teens. While the identities are entirely confidential, sponsors receive age, gender, sizes, favorite colors, even the characters that delight them - Spiderman, Bluey, and Lilo & Stitch are always popular. Older kids may hope for the latest trending accessory, a soccer ball or basketball, or a clothing brand that seems out of reach. Requests always include warm winter clothing.

Operation Elf makes it easy to help. Sign up to sponsor one or more children and drop off unwrapped gifts at an Operation Elf host location, including:
Andover, Ashland, Bolton, Bourne, Canton, Framingham, Natick, Needham, Reading, Rockland, Saugus, Shrewsbury, Stow, Sudbury, Wakefield, Watertown, Westford, and Worcester, and Dunbarton NH.  We are seeking volunteers to be drop-off hosts, especially in Acton, Chelmsford, Concord, Carlisle, and Watertown.

Operation ELF also accepts financial donations.  Every dollar is spent on gifts. In mid-December, neighbors from across Massachusetts come together to pack up and deliver all the gifts to the agency partners who deliver them with dignity.

To be a sponsor and learn about donating and vounteering, please visit operationelf.org or write info@operationelf.org

Federal cuts, state budget pressures, and private funding competition create perfect storm for nonprofits serving vulnerable populations.
Nearly half of Greater Lowell’s nonprofits report they cannot meet existing community needs with available resources, according to a new survey released by the Greater Lowell Community Foundation. The finding underscores an urgent crisis facing the region’s nonprofit sector as federal funding shrinks, state budgets tighten, and competition for private donations intensifies.
The Summer 2026 survey of 75 nonprofit organizations reveals a sector under acute pressure, with nearly three-quarters reporting cautious to very concerned outlooks for the coming year.

BY THE NUMBERS:
41%  |  Cannot meet existing community demand
85%  |  Report foundation/private grant funding more competitive than ever
75%  |  Express cautious to very concerned outlook for next 12 months
52%  |  Report increased staff workload/stress
49%  |  Struggling with increased administrative burden

“These numbers tell a story about the limits of nonprofit resilience,” shared Jennifer Aradhya, VP Marketing, Programs & Strategy, GLCF. “Organizations are doing everything right—applying for grants, building individual donor programs, forming partnerships, stretching budgets. But they’re hitting a ceiling. When demand is rising and every funding source is tightening simultaneously, no amount of innovation can fill the gap.”
While the Greater Lowell Community Foundation continues to expand unrestricted grantmaking and coordinate funder response to this crisis, immediate support is urgently needed. GLCF’s Resilience and Care Fund provides rapid-response grants to nonprofits serving vulnerable populations facing urgent basic human needs—food, housing, fuel assistance, immigrant support, health and mental health services, and more.
GLCF is planning a year-end distribution to nonprofit partners, ensuring that funds raised now will reach organizations serving our most vulnerable residents at a critical moment. The more we raise, the more we can distribute.
“While these funds will be quickly distributed to address immediate needs, there is more to do,”     said Jay Linnehan, President and CEO of the Greater Lowell Community Foundation. “I encourage you to help grow our community’s resilience by adding your own contribution. Every gift, no matter the size, strengthens the safety net that catches our neighbors when they fall—and will be distributed directly to nonprofit partners working on the front lines this year.”

To learn more and contribute to GLCF’s Resilience and Care Fund, visit: https://www.glcfoundation.org/resilience-and-care-fund/.

BOSTON, MASS. (Sept. 16, 2026) – In its final release of the season, the New England Aquarium returned two endangered sea turtles to Massachusetts waters following nine months of intensive rehabilitative care.
A small crowd gathered along West Dennis Beach on Tuesday to bid farewell to the animals as they entered Nantucket Sound. “Young Frankenstein” and “Shelley Volante,” Kemp’s ridley sea turtles who received font-inspired names, stranded on the shores of Cape Cod in December 2025, suffering from life-threatening medical conditions related to hypothermia. They were the last two turtles remaining at the Aquarium’s Sea Turtle Hospital in Quincy, Mass., from the 2025 cold-stunning season.
The Aquarium created individualized care plans for the turtles during their rehabilitation process. “Young Frankenstein” was diagnosed with hypoxic brain injury, which is a neurologic disease that occurs when the brain does not get enough oxygen to function properly. In July after seven months of dedicated care that included hundreds of hours of rehabilitative treatment and a regimen of steroids, antibiotics, and gastrointestinal medications, Aquarium veterinarians decided to pursue hyperbaric oxygen therapy at Advanced Veterinary Specialty Center of New England. The twice-weekly medical treatments involved placing the turtle in an oxygen chamber where the air pressure is two to three times higher than normal. The high level of oxygen helps heal injured brain tissue. After two weeks of treatments, “Young Frankenstein” made remarkable progress and was medically cleared to return to the wild.
“Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has been used in sea turtles for other ailments, but this is the first documented use for treating hypoxic brain injury in them,” said Dr. Melissa Joblon, Director of Animal Health at the New England Aquarium. “It was remarkable to see the drastic improvement in Young Frank’s ability to navigate and forage for food, even after just two treatments.”
“We’re thrilled to see this turtle respond so well to hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Watching a patient recover and return home is exactly why we do what we do,” said Dr. Stephanie Kube, a board-certified veterinary neurologist and owner of Advanced Veterinary Specialty Center in Walpole, Mass.
The second sea turtle released, “Shelley Volante,” had severe sepsis, bone infection, and inflammation of the muscle and fat, which required advanced imaging for diagnosis and surgical joint debridement. After aggressive treatment, the turtle was deemed healthy and ready to be released.
During the 2025 cold-stunning season, which occurred from early November to late December, the Aquarium treated nearly 500 live sea turtles, most of them Kemp’s ridleys, that were rescued from Cape Cod beaches by staff and volunteers with Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. Biologists and veterinary staff at the Aquarium’s Sea Turtle Hospital collaborate to provide medical and rehabilitative care to the turtles for a variety of health conditions from pneumonia and dehydration to trauma.
Aquarium staff are now preparing for the next cold-stunning season, which will arrive this fall once the water temperature in Cape Cod Bay reaches 55 degrees. 

New exhibition brings together roughly 140 rarely seen objects and archival film with three years of research into the colonial-era excavation that dispersed them: Opening Sept. 25, 2026

WELLESLEY, MASS. (September 2026) — A new exhibition at the Davis Museum at Wellesley College brings into focus the ancient Greco-Roman city of Antioch. Opening on September 25, 2026, this free exhibition invites everyone to view objects reunited from American museums while examining how a 1930s archaeological excavation shaped what museum curators and historians know — and do not know — about the past.
Excavating Antioch: The Archaeology of an Ancient City explores Antioch-on-the-Orontes, now Antakya, Türkiye, across two periods: the ancient city from its founding in 300 B.C.E. through the 12th century, and the 1930s excavation that shaped the formation of museum collections in the United States and Europe.
The exhibition brings together more than 140 artifacts — including mosaics, sculpture, architectural fragments, ceramics, lamps, and other objects of daily life — drawn from six U.S. museums: Baltimore Museum of Art, Davis Museum at Wellesley College, Dumbarton Oaks, Harvard Art Museums, Princeton University Art Museum, and Worcester Art Museum. Together, these works illuminate the architecture, artistic production, and everyday experiences of one of the ancient Mediterranean’s most significant cities. 
Excavating Antioch: The Archaeology of an Ancient City will be on view at the Davis Museum at Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts from Sept. 25, 2026 through May 30, 2027. The exhibition is free and open to the public Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

ABOUT THE DAVIS MUSEUM
A vital resource for communities on the Wellesley College campus and beyond, the Davis Museum is one of the oldest and most acclaimed academic fine art museums in the United States. Its signature Rafael Moneo building houses collections that span the history of art worldwide, from antiquity to the present. Guided by commitments to diversity and inclusion, excellence and innovation, and access for all, the Davis is at the core of Wellesley’s liberal arts mission of educating women to make a difference in the world. With exceptional encyclopedic holdings, rotating special exhibitions, and enriching public programs, the Davis warmly welcomes all visitors, including scholars and students of all ages.  For visitor information: https://www.wellesley.edu/davismuseum/visit/directions.