From the 2025 Event:

“Each year, we gather for one purpose—to lift up our neighbors and to honor the legacy of Joe Norton.

We started Believe in Community to carry forward his deep commitment to the residents of Scituate. Joe Norton was someone who always showed up. He believed in making Scituate better, and he believed in being the kind of person people could turn to when they needed support, guidance, or a helping hand.

We will continue to keep his spirit alive by helping our community in small but meaningful ways.

At our 2025 event on August 1st, we made two donations:

The first was to our featured nonprofit:  SANDS—Scituate Alliance of Natural Disaster Services. These incredible volunteers show up in times of crisis, often behind the scenes’, ensuring Scituate is ready and resilient when emergencies strike.  They embody kindness without condition, service without expectation.

Whether it’s opening and staffing emergency shelters during hurricanes, providing toiletries, clothing, and meals to those who are temporarily displaced, or delivering grocery gift cards to senior housing residents during extended power outages—SANDS is always there. Their goal, and our goal tonight, is to make Scituate more prepared, more self-sufficient, and more resilient.

Our second donation was to - Scituate Community Christmas, we’re thrilled to be able to continue this annual donation. Thank you for everything you do all year long—but especially at Christmastime.

Lastly, we want to take a moment to update everyone on the ripple effect of your generosity from 2024.

Last year, we made a donation to Friends of Scituate FACTS which stands for “Families, Adolescents and Communities Together Against Substances”.  Our 2024 donation helped a young person from Scituate access an intensive mental health treatment program. Today, this young person is doing well—still attending therapy, staying sober, graduating high school, and heading to college. Even more inspiring, they are now working with South Shore Peer Recovery to start a local support group for other adolescents and young adults in early recovery.

That kind of leadership—and impact—is exactly what your support makes possible.

And finally, none of this would be possible without our generous corporate donors who lead by example:

• To Rockland Trust—thank you for showing us what it means when you say every relationship matters.  My dad was proud to be part of an organization that cares as deeply about people as he did.

• To Beacon Hill Capital, thank you for your support. Your generosity means the world to us and we treasure your lifelong friendship.

• To Bulman Marine, a proud Scituate family-owned business—thank you for being rooted in the same values that inspire Believe in Community. Your support reminds us of why we started this work.

• And to Eastern Bank, thank you for your employee matching gift program. Programs like this encourage meaningful giving.  In times like these, employer matching gifts make a real difference to non profits.

• And finally, to Mullaney’s Joby and the entire team— Your unwavering support for this community and so many local causes is a testament to the heart and spirit of Scituate. We are deeply grateful.

And in closing…

Thank you - for believing in this mission!
For being here!
Thank you for showing up!
We will continue a legacy of community, connection and care.”