Legacies of love: Families choose causes to honor teens’ memories
The memories of three local teens live on not only with family and friends, but through charitable causes.
From Cape Cod’s waves to the Beede Center’s pools to mental health initiatives, the memories of three local teens may live on not only with family and friends, but through charitable causes.
As Acton and Carlisle mourn Jimmy McIntosh, Maisey O’Donnell, and Hannah Wasserman, the trio’s families have flagged their selections for memorial donations.
Forged in similar moments of grief, the philanthropic focuses vary.
“Long after the funerals are done, we have to keep showing up for each other,” said Susan Shaw, executive director of William’s Be Yourself Challenge, which the McIntosh family picked as its charity.
McIntosh, O’Donnell, and Wasserman lost their lives after their SUV and a tractor-trailer collided on a Florida highway on April 21. A fourth CCHS senior was critically injured.
The accident has sent a tsunami of grief through the two communities and Acton-Carlisle High School, where the teens were seniors. Hundreds turned out for a community memorial and individual services. Families noted their chosen charities in their obituaries.
Jimmy McIntosh
The McIntosh family has asked that mourners donate to William’s Be Yourself Challenge in lieu of flowers.
The Carlisle non-profit helps parents cope with grief and is raising funds to purchase a home in Falmouth, called The Green House, where bereaved families can stay free of charge. Donations made in McIntosh’s name will support the project and can be made at www.williamsbeyourselfchallenge.org/the-green-house.
WBYC was founded by Shaw and other area moms after the 2019 death of Shaw’s 9-year-old son William in a skiing accident. She learned that many of his young friends were having a hard time coping with their grief.
WBYC started to host events every year, including a parkour challenge day, a frisbee tournament, and a road race in Falmouth.
After McIntosh’s death, WBYC leaders said in a statement that they would honor Jimmy “by continuing to pour ourselves into this mission.” The Shaw family said McIntosh’s spirit “will live on in The Green House, where families in deep grief will learn his name and know his story.”
Maisey O’Donnell
The O’Donnell family launched the Maisey O’Donnell Fund with the primary purpose of building a new facility at the Beede Center in memory of the champion diver.
An informational page run by the Community Foundation for MetroWest, which is managing the fund, describes adding amenities such as a trampoline with a spotting rig and a dry diving board with a landing pit. The new features “will make diving safer and enable divers to acquire more advanced skills to reach their full potential,” the page says.
Fund organizers said Maisey — born the year the Beede center opened — “would have loved to use a trampoline and dry board for training.”
They envision starting with a seasonal outdoor space. Eventually, they hope to work with the town and Beede to add a roof and create a year-round training venue.
The fund is accepting donations at communityfoundationmw.org/maisey-odonnell-fund. Supporters can also contribute through donor-advised funds or by mailing checks to:
The Maisey O’Donnell Fund, c/o Community Foundation for MetroWest, 3 Eliot Street, Natick, MA 01760.
Hannah Wasserman
The Wasserman family has asked well-wishers to donate to The Busyhead Project.
Launched by singer-songwriter Noah Kahan, The Busyhead Project is “aimed at providing resources and information needed to end the stigma around mental health.”
The non-profit raised more than $4 million through the end of 2024. It has supported more than 160 organizations since 2023.
Although beneficiaries of The Busyhead Project span the globe, many are clustered in New England.
Busyhead Project leaders outlined their plans in a recent report, saying they “will continue to champion mental health within the music and arts communities.” The group flagged specific efforts in Vermont.
More generally, leaders said, “we are breaking down barriers and building a future where mental health care is accessible to all.”
“It was always a priority of Hannah’s to make sure everyone was OK,” Wasserman’s family said as they recommended donations in honor of the late CCHS senior, who studied dance for more than 13 years, loved live music, and wrote poetry.
More information and donation options are available on The Busyhead Project website, www.busyheadproject.org.
