WOBURN, June 26, 2013 — One hundred greater Boston nonprofits have been selected to receive grants of $100,000 each through Cummings Foundation’s new $100K for 100 program. These charities were chosen from about 301 selected and approved applicants during a competitive review process by the Woburn-based foundation.
More than 300 people, including staff and board members from nearly all 100 recipient organizations, gathered at the Foundation’s first annual Grantee Reception on June 19 at TradeCenter 128 in Woburn. The elated attendees accepted their official award letters, posed for photos with Foundation representatives, networked with their peers, and celebrated the $10 million infusion of funding into greater Boston’s nonprofit sector.
All of the selected charities serve local communities, with 50 percent of the grants being awarded in Middlesex County, 30 percent in Suffolk (including Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, and Roxbury), and 20 percent in Essex County. Joel Swets, the Foundation’s executive director, noted that the narrow geographic priority area reflects a desire to give back in the areas where the grant funds were derived.
Swets explained, “As the primary beneficiary of commercial real estate firm Cummings Properties, the Foundation is very committed to the 10 communities in which the firm manages buildings, as well as the hometowns of its 350 staff members. We are delighted to support these very worthy organizations in their admirable efforts to improve our local communities.”
The diverse group of grant recipients represents a wide variety of causes, including underserved populations, education, healthcare, homelessness, and social justice. Many of the grants will be paid over two to five years. A full list of grantee organizations along with brief descriptions of the projects funded is available at www.cummingsfoundation.org/oneworldboston/grant_recipients.htm.
About Cummings Foundation
Woburn-based Cummings Foundation, Inc. was established in 1986 by Joyce and Bill Cummings of Winchester, Mass. With assets exceeding $1 billion, it is one of the very largest grant-making foundations in New England. The Foundation directly operates its own charitable subsidiaries, including two New Horizons senior communities in Marlborough and Woburn. Its largest single grant to date was $50 million to Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University in North Grafton, Mass. Additional information is available at www.CummingsFoundation.org.