Cummings Properties employees choose local charities for $326,000 in donations

It’s the most wonderful time of the year at Cummings Properties. Employees are invited each November to select local charities to receive $1,000 each from the local real estate company through its Employee Directed Giving program. Twenty-two Woburn nonprofits received a total of $40,000 this year.

In 2016, Employee Directed Giving resulted in $326,000 in contributions to 233 nonprofits in 92 local cities and towns. The four-year-old annual program is designed to give back in the areas where the Woburn-based firm’s employees live and work.

Each eligible organization can receive as much as $5,000 per program cycle, if multiple staff members choose the same nonprofit.

In Woburn, HILL for Literacy and McKeown Boys & Girls Club each received $5,000; Woburn Council of Social Concern received $4,000; and Friends of Woburn Veterans, Joyce Middle School Best Buddies, St. Vincent de Paul Society of St. Charles Church, Tanner Ta Ta Foundation, Woburn Fire Department, Woburn Host Lions, and Wyman School PTO each received $2,000.

Friends of Woburn Travel Basketball, Goodyear School PTA, I’m Still Here, May Center School, North Suburban YMCA, Reeves Elementary School PTO, Spirit of Adventure Council Boy Scout Troop 160, St. Charles Elementary School, Woburn Guild of Artists, Woburn Breakfast Lions Club, Woburn Police, and Woburn Pop Warner Football each received $1,000.

This year, Woburn resident and Cummings Properties carpenter Brian Foster chose Wyman School to receive $1,000. The donation was directed to his son Zachary’s fifth grade class. It will provide enrichment and field trip opportunities for all of the students in the class, regardless of their ability to pay.

“We were treated like royalty when we delivered the check, and Zachary was called a hero by his classmates,” said Foster, who explained that some families in the class are struggling financially and that he was extremely grateful that his family was able to make such an impact.

“All I did was send in a name,” said Foster. “I truly appreciate that Cummings Properties gives us this opportunity.”

“Our colleagues feel good about being able to support local charities that are especially important to them and their families,” said Dennis Clarke, Cummings Properties’ president and CEO. “And we feel good about honoring staff members in this unique way for their hard work and dedication.”

Employee Directed Giving is open to all regular full-time employees of Cummings Properties, as well as its affiliated retirement communities, New Horizons at Choate in Woburn and New Horizons at Marlborough. Selected nonprofits must meet a few eligibility requirements and be based in and serve Middlesex, Essex, or Suffolk County, or the city or town where the employee lives.

Cummings Properties has a presence in 10 Greater Boston communities, including Woburn, which is home to its headquarters and several of its properties, including Cummings Park on Washington Street and the landmark TradeCenter 128 business campus.

More information, including the complete 2016 Employee Directed Giving recipient list, is available here.

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PHOTO: Cummings Properties carpenter and Woburn resident Brian Foster (pictured front row with his son Zachary, holding the poster) delivered his Employee Directed Giving donation to the fifth grade class at Wyman School.