Cummings Properties Awards Grants To 17 Beverly Nonpofits

BEVERLY, MA — Seventeen Beverly organizations shared in $23,000 that Cummings Properties recently awarded through its annual Cummings Community Giving initiative.

Cummings employees are invited to select a local organization for a $1,000 contribution Five Beverly organizations received between $2,000 and $3,000 and 12 got $1,000.

In 2021, participants directed $518,000 to 335 nonprofits in 98 state cities and towns. The giving program has donated more than $4 million to local organizations over the past 10 years.

Beverly Bootstraps, Beverly Main Streets, Beverly High School, Express Yourself and Harborlight Community Partners received between $2,000 and $3,000.

Cummings associate account manager Helen Jeffers designated her $1,000 to Express Yourself, a Beverly organization that provides art-immersion programs for at-risk youth.

"I used to work for Express Yourself and I still volunteer there because of the great work that it does," Jeffers said. "I appreciate the opportunity that Cummings gives me to give back in a way that make me feel so good."

The following Beverly nonprofits received $1,000 each: Ayers Ryal Side Elementary School, Beverly Education Foundation, Beverly Fire Department, Beverly Middle School, Beverly Recreation Department, Build Health International, Cabot Performing Arts Center, Ellis Square Friends, Medical Missions for Children, Riley Rocks Memorial Foundation, YMCA of the North Shore and Beverly Public Schools.

"The Cummings organization believes that its giving can be better informed and more impactful when community members help decide where donations go," Cummings Properties Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dennis Clarke said. "By 'democratizing' philanthropy in this way, we reach many organizations that are making a meaningful difference, but that we may not have heard about otherwise."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)