MGH Institute of Health Professions Supports Several Local Charities During Holiday Season

The MGH Institute of Health Professions community supported several Charlestown charities, along with other area initiatives, during this season of giving.

The organizations the Charlestown Navy Yard graduate school supported were:

• The Welcome Home Initiative, Constitution Inn YMCA, Charlestown Navy Yard. Faculty and staff raised more than $2,700 to support the initiative, which includes a collaboration with the Massachusetts Department of Veterans’ Services and the US Veterans Administration. It provides a free, full-year membership at any YMCA of Greater Boston branch to veterans who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan since 9/11/01 and who have service-related injuries.
• Harvest on Vine Food Pantry, Charlestown. More than 100 pounds of non-perishable food items were donated to the non-profit housed at Saint Mary-Saint Catherine of Siena Parish, which serves Charlestown residents regardless of race, religion, or way of life.
• Charlestown Chamber of Commerce. The Institute sponsored holiday wreaths displayed on street poles lights along Main Street and Bunker Hill Street in Charlestown.
• Community Servings, Boston. The Institute community bought a school record of $1,656 worth of pies through the non-profit’s Pie in the Sky bake sale. Ninety percent of the proceeds goes to help feed critically ill and homebound residents in Eastern Massachusetts.
• The Home for Little Wanderers, Boston. Dozens of new toys from the Institute’s annual Angel Tree Drive were donated and sent to the non-profit which helps more than 7,000 individuals each year.
• Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD), Boston. Nearly 100 new toys were donated to the non-profit that distributes toys to thousands of local children in need and assists more than 85,000 people each year.
• A Million Thanks, a national organization. Students, faculty, and staff wrote more than 250 holiday cards that were sent to troops serving both abroad and at home, as well as those who have been injured and are in hospitals.
• A Bed for Every Child program. Employees volunteered to work at a gift-wrapping booth at the CambridgeSide Galleria to support the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless’s initiative.

“I am so proud of the spirit of giving and generosity displayed by our students, staff, and faculty that these charitable gifts represent,” said MGH Institute President Jan Bellack. “This holiday generosity is one of the many ways the Institute supports the needs of Charlestown and the local community.”

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