Wright-Locke Farm awarded Cummings Foundation $100K for 100 Grant

Wright-Locke Farm (Winchester, MA) is one of 100 local nonprofits to receive grants of $100,000 each through the Cummings Foundation $100K for 100 program. The Winchester-based non-profit organization was chosen from a total of 549 applicants during a competitive review process.

Wright-Locke Farm could not be more proud of how vibrant its education programming has become, and how many children and adults have been able to gain valuable experiences from their time on the farm, learning about agriculture, the environment, and eating more local and seasonal foods. This progress could not have been accomplished without the organization's passionate Education Director, Rebekah Carter, and the first Cummings Foundation grant the farm received 4 years ago.

This year's grant funds will help strengthen and support the continued growth of the farm's education programs, which includes the recent creation of a seasonal full-time assistant education director who helps manage and lead youth programs during the busy spring, summer, and fall seasons. The farm also seeks to offer year-round education programs upon the creation of a year-round facility, and the Cummings Foundation grant funds will certainly help them to achieve this goal when development is imminent.

The $100K for 100 program supports nonprofits that are not only based in but also primarily serve Middlesex, Essex, and Suffolk counties. This year, the program is benefitting 35 different cities and towns within the Commonwealth.

Through this place-based initiative, the Cummings Foundation aims to give back in the area where it owns commercial buildings, all of which are managed, at no cost to the Foundation, by its affiliate Cummings Properties. Founded in 1970 by Bill Cummings of Winchester, the Woburn-based commercial real estate firm leases and manages more than 10 million square feet of space, the majority of which exclusively benefits the Foundation.

"Non-profit organizations like Wright-Locke Farm are vital to the local communities where our colleagues and clients live and work," said Joel Swets, the Cummings Foundation's executive director. "We are delighted to invest in their efforts."

This year's diverse group of grant recipients represents a wide variety of causes, including homelessness prevention and affordable housing, education, violence prevention, and food insecurity. Most of the grants will be paid over two to five years. The complete list of the 100 grant winners is available at www.CummingsFoundation.org.

The Woburn-based Cummings Foundation, Inc. was established in 1986 by Joyce and Bill Cummings of Winchester. With assets exceeding $1.4 billion, it is one of the largest foundations in New England. The Foundation directly operates its own charitable subsidiaries, including two New Horizons retirement communities, in Marlborough and Woburn. Its largest single commitment to date was $50 million to the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University. Additional information is available at www.CummingsFoundation.org.