Cummings Foundation announces more than $1 million in Woburn grants

WOBURN, June 27, 2013 – Eleven Woburn organizations have received grants of $100,000 each from Cummings Foundation through its new $100K for 100 program. Along with 89 other greater Boston nonprofits, they were selected from more than 370 applicants during a competitive review process.

The Woburn-based grant recipients are: Grameen Research, HILL for Literacy, I’m Still Here Foundation, National Alliance on Mental Illness Massachusetts, Resources for Human Development, Saint Charles School, St. Vincent DePaul Society of Woburn, Supportive Living, Inc., Thom Mystic Valley Early Intervention, VNA Hospice Care, and Woburn Police Department.

More than 250 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.

Anne Marsh, program director at Thom Mystic Valley Early Intervention, said, “We are incredibly grateful to receive this generous award from Cummings Foundation, which will not only allow for an expansion of services to children and families, but will also support dynamic programming between our program and other community partners who work with young children in our community. We are especially excited to know that, when we next receive calls from parents seeking parenting support or workshops, we will have those opportunities available.”

The funds will be used by these organizations for a variety of worthwhile endeavors, including providing much needed services for the elderly as well as the youth of Woburn.  The grant to Woburn Police Department will purchase three of the special new license plate reading systems for deployment in patrol vehicles, aiding in preventative law enforcement.

All of the selected charities serve local communities, with 50 percent of the grants being awarded in Middlesex County, 30 percent in Suffolk County (including Jamaica Plain, Dorchester, and Roxbury), and 20 percent in Essex County. Joel Swets, Cummings Foundation’s executive director and a Winchester resident, 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 11 very worthy nonprofits in their admirable work in Woburn and surrounding communities.”

Cummings Properties manages 10 million square feet of commercial space in suburban Boston, including Cummings Park on Washington Street and the landmark TradeCenter 128 campus on I-95/Route 128.

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.

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. Over the past 17 years, it has awarded more than $500,000 in scholarships to Woburn students through the McKeown Scholars Program. The Foundation’s 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.