Seven Stoneham organizations to benefit from Cummings Foundation grants

Stoneham Theatre, Boys & Girls Club of Stoneham, and a consortium of five small Stoneham organizations are three of the 100 local nonprofits to receive grants of $100,000 each through Cummings Foundation’s new $100K for 100 program. The charities were chosen from more than 370 applicants during a competitive review process by the Foundation.

More than 250 people, including staff and board members from nearly all 100 recipient organizations, gathered recently at the Foundation’s first annual Grantee Reception 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.

Stoneham Theatre will use its grant to add an education assistant to its staff to support the growth of its “young company,” a theatrical educational training program for students entering grades 1-12.

Debra Rafson, the theater’s managing director, said, “Stoneham Theatre is thrilled to receive this grant from Cummings Foundation. Our young company has grown exponentially over the past 13 years. The impact on the kids is truly amazing.”

Boys & Girls Club of Stoneham has dedicated its funds to assist in establishing a new Club location in Wakefield.

The final Stoneham-based recipient, dubbed Providing Stoneham Children with Resources, is a collaboration of five groups: Friends of the Fells will use the grant to expand youth programming; Music Parents will fund music lessons for Stoneham elementary school students; Rebuilding Rounds will rebuild the playground at Broadway and MacArthur; Stoneham High School will make improvements to the school’s community garden; and Stoneham Light It Up Blue will support Stoneham students affected by autism.

Angelika Paul of Rebuilding Rounds spearheaded the effort to bring these organizations together to submit a joint application.

Paul said, “In a small town, where it sometimes felt that we were competing for the same money from small, local businesses, it was a great opportunity to work together and support each other.”

Noting that most of the projects to be funded are operated by just two to four people, Paul added, “Receiving the Cummings Foundation grant made a huge impact for us. It felt like a giant validation of our efforts. It actually made me cry.”

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 Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, and Roxbury), and 20 percent in Essex County. Joel Swets, the Foundation’s executive director, 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 all of these local organizations in their varied, yet admirable efforts to assist their Stoneham neighbors.”

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. Its 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.