Announcement
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 26, 2022
DANVERS NON-PROFIT RECEIVES 4 YEARS OF FUNDING FROM CUMMINGS FOUNDATION
Danvers, May 26, 2022 – The Massachusetts Center for Native American Awareness (MCNAA) is one of 140 local nonprofits to receive grants of $100,000 to $500,000 each through Cummings Foundation’s $25 Million Grant Program. The Danvers-based organization was chosen from a total of 580 applicants during a competitive review process. It will receive $100,000 over 4 years.
Led by a seven-member Native American Board of Directors, MCNAA’s mission is to provide assistance, support, and opportunities to low income Native American residents in Massachusetts; and to increase public understanding and awareness about Native American history, culture and identity.
MCNAA Board Member Anthony SkyHawk remarks that “it is really excited to be the recipient of this much needed grant from the Cummings Foundation. This will greatly enhance our ability to help the many needy college students in the area who reach out to us every year through our Scholarship and Educational Resources Program. We sincerely thank the Foundation for their generous support!”
The organization plans to expand it education program to include services that provide low income Native American college students in the North Shore region with much needed culturally-sensitive mentoring, vital educational resources, and access to Native American educators, historians, archaeologists who will make themselves available for virtual student interviews for college papers.
The Cummings $25 Million Grant Program supports Massachusetts nonprofits that are based in and primarily serve Middlesex, Essex, and Suffolk counties.
Through this place-based initiative, Cummings Foundation aims to give back in the areas where it owns commercial property. Its buildings are all managed, at no cost to the Foundation, by its affiliate, Cummings Properties. This Woburn-based commercial real estate firm leases and manages 11 million square feet of debt-free space, the majority of which exclusively benefits the Foundation.
“We are so fortunate in greater Boston to have such effective nonprofits, plus a wealth of talented, dedicated professionals and volunteers to run them,” said Cummings Foundation executive director Joyce Vyriotes. “We are indebted to them for the work they do each day to provide for basic needs, break down barriers to education and health resources, and work toward a more equitable society.”
With the help of about 90 volunteers, the Foundation first identified 140 organizations to receive grants of at least $100,000 each. Among the winners were first-time recipients as well as nonprofits that had previously received Cummings Foundation grants. Forty of this latter group of repeat recipients were then selected to have their grants elevated to 10-year awards ranging from $200,000 to $500,000 each.
“Our volunteers bring diverse backgrounds and perspectives, which is so critical to our grant selection process,” said Vyriotes. “Through this democratized approach to philanthropy, they decide more than half the grants every year.”
This year’s grant recipients represent a wide variety of causes, including food insecurity, immigrant and refugee services, social justice, education, and mental health services. The nonprofits are spread across 45 different cities and towns.
The complete list of 140 grant winners, plus more than 900 previous recipients, is available at www.CummingsFoundation.org.
Cummings Foundation has now awarded more than $375 million to greater Boston nonprofits.
About Cummings Foundation
Woburn-based Cummings Foundation, Inc. was established in 1986 by Joyce and Bill Cummings and has grown to be one of the largest private foundations in New England. The Foundation directly operates its own charitable subsidiaries, including New Horizons retirement communities, in Marlborough and Woburn, and Cummings Health Sciences, LLC. Additional information is available at CummingsFoundation.org.
NOTE FROM MCNAA: Please know that by MCNAA receiving this grant, it does not mean that we no longer need your support for our other programs and initiatives.