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May 2018
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Patti Dubielak. Director, Marketing and Development
Email: p.dubielak@minutemansenior.org   Phone: 781-221-7015

Minuteman Senior Services awarded Grant from Cummings Foundation

Minuteman Senior Services is one of 33 local nonprofits awarded a total of $10 million from Cummings Foundation through its new Sustaining Grants program, which provides funding for up to 10 years. Kelly Magee Wright, Executive Director and Patti Dubielak, Director of Marketing and Development represented the nonprofit at a May 3 awards night at TradeCenter 128 in Woburn.

“We are truly appreciative of the support from the Cummings Foundation over the past few years and we are honored and humbled to have been selected by the Foundation for this Sustaining Grant” said Kelly Magee Wright, Executive Director, “We recognize the commitment of Bill and Joyce to local philanthropy. Their efforts have had immeasurable impact in building healthier communities”.

Minuteman Senior Services helps seniors and people with disabilities live in the setting of their choice by engaging community resources and supporting caregivers. Their service area includes 16 communities north and west of Boston, and they provide programs such as Meals on Wheels, in-home assistance, Medicare health benefits counseling, bill paying assistance, elder protective services and more.

These grant funds will be put right to work in the agency’s Healthy Connections program, which includes Meals on Wheels, SHINE Health Benefits Counseling, and evidence-based Healthy Living workshops. All three services are part of the agency’s strategy to reduce barriers to independent living and this funding will help minimize or even eliminate the need for waiting lists for these services.

The Sustaining Grants program builds on Cummings Foundation’s $100K for 100 program. First offered in 2012, $100K for 100 annually awards $10 million through multi-year grants of $100,000 each to 100 nonprofits that are based in and primarily serve Essex, Middlesex, and Suffolk counties. Grant recipients that received their final grant disbursements in 2017 were automatically considered for the Sustaining Grants initiative in 2018.

“Long-term financial support is rare for nonprofits, making fundraising a constant and time-consuming task for organizations like Minuteman Senior Services” said Joyce Vyriotes, deputy director of Cummings Foundation. “The Sustaining Grants are intended to provide some relief, allowing them to focus more of their time and energy on delivering and enhancing their important services.”

Sustaining Grants winners were selected primarily by a 40-member volunteer committee, which included former state legislators, CEOs of companies and organizations in Greater Boston, and a retired justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, among many others. Committee members conducted two site visits with each nonprofit to learn how the $100K for 100 funds helped to advance its mission, and how it might put a 10-year grant to use.

The complete list of 33 grant winners is available at www.CummingsFoundation.org.

Cummings Foundation has already awarded more than $200 million to date in Greater Boston alone, and it will award an additional $200 million over the next 10 years through the $100K for 100 and the Sustaining Grants programs.

About Cummings Foundation
Woburn-based Cummings Foundation, Inc. was established in 1986 by Joyce and Bill Cummings. The Foundation directly operates its own charitable subsidiaries, including New Horizons retirement communities in Marlborough and Woburn. Its largest single commitment to date has been to Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University. Additional information is available at www.CummingsFoundation.org.

Minuteman Award Cummings Foundation Sustaining Grant

PHOTO: Joyce Cummings; Kelly Magee Wright, Minuteman Senior Services Executive Director; Patti Dubielak, Minuteman’s Director of Marketing and Development; and Bill Cummings gather to celebrate Minuteman being a Cummings Sustaining Grant recipient