Friday Night Supper Program awarded $100,000 Cummings grant
BOSTON NONPROFIT RECEIVES 10 YEARS OF FUNDING FROM CUMMINGS FOUNDATION
Boston, June 3, 2021 – Friday Night Supper Program 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 Boston - based organization was chosen from a total of 590 applicants during a competitive review process. It will receive $100,000 over 10 years.
Co-founded in 1984 by the Arlington Street Church and Dignity Boston, Friday Night Supper Program (FNSP) is one of the oldest homeless dinner programs in Boston. Their small staff and dedicated team of volunteers have served thousands of warm, healthy meals to homeless and extremely low-income people every Friday night – on holidays and through snow, storms, power outages, and pandemics- for 37 years.
“We think of Friday Night Supper Program as a ‘lean, but mighty’ organization operating on a very small budget with limited staff but delivering a very important and impactful service that our guests depend on,” said FNSP Board Co-Chair, Regina Corrao. “A long-term grant of this size from the Cummings Foundation is HUGE for us and will certainly help us build a stronger organization to serve our guests long into the future.”
This generous multi-year grant from the Cummings Foundation will be crucial in helping FNSP continue to build financial stability, make necessary improvements to its infrastructure, and focus more of its limited staff time on program delivery and addressing the long-term food insecurity needs their guests continue to face.
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 area where it owns commercial buildings, all of which are managed, at no cost to the Foundation, by its affiliate, Cummings Properties. This Woburn-based commercial real estate firm leases and manages 10 million square feet of debt-free space, the majority of which exclusively benefits the Foundation.
“We aim to help meet the needs of people in all segments of our local community,” said Cummings Foundation executive director Joel Swets. “It is the incredible organizations we fund, however, that do the actual daily work to empower our neighbors, educate our children, fight for equity, and so much more.”
This year’s grant recipients represent a wide variety of causes, including social justice, homelessness prevention, affordable housing, education, violence prevention, and food insecurity. The nonprofits are spread across 43 different cities and towns.
The complete list of 140 grant winners, plus more than 800 previous recipients, is available at www.CummingsFoundation.org. Cummings Foundation has now awarded more than $300 million to greater Boston nonprofits.
