Boston nonprofit receives $100,000 Cummings Foundation grant

Online PR News � 06-June-2018 � JFYNetWorks is one of 100 local nonprofits to receive grants of $100,000 each through Cummings Foundation's "$100k for 100" program. The Boston-based organization was chosen from a total of 597 applicants, during a competitive review process. Cummings Foundation has announced a total of $20 million in grants to Greater Boston charities in the past two months alone.

JFYNetWorks is a Boston-based nonprofit organization with the mission of helping high-risk urban youth expand their career opportunities by building the skills to graduate high school academically prepared for college or other postsecondary education at the credit earning level.

Representing JFYNetWorks, Executive Director Gary Kaplan and Deputy Director Paula Paris will join approximately 300 other guests at a reception at TradeCenter 128 in Woburn to celebrate the $10 million infusion into Greater Bostons nonprofit sector. With the conclusion of this grant cycle, Cummings Foundation has now awarded more than $220 million to Greater Boston nonprofits alone.

"We are honored and delighted to have been chosen for this award along with our colleagues in the field. At a critical time in the organizations strategic growth, this investment from the Cummings Foundation couldnt be timelier," according to Mr. Kaplan.

JFYNetWorks will use its Cummings Foundation grant to expand its college and career readiness program through blended learning academic skill-building and further development of early college courses that students can take for credit in high school.

The $100K for 100 program supports 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. Founded in 1970 by Bill Cummings of Winchester, the Woburn-based commercial real estate firm leases and manages 11 million square feet of space, the majority of which exclusively benefits the Foundation.

"We are indebted to the nonprofit organizations like JFYNetWorks that have a meaningful positive impact on the local communities where our colleagues and clients live and work," said Joel Swets, Cummings Foundation's executive director. "We are delighted to invest in their important programs and services."

This years diverse group of grant recipients represents a wide variety of causes, including homelessness prevention and affordable housing, education, violence prevention, and food insecurity. Most of the grants will be paid over two to five years.

The complete list of 100 grant winners will be available beginning June 7 at www.CummingsFoundation.org.

Cummings Foundation announced an additional $10 million in early May through its new Sustaining Grants, which extend "$100K for 100" funding for previous winners for 10 more years. Beginning in 2019, the Foundation will increase its total annual giving through these two programs from $20 million to $25 million.

ABOUT JFYNETWORKS
For 41 years JFYNetWorks has served the most vulnerable populations of Boston and Massachusetts by developing and delivering education and job training programs that improve the lives of disadvantaged young people by equipping them with the skills to earn a self- and family-sustaining living. JFYs academic support begins with high school MCAS prep and continues through the most critical leverage point in the educationemployment continuum, the transition from high school to college. It has produced measureable results in high school achievement for 17 years and in college readiness for 6 years.

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. Bill Cummings released his self-written memoir, "Starting Small and Making It Big: An Entrepreneur's Journey to Billion-Dollar Philanthropist," in March 2018. The book may be purchased at cummings.com/book.