NECAT Awarded $300,000 Cummings Grant
NECAT 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 organization was chosen from a total of 590 applicants during a competitive review process. It will receive $300,000 over ten years.
“After emerging from the challenges and strain of the previous fourteen months, receiving this Cummings Foundation grant just solidifies the elation and optimism of the current moment,” says NECAT Executive Director Joey Cuzzi. “Although NECAT has been providing in-person learning throughout most of the pandemic, the re-opening of the state is allowing us to truly return to a sense of normal. We’re increasing our student enrollment capacity, bringing back guest chefs, hosting career fairs and volunteering in the community,” said Cuzzi. “There’s an abundance of excellent culinary employment opportunities for our graduates right now with the food services industry rebounding quickly. As we look to a bright future, it’s the most exciting time for us to receive the multi-year support from the Cummings Foundation.”
For the immediate future, this Cummings Foundation grant will support NECAT in helping its students and the communities it serves recover from the devastation caused by the pandemic. “We are certain that NECAT will play a significant role in this effort, helping some of those most in need get back on their feet both emotionally and economically through our occupational training,” says Cuzzi. Over the long-term, the grant will enable NECAT to expand its post-program support to graduates through extended case management and career services assistance.
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.
