Grants Committee Supports 37 Area Nonprofits
Theresa Lungu (left), Program Manager and Pastoral Administrator at the Memorial Church, and two students prepare dinner for On The Rise, an organization that advocates for and provides daytime services to unhoused women and transgendered/non-binary people in the Boston area. Photo by Jeffrey Blackwell
The Memorial Church's Grants Committee awarded nearly $50,000 in grants to charitable organizations across the Boston area.
Over the past three decades, the church has distributed more than $1.2 million to nonprofits seeking financial support for small projects and specific needs. With an annual budget between $45,000 and $65,000, raised through the weekly offering and donations, the church has helped fund meal programs for unhoused people in Cambridge, initiated programs that provide counseling for children and families, and sustained efforts to help support low-income, immigrant, the LBGTQ community, and underserved people and families in the Boston area.
This year, 37 organizations received funding. The projects include programs that aid immigrants and refugees, local women’s shelters, food banks, and support for underserved children. The Grants Committee is comprised of congregants, students, and staff who review the dozens of applications received in the spring.
The grants program is one of several community outreach programs from the Memorial Church. During the academic year, church staff and volunteers have provided meals for homeless women in Cambridge and mentored incarcerated college students at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution in Shirley.