Charitable Contributions for 2022
$9,000 to Arc of the South Shore, a Weymouth-based agency that provides services for children and adults with cognitive, physical and other intellectual and developmental disabilities. Many of the individuals they serve have employment as a goal but need support, instruction and skills training in order to get and maintain a job. The Arc offers skills development activities and classes in a program they call Pathways to Employment. It aims to strengthen participants’ soft skills as well as communication and social skills, in addition to providing meaningful workforce training and support. Our grant was used for a variety of tools and equipment to directly support this program.
$6,000 to Boston Higashi School, a Randolph non-profit serving children and young adults with autism deficit disorder. In its commitment to help students reach their full potential, the school uses a broad and balanced curriculum. It includes a vocational element that begins at the Junior High level with an emphasis on soft skills such as following directions and developing a sense of responsibility, and continues into High School with practical employment training. This year the school cleared and prepped a one-acre area of their property to create a farm that will provide another source of vocational training opportunities for its students, and our grant was used for equipment and tools to support this initiative.
$13,183 to Carroll Center for the Blind in Newton. For over 75 years this organization has worked effectively with those with vision loss, helping them to learn the skills needed to be independent in their homes, classrooms and workplaces. Technology features into all of Carroll’s programming, from summer training for teens to comprehensive job training for adults looking to return to work after vision loss. All require training on up-to-date technologies, and MCMA’s grant was used to provide key technology upgrades for Carroll’s direct service programs and their instructional staff.
$8,000 to Challenge Unlimited, which uses therapeutic horseback riding at its Ironstone Farm in Andover to benefit children with a wide range of physical, emotional and cognitive disabilities. Their programs also serve a range of individuals that include veterans with PTSD, teens at risk, adults with disabilities, people in recovery from addiction, and many others. These programs require various, often specialized, saddles, leather gear, helmets, and other gear, and our grant was used to purchase a variety of these items.
$6,312 to the Cotting School in Lexington. Founded in 1893 this school was America’s first for children with physical disabilities, and it now serves children with a broad spectrum of learning and communication disabilities, physical challenges, and complex medical conditions. The school includes vocational and skill development training programs to help students realize their highest potential both during and after their enrollment. The Industrial Arts (woodworking) Program that received our support is designed to give students a basic knowledge of the properties of wood, to safely use the tools necessary to cut and shape it, and to develop good work habits and attitudes.
$8,569 to Dearborn Academy, which in 2017 had to relocate from its historic location in Arlington to a newly renovated facility in Newton, necessitating a complete make over of its shop programs. Students at this special education day school arrive with a variety of concerns that include impulse-control, learning disabilities and mental health issues. Dearborn considers vocational and shop programs to be vital to their success with these children, and our grant was used to continue the upgrade and expansion of their shop programs, this year with a focus on tools and equipment for the Media Production, Metals and Wood Shops.
$11,576 to Double Edge Theater Productions, a non-profit founded in 1982 and located in Ashfield. This organization creates original theater works while also training and teaching emerging artists and interns, and the students learn all aspects of production and design, such as lighting, props, costumes and set pieces. Further, Double Edge has an ongoing partnership with the Springfield School District, through which many students from economically disadvantaged households are afforded an opportunity for high-quality creative and professional training that they might not otherwise see. This past year MCMA helped Double Edge purchase video equipment and a scaffolding system that will allow for expanded educational programming and more hands-on training opportunities.
$20,000 to the Eliot School in Jamaica Plain, which has for many years offered quality education to day and evening school students in a variety of fine and applied arts, and has more recently introduced a School Partnership Program that brings woodworking and art to more than 1300 students in the Boston Public School system. Eliot’s programs were crippled by the Covid shutdown, but they have now largely recovered. Our grant this year was used to purchase tools and equipment for a number of Eliot’s programs. The most significant purchases were digital cameras for their Teen Bridge program and replacement of an aging wide-belt sander for the woodworking program.
$21,892 to the Gloucester Marine Genomics Institute, which operates the Gloucester Biotechnology Academy. Designed to serve local high school graduates ages 18 to 26 with limited resources and no clear path to college or a career, the Academy’s hands-on technical training offers these young people a STEM pathway to meaningful jobs in a growing industry. Its “lab immersion” curriculum consists of three 12-week semesters, two spent learning biotech workflow and methods, and the third on a paid industry internship at a biotech firm or research institute. The success of this program encouraged GMGI to expand it with the addition of a biomanufacturing training facility in 2021, and MCMA’s grant was used to purchase multiple items of specialized laboratory equipment for this growing facility.
$12,280 to the Home for Little Wanderers to support programs at Clifford Academy on their Walpole Campus. Many of the children at school here (it serves 40+ co-ed youth age 12-18) have suffered neglect and abuse, and most are behavioral and moderately learning disabled. In addition to academics, the Home tries to introduce them to real-life work experiences and skills through various programs, knowing that many of these children will not return to their families but will transition to group homes or to independent living. Our grant was used for equipment to expand and improve the school’s Small Machinery Repair and Culinary programs.
$1,000 to Lovelane, a Lincoln nonprofit that provides high-quality therapeutic horseback riding in a supportive environment to achieve occupational, physical, cognitive and other therapeutic gains, focusing on children with special needs. It is recognized and regularly recommended by the Boston pediatric medical community for treatment of a wide variety of medical diagnoses. With its staff of 21 and the help of 215 dedicated volunteers they provide 4500 therapeutic sessions each year. With our grant this year Lovelane purchased art supplies for their unmounted summer programs that provide multi-sensory activities for their special needs population.
$11,599 to the MassBay Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit that assists MassBay Community College (MBCC) in obtaining grants to support and strengthen its programs. Our support was directed toward MBCC’s Automotive Technology Center (ATC), which operates at the Ashland campus and has very successfully trained hundreds of Massachusetts residents for jobs in automotive fields. The ATC’s training programs are sponsored by four major automobile brands, and provide students with in-depth automotive technology training, utilizing state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment on manufacturer-donated, late model vehicles. With our grant ATC purchased eight diagnostic scan tools that will further align their automotive training with industry standards and improve students’ technical skills.
$9,000 to May Institute in Randolph, a nationally-recognized organization that provides educational and rehabilitative services for children and adults with autism and other special needs. In 2022 May Institute expanded its special education services by opening a second school campus in western Massachusetts to serve an increasing number of students in the area with highly specialized needs. Development of vocational skill is only one of the objectives that May focusses on, but it is an important one. Our grant was used to purchase food service and other equipment to support the launch of a vocational training program at the new school.
$4,650 to National Braille Press in Boston. Founded over 85 years ago, this organization promotes and nurtures the Braille literacy of blind children and youth, and prints and publishes reading materials that blind people of all ages need to fully pursue their goals in education, work and life. With our grant NBP purchased a new BrailleSense Notetaker, a device that will be used by blind employees in NBP’s proofreading department to convert print materials into braille code.
$29,800 to North Bennet Street School, which very successfully helps students to achieve meaningful livelihoods by offering intense, hands-on training in traditional trades and fine craftsmanship. MCMA has been a long-time supporter of this school in Boston’s North End, and this year our support (equipment and tools) was directed toward their programs in Locksmithing & Security Technology, Jewelry Making & Repair, Continuing Education, Piano Technology, Cabinet & Furniture Making, and Bookbinding.
$7,253 to Northeast Arc of Danvers, which provides employment opportunities for people with disabilities and serves as a pathway for them to obtain competitive jobs within the community. With our grant Northeast Arc was able to add five cross-cut commercial shredders at their very successful Heritage Shredding business. Heritage continues to grow this business, increasing volume and adding new customers, and this new equipment enabled them to add new employees as well.
$62,000 to Old Sturbridge Village, the outdoor museum in Sturbridge that, with over 40 original buildings brought to the museum from all over New England, depicts early 19th century life in a rural New England town. In addition to daily demonstrations to educate visitors about historical trades, OSV conducts classes and workshops, partners with local vocational high schools for hands-on learning experiences, and offers year-long apprenticeships with Village tradesmen for those with a deeper interest in the trades. This year $12,000 of our grant was used to help fund the replacement of the worn roof of the David Wight House, with Tantasqua High School vocational students participating once again. Separately, the remainder was given in general, rather than targeted, support of OSV’s programs to take advantage of an ongoing 75th Anniversary Challenge Campaign that will match our donation and double its impact.
$11,347 to the Paul Revere Memorial Association, which is responsible for the ongoing care and long-term preservation of the historic Paul Revere House and the adjacent Pierce/Hichborn and Lathrop Place properties in the North End of Boston. The Association fosters an appreciation for Boston’s history with educational programs that include, among others, publications, lectures and presentations, teacher workshops, school programs, and walking tours. Their efforts to make the properties fully accessible for all visitors are ongoing, and MCMA’s grant was used for that purpose.
$7,000 to Road to Responsibility, a Marshfield organization that annually serves over 1300 individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities from all over the South Shore. In addition to its residential services and daytime social and therapeutic services, RTR offers Employment Services to help individuals find employment through community-based vocational training, helping them to prepare for, secure, and maintain their employment. It is this program to which our grant (for laptops and software) was directed.
$4,399 to The Boston Home, an innovative community in Dorchester for adults with multiple sclerosis and other advanced neurological disorders. All of the 96 residents who live here use wheelchairs for mobility, as do outpatients with similar neurological disorders who live in the surrounding community. Since each individual has different abilities and needs, TBH operates a Wheelchair Enhancement Center to fabricate and install modifications to improve wheelchair functions and maximize mobility and independence for each of these individuals.
This year TBH partnered with a local community center’s Girls Leadership STEM Program that will enable students to train on 3D printing equipment under the direction of TBH’s Assistive Technologist and help create these wheelchair enhancement modifications. MCMA’s grant was used to purchase the needed equipment.
$12,000 to the Waldorf School of Cape Cod, an independent school in Sandwich, Massachusetts offering a nursery-level to grade-8 education as well as a variety of parent-child programs. In addition to academics the Waldorf curriculum encourages self-confidence and self-reliance, so energetic physical activity and participation in fiber arts, gardening, or crafts is a part of each school day. Their very popular woodworking program had been operating outdoors under a canopy tent, a situation that presented a host of challenges, weather among them. Waldorf assessed that this program offered far more potential if a permanent, winterized and secure structure were built to house it, and our grant was used to help achieve that aim.
____________________________