Backyard Growers is the proud recipient of a Cummings Foundation $100K for 100 grant!

Backyard Growers is one of 100 local nonprofits to receive grants of $100,000 each through Cummings Foundation’s “$100K for 100” program. The Gloucester-based organization was chosen from a total of 549 applicants during a competitive review process.

Backyard Growers is a grassroots organization helping to reshape Gloucester’s relationship with food and healthy eating. We provide resources and support to establish vegetable gardens at homes, housing communities, organizations, and schools, and provide learning opportunities in growing and preparing fresh produce in order to create life-long gardeners inspired by the power of growing and eating one’s own food.

Representing Backyard Growers, Lara Lepionka, Executive Director, and Anna Swanson, Community Programs Manager, will join approximately 300 other guests at a reception at TradeCenter 128 in Woburn to celebrate the $10 million infusion into Greater Boston’s nonprofit sector. With the conclusion of this grant cycle, Cummings Foundation has now awarded more than $170 million to local nonprofits alone.

“We are thrilled to be among the 100 organizations receiving this generous funding from the Cummings Foundation,” said Lara Lepionka. “This grant will make it possible for Backyard Growers to increase the number of children and families we serve, and expand gardening resources in Gloucester. We’re so excited to have the support we need to help more people learn how to grow their own fresh, healthy food.”

Backyard Growers will use the Cummings Foundation money to expand their signature Salad Days School Garden program into new school districts in Massachusetts, develop new garden education programs at O’Maley Innovation Middle School, and expand community gardening resources in Gloucester for low- to moderate-income families and older adults.

The $100K for 100 program supports nonprofits that are not only based in but also primarily serve Middlesex, Essex, and Suffolk counties. This year, the program is benefiting 35 different cities and towns within the Commonwealth.

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 more than 10 million square feet of space, the majority of which exclusively benefits the Foundation.

“Nonprofit organizations like Backyard Growers are vital to 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 efforts.”

This year’s 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 is available at www.CummingsFoundation.org.

About Backyard Growers

Founded in 2010 by urban farmer Lara Lepionka as a way to help her neighbors stretch their budgets by growing their own food, Backyard Growers has grown exponentially to include a suite of programs serving students in the Gloucester Schools and a broad segment of Gloucester’s low- to moderate-income residents with a focus on serving children and their families. Since 2010, Backyard Growers has built over 200 new garden beds in Gloucester, serving over 2,500 individuals.

About Cummings Foundation

Woburn-based Cummings Foundation, Inc, was established in 1986 by Joyce and Bill Cummings of Winchester. With assets exceeding $1.4 billion, it is one of the largest foundations in New England. The Foundation directly operates its own charitable subsidiaries, including two New Horizons retirement communities, in Marlborough and Woburn. Its largest single commitment to date was $50 million to Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University. Additional information is available at www.cummingsfoundation.org

Gun violence affects individuals, families and friends. But it also affects entire communities. Help us show that as a community we are willing to stand up against gun violence.

Origami cranes are a symbol of hope and healing. Each crane is a prayer, a thought, a remembrance. Every crane folded is an action.

Orange is the color of National Gun Violence Awareness Day. Read about it at wearorange.org. We are making orange cranes to remember victims of gun violence.

We will be collecting cranes to have with us at City Hall in Gloucester on Friday, June 2 at 10:00 for a National Gun Violence Awareness Ceremony.

Cranes can be left at the Eastern Point Lit House on Main Street, Celia’s Flower Studio in Lanesville, Coveted Yarn and the Universalist Unitarian Church or delivered to Amanda Cook or brought to City Hall on June 2.

We will be having a ceremony at City Hall on Friday, June 2 at 10:00 and a vigil at the Universalist Unitarian Church at 7:00. The church will be open at 6:00 to make cranes and write post cards concerning gun violence to officials.

After June 2 the cranes will become part of the art show RESIST: The Art of Protest at the Rocky Neck Cultural Center.

Folk Life Studio’s Rose Sheehan in cooperation with the Gloucester Unitarian Universalist Church are launching a new project for Gloucester Youth.

Youth Leaders, middle-school through high-school, are invited to join a youth collective to plan and manage an Open Stage for youth performers and youth audiences.

Sheehan will serve as an advisor to the collective. In addition to many years working as a performer and concert organizer, she is an experienced educator and youth advisor.

Interested young people are urged to contact Rose Sheehan at rose.siochain@gmail.com by June 1. An initial planning meeting for mid-June will be scheduled by a poll among the participants

The Youth Open Stage Project is funded in part by a grant from the Gloucester Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.

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June is World Elder Abuse Awareness Month and June 15, 2017, is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. The Gloucester Police Department, SeniorCare Inc. and the Gloucester Council on Aging are holding a rally on Wednesday, June 14, to increase awareness of this growing issue in our society.

10,000 people turn 65 in the US every day.  That trend is going to continue for the next 20 years.  Our demographics are shifting, and we will soon have more elder people in the US than ever before.  At the same time that the population is growing, we know that a startling number of elders face abusive situations.  Every year an estimated 5 million, or 1 in 10, older Americans are victims of elder abuse, neglect, or exploitation. And that’s only part of the picture: Experts believe that for every case of elder abuse or neglect reported, as many as 23.5 cases go unreported.

Elder abuse and neglect and take on various forms. It can be physical, emotional/verbal, sexual, financial, neglect by a caregiver, or self-neglect. Elder abuse can occur anywhere – in the home, in nursing homes, or other institutions. It affects seniors across all socioeconomic groups, cultures, and races. In Massachusetts, an elder is anyone 60 or older.

If you suspect abuse or self-neglect, don’t assume that someone has already reported it. In cases of immediate danger call 911. Otherwise, you can call SeniorCare at 978-281-1750 during business hours or the elder abuse hotline at 800-922-2275 after hours.

Concerned citizens are invited to participate. Join SeniorCare and our local safety agencies in bringing light to the horrendous crime of elder abuse. Please stop by to show your support!

SeniorCare is committed to identifying and stopping Elder Abuse!

About SeniorCare

SeniorCare Inc. serves an area that represents more than 27,000 residents aged 60 and over.  We provide services to adults with disabilities and elders in nine communities. Established in 1972, SeniorCare has approximately 100 employees and nearly 400 volunteers. The volunteers and staff work to fulfill its mission as a consumer-centered organization which provides and coordinates services to elders and others. This allows them to live independently at home or in a setting of their choice, while remaining part of their community.