The college’s School of Health Sciences was selected from a total of 597 applicants after a selective review process.
The School of Health Sciences was established in August 2017 and grew from a robust Health Sciences Department dedicated solely to promoting the training and education of advanced health promotion professionals in Essex County. The school has some 575 undergraduate and graduate students who pursue majors in health science, exercise science, public health, nutrition sciences, rehabilitation sciences, and athletic training.
Jessica Molignano, M.Ed., J.D., Merrimack’s assistant dean of the School of Health Sciences will join approximately 300 other guests at a reception at the 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 $220 million to Greater Boston nonprofits alone.
“This generous grant will support a variety of activities as we grow the new School of Health Sciences, including student career development, faculty-student mentored research, and program development,” said Dr. Kyle McInnis, dean of the School of Health Sciences. “Not only will it help fund the education and career development of up to 600 undergraduate and graduate students per year, helping to improve public health and healthcare in Essex County, it will also help support a new graduate fellowship to be known as the John “Jack” Twomey, ’56 Graduate Fellow.”
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 Merrimack College 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 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 will be available beginning June 7 at www.CummingsFoundation.org. The 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 giving through these two programs from $20 million to $25 million.
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. Additional information is available at www.CummingsFoundation.org and cummings.com/book.
