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Health & Fitness

Cummings Properties honors employees by donating in their names

Given its close affiliation with Cummings Foundation, Cummings Properties is no stranger to philanthropy. The suburban commercial real estate firm has recently adopted a new variation to giving, however, asking its staff members to each select a local charity that will receive a donation of $1,000 this month.

 

Started in November 2012 as “Staff Giving on Thanksgiving,” the initiative was open last year, as a pilot program, to the Company’s 140 then-active full-time employees with 10 or more years of service. Longtime staff at the firm’s affiliated New Horizons retirement communities in Marlborough and Woburn were also eligible.

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This year, however, Cummings Properties has expanded the program to include all regular full-time staff with just one or more years of seniority any at Cummings entity.

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The program, which is separate from and in addition to the Company’s program for matching charitable gifts made by employees, has been moved from November to August and renamed “Employee Directed Giving.” With approximately 310 full-time staff members eligible to participate, the Woburn-based firm expects to donate more than $300,000 by the end of August in conjunction with this one single philanthropic initiative.

 

Cummings Properties president and CEO Dennis Clarke said, “We were so pleased to learn how many colleagues involved their families in the selection of a charity last year, engaging in discussions about philanthropy over the dinner table. The overwhelmingly positive feedback we received made our decision to include many more colleagues this year a very easy one.” 

 

Selected nonprofits must meet the program’s eligibility requirements. For example, the funds may not be donated for religious or political purposes. In addition, with a focus on supporting local communities, designated charities must be based in and serve Middlesex, Essex, or Suffolk counties, or the area in which the employee lives. Organizations are eligible to receive up to $5,000 per year through this initiative.

 

The Cummings organization has a presence in 10 suburban Boston communities, including Marlborough, where it operates the New Horizons at Marlborough senior living community. In addition, eight of its eligible staff members reside in Marlborough, including New Horizons chief mechanic Tom Manell.

 

Manell, who selected Marlborough Public Schools Music Association to receive a donation through the program last year, noted, “This program affords me the perfect opportunity to connect my commitment to Marlborough seniors with my passion for supporting the students in the Marlborough public school system.”

 

Eligible employees of Cummings Properties and New Horizons have until August 18 to designate their nonprofit recipients. The company will then distribute the cash donations around the last week in August. Last year, many employees opted to hand carry the contributions to their selected charities, often with their children.

 




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