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Community Corner

Cummings Properties employees direct funding to Somerville nonprofits

Last week, Cummings Properties distributed $253,000 to local nonprofits, including two Somerville-based organizations. The donations were made in honor of the commercial real estate firm’s full-time staff members, who were each invited through the Employee Directed Giving program to select a charity to receive $1,000.

The Somerville recipients of the cash awards are West Somerville Neighborhood School’s Parent-Teacher Association and KickAss K-9 Rescue.

In an effort to support local communities, the program guidelines state that selected organizations must be based and provide services in or near colleagues’ hometowns. Several charities received more than one check, thanks to multiple employee nominations. The maximum allowed for any one organization is $5,000.

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Longtime Somerville resident Damon Shanafelt and colleague Paul Bishop, both animal lovers, designated KickAss K-9 Rescue, an all-volunteer organization.

“I’ve known the founder for quite a few years,” said Shanafelt, an electrician. “She and the other volunteers have saved so many dogs from being put down, and much of the funding to make that possible comes right from their own pockets.”

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Employee Directed Giving is open to all full-time staff within any Cummings entity, including the firm’s affiliated New Horizons retirement communities in Marlborough and Woburn. The program will be held again in November, in conjunction with the Thanksgiving season, and then each November thereafter.

“Engaging our colleagues in Cummings Properties’ philanthropy has been a win-win situation,” said president and CEO Dennis Clarke. “The funds are benefiting a wide range of worthy local nonprofits, and employees and their families are becoming even more involved in their communities.”

Cummings Properties has a presence in 10 greater Boston communities. It manages the commercial buildings at 196 and 200 Boston Avenue, on the Somerville/Medford line.

More information about Employee Directed Giving, including a complete list of recipient organizations, is available at www.cummingsproperties.com/employee_directed_giving.htm.
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