2016 Tufts Neighborhood Service Fund Recipients

The Tufts Neighborhood Service Fund (TNSF) committee awarded grants to 8 organizations in Chinatown, 2 organizations in Grafton, 12 programs in Medford, 13 organizations in Somerville.

TNSF collects donations from university employees throughout the year and then awards grants to community-based, charitable organizations that serve Tufts’ host communities (Somerville, Medford, Grafton and Boston’s Chinatown) and that actively engage Tufts volunteers in their work.

A committee comprised of Tufts administrators, faculty and staff meets annually to review proposals and select grant recipients. In 2016, there was a total of $19,046 available to distribute through TNSF. The committee received 55 proposals and selected 36 programs and projects for awards. Members of the TNSF committee base their decisions on a desire to address the most pressing needs in the communities and to encourage expanded involvement of Tufts volunteers.

The Chinatown grant recipients:

• Asian American Civic Association – $400 for MBTA passes for clients
• Asian Community Development Corporation – $200 for workshop materials
• Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center – $300 for first-generation college students to take bus tours of college campuses
• Friends of the Chinatown Library – $200 for their ongoing library support work
• A Greater Boston Chinese Golden Age Center – $400 for a campaign on chronic illness
• Josiah Quincy Elementary School – $400 to help fitting out maker space in school library
• Ricesticks and Tea – $2,000 for their food pantry
• Wang YMCA – $300 for first-generation college students to take bus tours of college campuses

The Grafton grant recipients:

• Community Harvest – $1,000 for irrigation improvements
• St. James Outreach – $2,000 for food and services to assist residents in need

The Medford grant recipients:

• Boys & Girls Club – $300 to provide art supplies for club members who have behavioral needs
• Cache – $200 to support Circle the Square
• Columbus Elementary School – $200 to provide food for science night
• Curtis-Tufts Alternative School – $741 to purchase a table for outside gardening
• English at Large – $250 to provide training for volunteers
• Medford Community Gardens – $300 to build new gardens
• Medford Public Library – $500 to purchase laptops for library patrons to use on site
• Medford Family Resource Coalition – $250 in support for STEM across Medford
• Mystic River Watershed Association – $250 to assist with river clean-up
• Outside the Lines – $200 to support their Zen room
• Unitarian Universalist Church food bank – $2,000 to stock food pantry
• West Medford Community Center – $250 to support the “Intergenerational Jazz Jam”

The Somerville grant recipients:

• Boys & Girls Club – $250 for their video club to produce a documentary
• Caspar – $1,000 for bedsheets and other shelter supplies
• Catholic Charities – $500 to make improvements in a women’s shelter common area
• Center for Arts at the Armory – $100 in supplies for Expressive Explorers
• Groundwork Somerville – $325 to provide inter generational mentoring support for farmers
• Mystic Learning Center – $250 in supplies for Mystic Kids Garden
• Respond – $250 in toys and book for the shelter’s children’s learning center
• Somerville Center for Adult Learning (SCALE) – $400 in support for students to help start savings accounts
• Somerville Food Security Coalition – $480 in supplies for “Come to the Table” and other community meals
• Somerville High School Chemistry Outreach – $100 in supplies
• Somerville Homeless Coalition – $750 to provide furniture for their relocated food pantry
• Somerville-Cambridge Elder Services – $500 to provide emergency and weekend meals for homebound seniors
• Welcome Project – $500 for multilingual restaurant business development programs