4 Reading Nonprofits Gifted $6K Through Cummings Community Giving

READING, MA — Four Reading nonprofits received a collective $6,000 in donations through Cummings Community Giving.

Each year, employees of Woburn-based commercial real estate company Cummings Properties are invited to select a local organization to receive a $1,000 contribution from the firm. The initiative is designed to give back in areas where employees live and work.

In 2021, participants directed $518,000 to 335 nonprofits in 98 local cities and towns. The program has resulted in more than $4 million in donations over 10 years.

Reading nonprofit Mission of Deeds received $3,000, and Austin Preparatory School, Burbank YMCA and J.W. Killam Parent Teacher Organization received $1,000 each.

"The Cummings organization believes that its giving can be better informed and more impactful when community members help decide where donations go," said Dennis Clarke, Cummings Properties chairman and CEO. "By ‘democratizing’ philanthropy in this way, we reach many organizations that are making a meaningful difference, but that we may not have heard about otherwise."

Reading resident and director of communications and marketing Joyce Vyriotes designated her $1,000 to Mission of Deeds.

"In light of the pandemic, the services Mission of Deeds provides are needed more than ever," said Vyriotes. "I’m so appreciative that Bruce and his team found a way to continue supporting people in need despite all the challenges of the past two years."

Cummings Community Giving is open to employees of Cummings Properties as well as its affiliated retirement communities, New Horizons at Choate in Woburn and New Horizons at Marlborough. Colleagues with a decade or more with the company are given the option to select two organizations for $1,000 each.

In recent years, the program has expanded to include longtime leasing clients, Cummings Foundation volunteers, and other friends of the Cummings organization. These participants made their selections earlier in the year, generating an additional $225,000 for local nonprofits in 2021.

More information about Cummings Community Giving, including the complete 2021 recipient list, is available at www.cummings.com/ccg.