Left to right: The late Paul Farmer, Bill Cummings, Didi Bertrand Farmer and Joyce Cummings pose for a photo at the 2019 dedication of the University of Global Health Equity in Rwanda. The Cummings recently gave $50 million to the university and to the Paul Farmer Collaborative of Harvard Medical School to honor Farmer's life and work.
BayCoast Bank
Swansea-based BayCoast Bank announced an unspecified donation to the Stoico/FIRSTFED YMCA in Swansea to help fund a 2,400-square-foot splash pad at the center, scheduled to open this year.
Citizens
Citizens and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston hosted painting pop-ups ahead of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day throughout the city of Boston. The two institutions invited community members and the general public to add their creative touch to a mural made by teens from Artists for Humanity. The mural will be completed during the MFA’s annual, free MLK Day open house Monday. The open house has been sponsored by Citizens for the last 21 years.
Cummings Properties
Cummings Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Woburn commercial real estate firm Cummings Properties, gave $50 million to will expand the work of late global health champion Dr. Paul Farmer, by establishing the Paul Farmer Collaborative of Harvard Medical School and Rwanda’s University of Global Health Equity. The collaborative will create student and faculty exchanges, joint research, an annual global conference and clinical training opportunities. Cummings Foundation also gave $2 million to the latter to fund the construction of housing on its rural campus to accommodate visiting faculty, a project designed in part by Cummings’ in-house design team.
PeoplesBank
For a second year in a row, Holyoke-based PeoplesBank says it has set a new annual record for donations to civic and charitable causes. The bank tallied $2.3 million for in donations for 2022, $1 million dollars more than last year’s record. Since 2011, the bank has donated well over $13 million to area causes.
Webster Five
Webster Five recently donated $25,000 to African Community Education (ACE), a Worcester organization dedicated to assisting African refugees and immigrant youth and families in achieving educational and social stability. The donation will go towards their campaign to renovate the new ACE Center and expand program access.
