MELROSE — Melrose-based hunger relief and food rescue nonprofit The Food Drive is one of 150 local nonprofits that will share in $30 million through Cummings Foundation’s major annual grants program. The organization was selected from among 703 applications during a competitive review process and will receive $120,000 over three years. “Cummings Foundation so appreciates all The Food Drive does to support local families experiencing food insecurity,” said Joyce Vyriotes, Cummings Foundation Executive Director and Trustee.
The Cummings Grant is The Food Drive’s first multi-year grant since its formation during the pandemic in 2020. “The Food Drive is small and grassroots and still quite new at less than five years old, so we are beyond grateful to Cummings Foundation for investing in our mission to feed our neighbors. Funding is a challenge for an early-phase nonprofit and this grant will boost our ability to continue securing the support we need,” said The Food Drive’s Executive Director Jana Gimenez. “We believe the best way to end hunger is to take care of each other and the Cummings Grant will make a tremendous impact on our work at a time when 1 in 3 people in Massachusetts face food insecurity.”
The Food Drive’s service area is hyperlocal, serving communities north of Boston including Everett, Lynn, Malden, Medford, Melrose, Reading, Saugus, Stoneham, Wakefield and Woburn which closely aligns with Cummings Foundation’s focus on local giving. “Cummings Foundation continues to draw inspiration from and be incredibly grateful for all that nonprofits like The Food Drive do with these re-invested funds for the benefit of so many of our neighbors. We are delighted to have this opportunity to help accelerate The Food Drive’s efforts over the coming years,” said Andrew Bishop, Cummings Foundation Deputy Director.
The Cummings $30 Million Grant Program supports Massachusetts nonprofits that are based in and serve Middlesex, Essex and Suffolk counties. One of the largest private foundations in New England, Cummings Foundation buildings are debt free and operated on a pro bono basis by Cummings Properties, the commercial real estate firm Bill Cummings founded more than 50 years ago. One hundred percent of all rental profits from all Cummings buildings supports community-based nonprofits and Cummings Foundation has now awarded nearly $600 million in Greater Boston.
Food rescue means recovering surplus food from commercial and community sources that would have otherwise gone to waste and redistributing it to food pantries, shelters, low-income housing residences and other recipients. Melrose family Jana, Tony and Ell Gimenez started The Food Drive by delivering food from one grocery store to one food pantry in their Honda Pilot and the organization is now fueled by over 150 volunteers delivering from 35 food donors to 30 recipient organizations. In addition to daily food rescues, The Food Drive fills the shelves of local pantries through their Neighborhood Food Drive and Community Donation Bin programs, delivers hot donated restaurant meals to shelters and offers free ‘heat & eat’ frozen meals on Sundays from their Community Freezer at First United Methodist Church of Melrose. All food provided is free, and anyone is welcome to receive it.