LYNN – Raw Art Works (RAW) is one of 130 local nonprofits to receive grants of $100,000 each through Cummings Foundation’s $20 Million Grant Program. The Lynn-based organization was chosen from 738 applicants during a competitive review process.
RAW is a youth arts organization, rooted in art therapy. At its core, RAW believes that all kids should be seen and heard and that everyone has a story to tell. RAW offers a variety of free programming from painting to filmmaking, for kids ages 7-19. RAW uses art to ask kids “what is really going on” in their lives, giving them the tools to create in unexpected ways, and envision new possibilities for their future.
RAW’s Executive Director, Kit Jenkins, said “The Cummings Foundation continues to transform neighborhoods of Greater Boston. The Foundation invests in organizations uniquely positioned to meet the needs of the community, and in doing so, becomes a true partner in sustaining and deepening critical impact.”
“RAW will use funding from Cummings Foundation to expand and deepen opportunities for the more than 400 youth annually to access RAW’s free, arts-based, out-of-school-time programs that support resiliency, self-efficacy, community/civic engagement, and post-secondary success. A grant will also usher in RAW’s 2020 strategic plan, which will guide our exciting next phase in deepened youth impact, adapting our plans and work to the ‘new normal’ created by the pandemic,” Jenkins said.
“Multi-year funding is always extremely helpful to organizations as we seek to sustain and plan for work that occurs over time. However, with the uncertainty in the realms of both public health and the economy, this investment helps to ensure that RAW will be able to continue to support the young people with whom we have been working for more than 25 years here in Lynn, through the crisis and into the stages of recovery and healing.”
“We have been impressed, but not surprised, by the myriad ways in which these 130 grant winners are serving their communities, despite the challenges presented by COVID-19,” said Joel Swets, Cummings Foundation’s executive director. “Their ability to adapt and work with their constituents in new and meaningful ways has an enormous impact in the communities where our colleagues and leasing clients live and work.”
Cummings Foundation has now awarded more than $280 million to greater Boston nonprofits.
Social distancing requirements will prevent Foundation and grant winner representatives from convening for a reception at TradeCenter 128 in Woburn, as planned, to celebrate the $20 million infusion into greater Boston’s nonprofit sector. Instead, Cummings Foundation expects hundreds of individuals to gather virtually for a modified celebration in mid-June.