The Grants Committee for the Brookline Community Foundation recently met to deliberate over the many worthy proposals submitted for consideration for the 2009 Grant Cycle. 

It was a particularly tough meeting this year - as the need greatly outweighed the resources available.  As a staff member at the Foundation, it is always a privalege to sit in on these meetings, as our Board Members on the Grants Committee really take care and time to consider and research each proposal.  They ask hard questions, comb through all of the details, and take the responsibility of making these awards with utmost seriousness.  As a donor to the Foundation, this peek behind the curtail makes me confident that my gift has been used in the community as effectively as possible. 

Grants were primarily given this year to support basic needs in the community such as after school care, coats for children, and home-delivered meals for elders.  A signigficant grant was given to support the crucial work of Steps to Success, a program working to close the achievement gap in our public schools. Another grant the Brookline Community Mental Health Center will fund services to low-income residents. 

Everyone knows that times are tough.  For Brookline's low-income residents, cuts to the social services that they rely on can be devastating.  The Brookline TAB recently featured the struggles facing the nonprofits that support our community.  It's piece that's worth reading (click here).  In a community with as wide an economic divide as ours, it is critical that when we find ourselves able to give money, time, or resources, and that we keep in mind the difference it makes when you Give Where You Live.

See the attached document for complete list of grants made from BCF's Unrestricted Discretionary Funds.