Boston- The Massachusetts Convention Center Authority (MCCA) awarded $106,500 in community grants and $17,500 in academic scholarships to 24 Boston nonprofits and seven Massachusetts hospitality students at the Authority’s annual awards luncheon on Wednesday, June 22.

The awards were distributed as part of the MCCA’s Community Partnership and Hospitality Scholarship Fund, a two-part program established and sponsored by the MCCA and former State Senator Jack Hart. The program is funded by revenue generated from consumer shows held at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. The goal of the program is for all of Boston’s neighborhoods to benefit from the work of the MCCA as well as to provide workforce development support for Massachusetts students entering the hospitality industry.

“A core goal of the MCCA’s mission is to be a good neighbor by giving back and supporting our community’s nonprofit organizations. The Community Partnership Grants program is one aspect of our efforts to do so, and we are so thrilled to be able to give support to such deserving organizations,” said David Gibbons, Executive Director. “The grant winners were selected not only based on need, but also because they provided specific plans for how the grant would be used to better the community. Whether the organizations are using the funds to start a new program or buy needed supplies to keep their programs running, each grant winner will have a profound impact on individuals in the community who need help the most. Being able to award these grants and scholarships to such admirable organizations is very fulfilling for everyone who is a part of the MCCA.”
The 24 nonprofits represent the following Boston neighborhoods:

• Boston – (7) ABCD-William J. Ostiguy High School; Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program; Build - Greater Boston; Peer Health Exchange; Write Boston; Friendship Works; The New Democracy Coalition
• Charlestown—(1) Charlestown Little League
• Dorchester – (9) All Dorchester Sports League; Boys & Girls Club of Dorchester; College Bound Dorchester; Dorchester Youth Collaborative; Kit Clarke Senior Services; No Books No Ball Basketball Program; Project D.E.E.P.; Savin Hill Little League; Mujeres Unidas Avanzando
• East Boston – (2) Salesian Boys & Girls Club of East Boston; Zumix
• Hyde Park—(1) Immigrant Family Services Institute
• Jamaica Plain – (1) Ballet Rox
• Roxbury – (3) Mother's for Justice and Equality; WEATOC; Sociedad Latina

When asked how her organization would use the grant, Edna Smallwood from Mothers for Justice and Equality said, “We’re having 60 kids this summer. We provide jobs for at least half of those kids to get them involved and off the streets, and also to help them build their future careers.” Eileen Paterson added in that Mothers for Justice and Equality provides solace for these kids’ mothers, saying how the program “turns their pain into purpose.”
The seven scholarship winners hail from communities across the state:

• Sutton – Zachary Corrente, Johnson & Wales University
• Tewksbury – Brenna Ferreira, The Culinary Institute of America
• Dorchester – Marshea Kimble, Newbury College
• Chelmsford – Samantha Lee, Johnson & Wales University
• South Boston – Lucas  Monahan, Johnson & Wales University
• Walpole – Hannah Mullen, Temple University
• South Yarmouth – Olivia Sequin, Boston University

Nonprofits were awarded grants ranging from $1,500 to $5,000 and each student was awarded a $2,500 scholarship. Since the program launched in 2007, the MCCA has awarded more than $1,006,000 in grants to hundreds of nonprofit organizations in Boston and $107,500 in academic scholarships to 43 Massachusetts students.

For more information on the MCCA’s Community Partnership & Hospitality Fund, please visit: http://massconvention.com/community/grants-program-overview.

About the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority (MCCA)
The Massachusetts Convention Center Authority owns and oversees the operations of the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center, the MassMutual Center in Springfield, MA and the Boston Common Parking Garage.  The BCEC and Hynes have earned a rare gold standard from the International Association of Congress Centres (AIPC), making Boston only the fourth city in North America and the 12th worldwide to have been awarded this top standard, the highest certification level a convention facility can achieve under strict AIPC guidelines.

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