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Foundation History and Scholarship
Information
Cummings Foundation, Inc. (CFI) was developed
in February 1986 as a 509(a) private foundation. The vast
majority of all funding has been internal, including the
considerable growth of CFI's investments. Its only substantial
outside funding was an early $100,000 contribution from
Prudential Insurance Company of America. It is the Foundation's
expectation to continue its mission in perpetuity through
investment growth and anticipated future bequests. Its current
net assets exceeded $500 million for the first time in 2005.
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The Foundation's first major charitable
venture was its 1990 construction of New Horizons at Choate,
LLC (NHC), a not-for-profit assisted living community in
Woburn, Massachusetts. Built from the former Choate Memorial
Hospital following its bankruptcy, NHC now houses 125 seniors
from diverse backgrounds. It is considered by many to be
one of the finest communities of its type in New England,
and served as a State model for assisted living residences.
New Horizons at Marlborough, LLC (NHM)
became a part of Cummings Foundation, Inc. when the stock
of NHM was donated to the Foundation on March 31, 2002.
NHM currently serves 400 seniors in one of New England's
largest and finest retirement communities. Located just
off U.S. Route 20 in Marlborough, Massachusetts, NHM offers
a wide array of living options, beginning with 154 very
"independent" residences in five buildings called
"The Meadows."
In 2004, Veterinary School at Tufts, LLC
(VST) became the Foundation's third major operating entity.
Closely affiliated with Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine
at Tufts University, VST supports the ongoing educational
objectives of this preeminent school, which is New England's
only school of veterinary medicine.
Directly or otherwise, William S. and Joyce
M. Cummings of Winchester, Massachusetts provided the Foundation's
financial base. Joyce is a former hospital dietitian who
graduated from the University of Alabama and completed her
dietetic internship at Massachusetts General Hospital. Among
other activities, she has been a director of Hospice Care,
Inc. and Winchester Community Music School, and president
of EN KA Society of Winchester, as well as co-chair of Winchester
Friends of Hospice Care, Inc. She is also a trustee of Massachusetts
Eye and Ear Infirmary and chaired the women's golf program
at Winchester Country Club.
Bill founded Cummings Properties, LLC (CPL)
and several dozen other corporations, and is involved in
numerous community activities. He is a 1958 graduate and
a trustee emeritus of Tufts University, and was also an
overseer of Tufts Medical School. He has also served as
an elected member and chairman of the Winchester Planning
Board, and as a director of Winchester Country Club, Winchester
Hospital and a Woburn bank. He is president of not-for-profit
New Horizons at Choate and the much larger New Horizons
at Marlborough retirement communities, and was founding
publisher of three community newspapers. Bill is also president
of Cummings Foundation, Inc.
The Foundation's Current Community Trustees
include: Lawrence S. Bacow, president of Tufts University;
Representative Paul C. Casey, Massachusetts House of Representatives;
Carol A. Donovan, former state representative; Dr. Philip
C. Kosch, the first dean of Cummings School of Veterinary
Medicine at Tufts University; William J. Mauro, Jr., retired
mayor of Marlborough, MA; Dr. Marilyn C. Morris, Columbia
Presbyterian Hospital; Prof. Jason Z. Morris, Fordham University;
and Richard C. Ockerbloom, retired president of the Boston
Globe. No Community Trustee is employed by CFI or CPL, or
by any of their affiliated companies.
Charter Trustees of the Foundation include:
Joyce M. Cummings of Winchester, MA; Patricia A. Cummings,
who is assistant dean at San Francisco Hebrew Academy; William
S. Cummings, president, Cummings Foundation; Robert F. P.
Nigro, executive director, New Horizons at Choate; and Robert
O'Connor, executive director, New Horizons at Marlborough.
Cummings Foundation concentrates much of
its funding within communities in which Cummings Properties'
staff live, and through which many assets of the Foundation
were originally derived. The largest ongoing program of
the Foundation, other than its three subsidiaries, is the
McKeown Scholars Program. This is a competitive program,
which has awarded merit scholarships of up to $5,000 each
to more than 440 local area students, through May 2005.
The Foundation often seeks to leverage
its awards to encourage other giving, or a more productive
future for the receiving entity. On at least six occasions,
it has provided the lead gift to encourage new, exciting
new buildings for the receiving entity.
Beyond the size of its $50 million commitment
to Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University,
the Foundation's new, very entrepreneurial relationship
with Cummings School should meaningfully link the two institutions,
as Cummings Foundation evolves from a private operating
foundation to a grant-making foundation over the next eight
or 10 years. In the meantime, the Foundation continues to
express strong hope that its example at Tufts will soon
be emulated and greatly surpassed by others.
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McKeown
Scholars Program
Cummings Foundation Inc.
developed the McKeown Scholars Program in 1996, in memory
of James L. McKeown, late president of Cummings Properties
and former managing trustee of the foundation, who died
suddenly in 1996 at the age of 41.
In his honor, CFI set aside
one million dollars to fund the issuance of numerous $5,000
merit scholarships each spring of $5,000 each, to outstanding
college-bound high school seniors in communities where Cummings
Properties has substantial interests. Through June 2002
CFI has actually awarded almost one million dollars in scholarships,
while the fund principal has continued to grow to more than
$1,600,000!
Mr. McKeown was a well known
business leader, widely respected for his outstanding professional
expertise, as well as his mild manner, unwavering integrity,
compassion, and far-reaching desire to provide opportunities
to others, particularly young people. He left his
wife, Denise McKeown, and two very young daughters, Kelly
and Molly McKeown.
A Woburn native and graduate
of Woburn High School, Salem State College, and University
of Vermont, Mr. McKeown also studied briefly at the Harvard
Graduate School of Design, and had lectured at Massachusetts
Center for Continuing Legal Education. He was a marathon
runner, competitive swimmer, bicyclist, golfer, and tennis
player.
Spending his entire working
career with Cummings Properties, Mr. McKeown maintained
many community roles, including service as member and treasurer
of Woburn Industrial Development Finance Authority and president
of Woburn Business Association. He was once selected as
"Boy of the Year" at what is now Woburn Boys and
Girls Club. Closely associated with that organization nearly
all his life, he went on to become the first alumnus ever
to be elected a director, and then served two terms as the
club's youngest president, as well.
Eligibility and selection
criteria for the McKeown Scholars Program represent qualities,
values and achievements Mr. McKeown embodied and would most
likely have considered himself in determining award recipients.
Some of these criteria include scholarship, excellent writing
ability, community service, reputation for fairness and
integrity, and a demonstrated concern for helping others.
The McKeown Scholars Program
per se recognizes the very top high school graduates
in most of the communities where Cummings Properties has
significant interests. To be considered as potential McKeown
Scholars, candidates must be in the upper 20% of their graduating
class, and must then write a 500-word essay under exam conditions
on a subject announced at the time of the essay competition.
All essays are then anonymously
graded, and a committee at each high school selects the
actual $5,000 merit award winners for that school, based
on essay results and personal interviews, plus other evidence
of each candidate's writing skills, community service, and
overall aptitude. Financial need is not considered a factor,
and Cummings Properties has no direct involvement in the
actual selection of any winners. All winners also receive
handsome commendatory plaques.
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