Cummings Foundation Grant to GRCB for Boston-Area Youth Music Programming
BOSTON, JUNE 23, 2022 – Boston-based GRCB (formerly Girls Rock Campaign Boston), known for its music education and empowerment programs for girls, women, and gender expansive youth and adults is the recipient of a three-year, $100,000 grant from the Woburn-based Cummings Foundation. The funds will help the organization further itself as one of the preeminent local youth arts organizations.
“This new grant will help us move out of pandemic insecurity and into our new growth phase,” said Nora Allen-Wiles, GRCB executive director. “Just knowing that the Cummings Foundation believes in our mission is a huge confidence boost for a small organization like ours.”
GRCB is in the midst of relaunching its week-long summer youth sessions after a two-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The unconventional programs let children ages 8-17 pick up guitars, drums, and microphones – many of them for the first time in their lives – and then form bands, write original songs, and perform before a live audience onstage at one of Boston’s famed music venues.
In addition, the organization runs afterschool programs and youth leadership initiatives, as well as weekend music intensives for adults. GRCB’s programming emphasizes self-expression, confidence, and collaboration through music education and performance, specifically among girls, women, and gender expansive youth and adults. .
The new funds will help GRCB expand its staffing and secure a multi-use space for music rehearsals.
“We are so fortunate in greater Boston to have such effective nonprofits, plus a wealth of talented, dedicated professionals and volunteers to run them,” said Cummings Foundation executive director Joyce Vyriotes.
The Woburn-based Cummings Foundation $25 Million Grant Program supports Massachusetts nonprofits that are based in and primarily serve Middlesex, Essex, and Suffolk counties, where its affiliate, Cummings Properties, is one of the largest commercial real estate firms.
This year’s grant recipients represent a wide variety of causes, including food insecurity, immigrant and refugee services, social justice, education, and mental health services, and are spread across 45 different cities and towns. Since its founding in 1986, the organization has awarded more than $375 million to nonprofits in the greater Boston region.
For now, Allen-Wiles is thrilled for GRCB to enter the summer sessions with this new funding secured.
“It feels like we’re already performing in a sold-out hall.”
About GRCB
GRCB (Girls Rock Campaign Boston, Inc.) is a volunteer-driven music education and mentorship organization that offers innovative and transformative programming to over 200 girls and gender expansive youth, ages 8-17, in the Greater Boston Area each year. The group offers participants the chance to play instruments, form bands, and perform onstage through summer workshops, afterschool programs, and weekend intensives to encourage confidence, collaboration, creativity, and self-expression. Learn more at https://grcboston.org.
About Cummings Foundation
Woburn-based Cummings Foundation, Inc. was established in 1986 by Joyce and Bill Cummings and has grown to be one of the largest private foundations in New England. The Foundation directly operates its own charitable subsidiaries, including New Horizons retirement communities, in Marlborough and Woburn, and Cummings Health Sciences, LLC. Additional information is available at www.CummingsFoundation.org.