Tufts Neighborhood Service Funds Seeks Applications

Money from Employee Fund Dedicated to Help School’s Host Communities

The following is an announcement from Tufts University:

Non-profit community organizations in Medford and Somerville are invited to apply for 2009 grants from the Tufts Neighborhood Service Fund (TNSF).

TNSF collects donations from Tufts University faculty and staff throughout the year and then awards small grants to community-based, charitable organizations that serve Tufts’ host communities, which include Somerville, Medford, Grafton and Boston’s Chinatown.

Applicants must also have Tufts volunteers actively working with their organizations. In this way, TNSF supports not only community organizations, but also the work of the many Tufts students, staff, faculty and alumni who volunteer with them.

Last year, awards were made to 26 organizations in Tufts’ host communities. Medford organizations that received donations included: Medford Saving Lives to provide safety helmets and safety information to area residents, Medford Health Matters to provide a drug and alcohol peer counselor program, Medford Community Reads to purchase books for the literacy campaign, and Community Cupboard Food Pantry at Unitarian Universalist Church for continued financial support of their food pantry.

Interested organizations should contact the Community Relations office at Tufts University 617-627-3780 to request an application. Application materials are also available online at the following web address: http://ur.tufts.edu/community. Individual grants will be made in amounts ranging from $250 to $2,000. Applications are due by November 16, 2009, and awards will be announced before the January 1, 2010.