Five Wakefield residents invited to select charities for $1,000 donations

More than 350 Cummings Properties staff members eligible to participate in “Employee Directed Giving”

WOBURN, January 16, 2014 – Cummings Properties is giving back to the communities where its employees live and where it does business through a newly expanded Employee Directed Giving program. This month, the suburban commercial real estate firm is inviting staff members to each select a local charity to receive a donation of $1,000 from the Company.

Employee Directed Giving began in 2012 as a pilot program, open to full-time employees with 10 or more years of service with Cummings Properties or its affiliated New Horizons retirement communities in Marlborough and Woburn. The success of this philanthropic effort prompted the firm to extend the 2013 program to full-time staff with a minimum of just one year of seniority.

Cummings Properties has announced that the 2014 program will be open to every regular full-time employee, regardless of tenure. In addition, Employee Directed Giving will now be offered two times each year, once in January and again in August.  Each time, hundreds of staff members will have the opportunity to designate a local nonprofit organization for a $1,000 donation.

Cummings Properties president and CEO Dennis Clarke said, “We are delighted at the enthusiasm our colleagues and their families have shown for philanthropy through Employee Directed Giving, and we look forward to the participation of even more staff members this year with the program’s expansion.” 

More than 350 staff members are eligible to participate in this month’s Employee Directed Giving program, which is separate from and in addition to the Company’s employee matching gifts program. 

Selected nonprofits must meet the program’s eligibility requirements. For example, funds may not be donated for religious or political purposes. In addition, the Company’s focus on supporting local communities means charities must be based in and serve Middlesex, Essex, or Suffolk County, or the city or town in which the employee lives. Organizations are eligible to receive up to $5,000 per program, if multiple staff members designate the same nonprofit.

Cummings Properties has a presence in 10 greater Boston communities, including Wakefield, where it manages the buildings at 30-40 and 50-60 Audubon Road. In addition, five eligible staff members reside in Wakefield, including Human Resources Manager Carmen Urbonas.

“I’m proud to work for a company that gives back to the communities where it does business,” said Urbonas. “Cummings has given so much to Wakefield through this program and others, and the roster of nonprofits it’s helped shows a responsiveness to a broad diversity of needs.”

Employees have until January 26 to designate their nonprofit recipients. The Company will then distribute the cash donations around the first week in February. Last year, many participants opted to hand deliver the contributions to their selected charities, often with one or more of their children acting as the final delivery person.

While Employee Directed Giving is operated and funded by Cummings Properties, the firm’s affiliated foundation also provides substantial philanthropic support locally. Cummings Foundation has promised to donate more than $20 million to eastern Massachusetts charities this year.

More information about Employee Directed Giving is available at www.cummingsproperties.com/employee_directed_giving.htm