MEDFORD — Tufts University is accepting applications for grants to community-based charitable organizations in the school’s host communities.
The Tufts Neighborhood Service Fund (TNSF) since 1995 has been awarding annual grants ranging from $250 to $2,000 to between 30 and 40 organizations in those communities.
Medford and Somerville are the two major Tufts host communities and last year 12 Medford non-profit organizations received nearly $5,500 total in grants. Medford’s Unitarian Universalist Church received the largest grant, $2,000, to stock its food pantry. The Curtis-Tufts Alternative High School received a $741 grant to buy a table for its outside gardening program.
The Medford Public Library, for laptops for library visitors to use; CACHE for the citywide celebrations; and the Columbus School were some of the other recipients.
Thirteen Somerville groups received grants totaling around 5,000 last year. In all, TNSF awarded 36 grants totaling just over $19,000 in 2017. The other host communities receiving grants were Grafton and the Boston communities of Chinatown, Fenway, and Mission Hill.
Previously, applications for the TNSF grants were solicited and made in November and grants announced in January. This year applications are being accepted now through March 2, 2018 and the grant awards will be announced by April 1. The fund is wholly generated through donations from Tufts University faculty and staff.
All the TNSF grants go to non-profit organizations, and to be eligible, the organizations also must 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.
Interested organizations should contact the Government and Community Relations office at Tufts University at (617) 627-3780 or obtain an application at http://go.tufts.edu/TNSF.
A 10-person TNSF board will review the applications once they are received and make a decision.
