GBPCA donates $35,000 to area charities
For the second consecutive year, the Greater Boston Plumbing Contractors Association made a sizeable donation to support several non-profit organizations throughout the region. It gave a total of $35,000 to seven charities in late 2021.
“The PCA has always given back,” says Andrew DeAngelo, executive director. “But we’ve made a concerted effort over the past two years to make donations to organizations that help members of the community who have been struggling during the pandemic.”
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, the association targeted some of its donation funds to organizations focused on feeding people, providing shelter, and offering health care. including Father Bill’s MainSpring. The charity has been helping people in Southern Massachusetts for the last three decades. Father Bill’s
mission is to end and prevent homelessness with programs that provide emergency and permanent housing and help people obtain skills, jobs, housing, and services.
Community Servings, located in Jamaica Plain, was founded in 1990 to provide home-delivered meals to individuals living with HIV/AIDS in Dorchester and Roxbury. Since then, the organization has evolved to a regional program serving nutritionally tailored meals and providing nutrition education to thousands of people per year across the state.
The mission of Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program (BHCHP) is to ensure unconditionally equitable and dignified access to the highest quality health care for all individuals and families experiencing homelessness in our community. The tireless work done by BHCHP is
needed now more than ever in the most vulnerable neighborhoods in Boston.
Founded in 1906 by a group of immigrant boys from the densely populated West End neighborhood of Boston, the West End House has served the youth of the city ever since. Services offered by the West End House include a full-body fitness program, nutrition education, arts mastery, and career readiness. The West End House also prepares young people for high school graduation and college completion.
Around the holidays, the PCA gave a second round of donations to three additional groups. Starting in 1989, Boston’s Christmas in the City has been presenting non-denominational holiday events for children and families experiencing homelessness and poverty. Because of the pandemic, the organization brought toys and other “comfort and joy” to people living in local congregate shelters and to many other families in need of assistance in lieu of an event.
Located in Roxbury, Rosie’s Place was founded in 1974 as the first women’s shelter in the U.S. Today, it is a multi-service community center that offers a food pantry, ESOL classes, legal assistance, wellness care, one-on-one support, housing and job search services, and community outreach as well as emergency shelter and meals.
Another holiday donation recipient was The Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center in Roxbury. Its programs include sports and recreation, creative arts, an aquatic facility, culinary training, and social services.
“When the struggles of those less fortunate are amplified, our members thought it appropriate to give to organizations that help people in need,” says John Marani, president of the GBPCA.
