December 7, 2020 — The Massachusetts Service Alliance, a Boston-based nonprofit that serves as the state commission on community service and volunteerism, today announced it granted $103,232 to 25 Bay State nonprofits and one public agency to help them recruit and manage volunteers to aid in responding to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Massachusetts Service Alliance (MSA) said the grantees will recruit an estimated 3,214 volunteers to support critical needs, including those related to senior services, education, housing, and food insecurity, engendered by the COVID-19 crisis, which “has created monumental challenges” for many Massachusetts nonprofits and public agencies.

It noted that “organizations that manage volunteers are having to think about how to position, adapt, and optimize their volunteer program to be the most effective in times of uncertainty.”

Emily Haber, CEO of MSA, said, “The Massachusetts Service Alliance is pleased to be able to support nonprofits across the Commonwealth as they engage with volunteers in new ways to help meet critical needs in their communities during this crisis. We know that Massachusetts residents want to lend a hand during these hard times and we hope these grants will provide more opportunities for volunteer engagement.”

Receiving the grants were the following:

• Backyard Growers, Gloucester: $4,000
• Boston Housing Authority, Boston: $3,618
• Cambridge Volunteer Clearinghouse, Cambridge: $4,000
• Cambridge Women's Center, Cambridge: $4,000
• Chesterbrook Community Foundation, Waltham: $4,000
• Community Action Pioneer Valley, Greenfield: $4,000
• Easthampton Neighbors, Easthampton: $4,000
• Emmaus, Haverhill: $4,000
• Empower Success Corps, Boston: $4,000
• Ethos, Jamaica Plain: $4,000
• Falmouth Volunteers In Public Schools, Falmouth: $3,910
• Franklin Medical Reserve Corps, Great Barrington: $4,000
• Greenfield Community College, Greenfield: $4,000
• Hyde Square Task Force, Jamaica Plain: $4,000
• Lowell Association for the Blind, Lowell: $4,000
• Massachusetts Council on Aging, Easthampton: $4,000
• Maverick Landing Community Services, East Boston: $4,000
• MetroWest Mediation Services, Natick: $4,000
• Neighborhood Falmouth, Falmouth: $3,958
• The Salem Pantry, Salem: $3,979
• Samaritans of Fall River and New Bedford, Westport: $4,000
• Somerville Public Schools Volunteer Program, Somerville: $3,960
• South Shore YMCA, Quincy: $4,000
• Southeast Asian Coalition of Central Massachusetts, Worcester: $3,906
• THRIVE Communities of Massachusetts, Lowell: $3,901
• Village Neighbors, Shutesbury: $4,000