In addition to our core programs, the Foundation operates a community grants program which permits members of the Cummings family to recommend grants to the Board of Trustees for consideration. Generally, these grants are for activities in the communities where family members live, for programs in which they take an active interest or have an established connection.

The program provides the Foundation with an opportunity to explore local and regional charitable requirements, as well as areas of emerging need where solutions and treatments are not yet known.

They support a broad range of issues, consistent with the Foundation's overall mission, and employ many approaches to grantmaking. For example, in 1991, community grants leased foreclosed homes for seven homeless families; they contributed to a game reserve in Tanzania and to a range of health concerns including cancer research, AIDS clinics, and substance-abuse counseling. Community grants also helped establish the first seminary for training deaf rabbis and assisted several arts education programs, including an art center for inner-city youth.

Community grants are given at the initiative of family members, and are not awarded in response to applications.