FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 8, 2024
(Boston, Mass.) – Philippine-American Mainstream Advocacy for Nonpartisan Associations, Inc. (PAMANA), announced today it has been awarded the $50,000 Safety Net Grant from the Boston Foundation to support its PAMANA Cares Initiative and other community outreach.
The goal of the PAMANA Cares Initiative is to provide New England-based Filipino individuals and households in need of food assistance and/or affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with groceries from local Filipino food markets.
Since 2020, PAMANA Cares has provided food assistance to those who are elderly, immunocompromised, and sick with COVID-19. Over the years, we’ve been able to expand to recipients who are visa-holders and recent immigrants, of limited physical mobility, unemployed, single parents, families who’d recently experienced loss, domestic violence survivors and others in difficult situations.
"This grant empowers us to extend our compassionate outreach, delivering care packages to fellow community members facing adversity," expressed Jelyn Masa, Chair of PAMANA's Board. "In our commitment to make a difference, we take pride in not only offering essential items but also in providing a touch of home – a cultural embrace that transcends nourishment, offering solace and comfort to those we serve."
In December 2023, 40 families received packages through the program for the holidays. PAMANA collaborated with the Philippine Society of Boston College, comprised of local college students. Students helped with community outreach, shopping, assembly and delivery of care packages, and created handmade holiday cards for all recipients.
PAMANA partnered with local Filipino-owned markets, Sure Pinoy in Quincy, Asian Food Mart in Holbrook and Pinoy Republic & Sons in Worcester, to source shelf-stable food.
Funds for this grant come from the Boston Foundation’s Permanent Fund for Boston, an endowed pool of funds built over more than a century by generous contributors who want to help the Greater Boston community thrive. Each year, the Boston Foundation distributes more than $15 million in discretionary grants and other resources from the Fund, which are largely awarded through a competitive process open to nonprofits serving the Foundation’s catchment area, stewarded by the Foundation’s Program Department staff and approved by the Foundation’s Board of Directors.
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The Philippine-American Mainstream Advocacy for Nonpartisan Associations, Inc. (PAMANA, Inc.) is a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering collaboration and unity among Filipino American organizations in the New England region. The organization actively leads community events and coordinates disaster response efforts to support victims of calamities in the Philippines.
For more information and details on upcoming events visit: www.pamanainc.org
Media Contact:
Elysia Rodriguez, Benchmark Strategies
(617) 378-8527
The Boston Foundation is one of the nation’s first and most impactful community foundations. Partnering with community members, donors, the public sector, businesses and nonprofits, we exist to close the gaps caused by our city’s greatest disparities, to advance economic justice, and to help build a better Boston. We collect data, commission research, share knowledge, develop dynamic programs, fuel new ideas, and fund change. Our work informs public policy, catalyzes conversations, and advocates not only for change but also for repairing the historical harms of inequity. Ultimately, we aim to support, contribute to and create well-being and opportunity within our communities. TBF is also one of New England’s largest grantmakers, supporting nonprofits in Greater Boston through our endowment and working closely with our donors to support nonprofits locally, nationally and internationally. To learn more about the Foundation and its work, visit TBF.org.