Grant from Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation will support after-school health, wellness, and life skills for adolescent girls in Plymouth County.
The Boys and Girls Club of Marshfield, a youth development organization, has received a $10,000 Targeted Grant from Eastern Bank, America’s oldest and largest mutual bank.
The grant will support The Boys and Girls Club “SMART Girls” program for their entire female population. SMART Girls is one the Boys and Girls Clubs’ top programs, and is a targeted curriculum that ensures girls get the right information and the right support at the right age. Separate modules are tailored to three age groups. The interactive, engaging, small-group sessions engender trust and positive self-image, while teaching good decision making regarding personal health, wellness, choices, and relationships. This program is targeted to increase young women’s positive self-esteem by providing access to female mentoring relationships, building confidence, encouraging self-advocacy, and addressing mass and social media’s influence in self-esteem and body issues. SMART Girls gives girls the space, support and tools to navigate adolescence and to emerge strong, healthy young adults.
Each year, the Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation’s Targeted Grant program supports hundreds of community-based organizations working for progress on a specific issue in Eastern’s New England footprint. In 2018, in celebration of the Bank’s 200th anniversary and to honor its first depositor, Rebecca Sutton, Targeted Grants have been designated to support organizations addressing a range of issues that disproportionately impact women, such as sexual assault, domestic violence, human trafficking, health care, pay equity, and senior management and board representation. The Boys & Girls Club of Marshfield is among 170 nonprofits each receiving a $10,000 grant. In total, Eastern is granting $1.7 million in Targeted Grants this year to nonprofits in communities from New Hampshire to Cape Cod and throughout the South Shore, North Shore, Metro West, Merrimack Valley and Greater Boston.
“We are thrilled to partner with Eastern Bank on this important programming for adolescent girls in our community,” said Jim Bunnell, Executive Director of Boys and Girls Club of Marshfield. “It is innovative grants like these that impact how future generations will grow to be responsible and productive citizens. Collectively Eastern Bank is helping to make great strides in empowering women in our society to reach their potential.”
Eastern’s Targeted Grant program this year creates new opportunities and resources for women in areas where assistance is needed the most. The facts are staggering:- A woman is assaulted every nine seconds in the U.S. and one in three women has been a victim of physical brutality by an intimate partner, making intimate partner violence the single greatest cause of injury to women.
– In Massachusetts, women earn 83 cents for every dollar paid to men. In New Hampshire, they earn 76 cents. African-American women nationwide earn 64 cents for every dollar earned by white men, and Latinas—only 56 cents.
– In the sciences, women represent less than 25% of those employed in computer and mathematical occupations and only 15% in architecture and engineering. For women of color, this gap is even wider. Asian women, African-American women, and Latinas make up less than 10% of working scientists and engineers in the U.S.
– Women receive more graduate degrees and they hold more faculty positions in colleges and universities, and yet, men hold the highest number of tenured university positions.
– Only 32 women run Fortune 500 companies and only two are women of color. Less than 20% of all board seats in Fortune 1,000 companies are held by women.
“We believe in breaking down the barriers that stand between people and prosperity. That’s why Eastern is a strong advocate for the advancement of women,” said Bob Rivers, Chair and CEO of Eastern Bank. “With each Targeted Grant, we aim to enhance the lives of our neighbors and contribute to real progress around the advancement of women in our local communities. On behalf of everyone at Eastern, we congratulate this year’s Targeted Grant recipients and thank them for working to level the playing field.”
For a complete list of the 2018 Targeted Grant recipients, click here.
About Eastern Bank
Founded in 1818 and celebrating its 200th anniversary in 2018, Boston-based Eastern Bank is America’s oldest and largest mutual bank, with $11 billion in assets and over 120 locations serving communities in eastern Massachusetts, southern and coastal New Hampshire and Rhode Island. Eastern provides exceptional access to fairly priced banking, investment and insurance products and services for consumers and businesses of all sizes, and for the eighth consecutive year is the #1 U.S. Small Business Administration lender in New England. Eastern Bank, which includes Eastern Wealth Management and Eastern Insurance, is known for its outspoken advocacy and community support that has exceeded more than $110 million in charitable giving since 1999. The Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation is a leader in corporate philanthropy and serves as the charitable arm of Eastern Bank. An inclusive company, Eastern employs 1,900+ deeply committed professionals who value relationships with their customers, colleagues and communities. Join us for good at www.easternbank.com and follow Eastern on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram.
About Boys and Girls Club of Marshfield
The Boys and Girls Club of Marshfield (the Club) is a youth development organization providing programs and services to children and families throughout the greater South Shore community. The Club’s mission is to enable and inspire all young people to realize their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens as well as become tomorrow’s capable leaders. The Club provides programming opportunities in Boys & Girls Club of America’s (BGCA) five core areas including leadership, education, health, arts, and fitness.
Currently, the Club serves hundreds of families with children ranging in age from 6 to 18 years old, providing afterschool, vacation week and summer programs, as well as youth athletics, teen, social recreational and leadership opportunities. For more information, visit their website http://marshfieldbgc.com or call 781-834-2582.
Follow Us!