Harvard-Allston Partnership Fund Awards $100,000 to Local Non-Profits

Harvard announced the grant recipients of the 14th Annual Harvard-Allston Partnership Fund, which awards a total of $100,000 to local nonprofits, on Monday.

Created by Harvard and the City of Boston in 2008, the HAPF supports “neighborhood improvement projects, cultural enrichment, and educational programming in North Allston-Brighton,” according to the Harvard Ed Portal website.

Some of the organizations awarded for the 2021-2022 application cycle include the West End House Boys Summer Camp, Big Sister Association of Greater Boston, and the Kithara Project.

In a press release, University President Lawrence S. Bacow commented on the importance of this fund in the wake of the pandemic.

“These organizations haven’t missed a beat in their service to the community’s most vulnerable residents,” he said. “Harvard is honored to further our longstanding commitment to providing financial support that nurtures great ideas and improve the lives of our neighbors.”

Bill Margolin, executive director of West End House Camp — an overnight summer camp for boys — expressed his gratitude for the grant. The $5,000 sum will support scholarships to the camp for local youth in North Allston and North Brighton.

“We don’t deny anybody access to the camp based on financial need,” Margolin said.

The Big Sister Association of Greater Boston, another 2022 grant recipient, has a “longstanding” relationship with the Harvard-Allston Partnership and has benefited from HAPF funding for many years, according to creative director Maren Juliano. Juliano said this funding allows Big Sister Boston to recruit and train women to become mentors and to match them with girls in the Allston area.

Juliano said that Big Sister Boston aims to empower local women.

“You support a girl in her journey and you build her confidence to achieve her individual goals, and that has a ripple effect out into that community, to her family, and to her neighbors and friends,” Juliano said.

The Kithara Project — an organization that offers tuition-free, “community-based classical guitar” education in Boston, New Mexico, and Mexico City — received their second grant from the Harvard-Allston Partnership this year, according to co-founder Matt Rohde.

According to Operations and Program Director Erin Young, the organization will use the funding to expand their group classes, individual instruction opportunities, curriculum development, and instrument purchases.

Adam Levin, who also co-founded the Kithara Project, said that the grant symbolized the continuing “friendship” between the Kithara Project and HAPF.

“It in many ways validates our work, and we look forward to continuing that relationship,” said Levin.

—Staff writer Michal Goldstein can be reached at michal.goldstein@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @bymgoldstein.