Two local organizations are celebrating recent grants that will help them fulfill their missions to aid STEM job seekers and to feed the hungry, respectively.

Wellesley’s STEMatch gets $1.2M grant

Thanks to a state Workforce Competitiveness Trust Fund grant worth $1,245,292, Wellesley’s STEMatch will provide training and placement services to 130 unemployed and underemployed participants for Computer and Information Analyst, Computer Support Specialist, Software and Web Developer, Programmer, and Tester positions. STEMatch will partner with the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Azenta Life Sciences, Mimecast, MKS Instruments, Vest Technical Solutions, the Massachusetts High Technology Council, the Advanced Cyber Security Center, Franklin Cummings Technical Institutes Bay Community College, North Shore Community College, and Northern Essex Community College.

The Healey-Driscoll Administration announced $15.9 million in workforce development grant funding for 22 initiatives across Massachusetts.

Centre Street Food Pantry awarded Greater Boston Food Bank grant

Centre Street Food Pantry, a regional food relief agency located in Newton, has announced that it received a community investment grant from The Greater Boston Food Bank. The $9,525 grant will allow CSFP to purchase new refrigerators, which will have an immediate impact on Centre Street’s “No Child Hungry This Summer” campaign.

Through the campaign, Centre Street will provide its clients with children an additional bag of fresh food suitable for children’s lunches each time they visit the pantry. The additional bag will include milk, sandwich rolls, cheese, deli meat, and fruits.

Food insecurity in the region remains stubbornly high and continues to grow. Even after the exponential growth during the pandemic, Centre Street is now serving 20% more people this year than last year. Centre Street Food Pantry is available to residents of Brookline, Needham, Newton, Waltham, Watertown and Wellesley, serving an average of 1,100 households per month that includes over 4,000 people.