John F. Kennedy Family Service Center Receives $2 Million Gift from the Yield Giving Open Call 

Charlestown, MA, March 19, 2024 – 

Today, MacKenzie Scott’s Yield Giving announced John F. Kennedy Family Service Center as one of the Yield Giving Open Call’s awardees working with people and in places experiencing the greatest need in the United States. The Kennedy Center received $2 Million.  

The John F. Kennedy Family Service Center is a multi-service organization dedicated to increasing the availability, accessibility, and effectiveness of services for children, families, and seniors in need. For nearly 60 years, the “Kennedy Center” has provided early education programs, community and family support, and Home Care for elders. The Center’s longstanding mission has been to provide individuals and families in Charlestown with opportunities and tools they need to lead productive and fulfilling lives. The Kennedy Center continually adapts specific services to meet the current needs. During the COVID pandemic, this mission took the form of distributing food, PPE, and other supplies throughout the neighborhood, organizing testing and vaccination sites, and creating “school at home” kits for families with young children in lockdown.   

In March 2023, Yield Giving launched an Open Call for community-led, community-focused organizations whose explicit purpose is to enable individuals and families to achieve substantive improvement in their well-being through foundational resources. 

“We are immensely proud to have received this gift! Support from Yield Giving ensures that we can sustain critical services while expanding opportunities to meet the changing needs of our community,” said Thara Fuller, Executive Director. “We are grateful for the recognition of our work, and the support from our Board of Directors, staff, and volunteers who remain deeply committed to making a difference in the daily lives of individuals and families in need.  With this award, we will continue to feed the hungry, nurture children, and care for elders.”

The Open Call received 6,353 applications and initially planned for 250 awards of $1 million each. In the Fall of 2023, organizations top-rated by their peers advanced to a second round of review by an external Evaluation Panel recruited for experience relevant to this cause and underwent a final round of due diligence. In light of the incredible work of these organizations, as judged by their peers and external panelists, the donor team decided to expand the awardee pool and the award amount.  

“We are excited that our partnership with Yield Giving has resonated with so many organizations,” said Cecilia Conrad, CEO of Lever for Change. “In a world teeming with potential and talent, the Open Call has given us an opportunity to identify, uplift, and empower transformative organizations that often remain unseen.”  

More information on the Yield Giving Open Call and other initiatives can be found at www.leverforchange.org.