Page 10 THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, February 14, 2025 First Community Coalition Non-Profit Summit O n January 25 at First Parish Church in Malden, the Malden Community Coalition held their inaugural Malden Non-Profit Summit. At the summit, local organizations explained what they do to help the Malden community, followed by time for the assembled representatives to come together and discuss how they can best collaborate to support our beautifully diverse community. The summit began with a warm welcome from moderator Shane Landrum, reminding the attendees about Malden’s deep history as a welcoming community. “Immigrants built fraternal groups, like the Sons of Italy and the Ancient Order of Hibernians, to stay connected with the ways of their ancestors even though they were in a strange new place. Malden still has chapters of both of these.” The importance of coming together to support each other in these difficult times was emphasized: “May we work together, secure in the knowledge that an injury to one of us is an injury to all of us.” The summit continued with presentations from 40+ local organizations, including ABCD, Better Life for All, Bike to the Sea, Bread of Life, Candorful, Chinese Culture Connection, Engage Malden, Friends of Fellsmere Donate Your Vehicle Call (866) 618-0011 to donate your car, truck, boat, RV, and more today! ■ Support Veteran Nonprofi ts. ■ Free Pickup & Towing. ■ Top Tax Deduction. Donate Your Vehicle Today 866-618-0011 www.veterancardonations.org/dnt122 While we appreciate every donation, in some cases, we fi nd that we are unable to accept certain vehicles, watercraft, and/or recreational vehicles due to the prohibitive costs of acquisition. If you have any questions, please give us a call at (866) 618-0011. Heights, Friends of Oak Grove, Friends of the Malden Public Library, Friends of the Malden River, Jules Andre Mentor Foundation, Malden Arts, Malden Cultural Council, Malden for Palestine, Malden Historical Society, Malden Juneteenth, Malden Lions, Malden Neighbors Helping Neighbors, Malden Overcoming Addiction, Malden Pokémon Go, Malden Porchfest, Malden Pride Coalition, Malden Reads, Malden Safe Streets, Malden Warming Center, MAP Family Learning Center, Maplewood Association, Massachusetts Senior Action Council, Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers, Monkeyhouse, Mystic River Watershed Association, North Shore Hispanic Association, Red Thread Foundation for Women, Rescue Malden Raptors, Tailored for Success, The Bridge Recovery Center and Urban Media Arts. Everyone conveyed passion for their institutions, which led to many wonderful conversations and productive planning for future collaborations to make Malden a more cohesive and supportive city. Maplewood Association Chair Kay Allen said of the summit, “Our newly formed non-profit group found it interesting to see all the groups represented at the seminar and hear them explain what they are doing for the Malden community. At the conclusion of the seminar, we were able to go and talk to other groups to ask questions and see if our groups can work or get involved with each other.” ABCD Mobile Homeless Outreach Specialist Ethan Bagley stated, “Being surrounded by a room full of advocates – whether for the planet, the people, books, culture, or whatever – was inspiring. And giving each an opportunity to share their passion helped broaden the landscape of the Malden community for me. I hope that in the future, opportunities to collaborate for impact will become available!” “The steering committee of the Malden Community Coalition would like to say a huge thank you to First Parish Church for letting us use your wonderful space, and everyone who came out to make our first summit a great success. It’s wonderful to see that we all share the same drive to build a safer and more inclusive Malden. Moving forward, the Malden Community Coalition will have monthly meetings, to be announced through our website maldencommunitycoalition.neocities.org and our social media. We are also working on a non-profit directory that will be hosted on our website so people can find out who to contact for any need they may have. Lastly, we are organizing a Non-profit Volunteer Fair in the Spring where ordinary Maldonians can meet folks from our many community organizations to find out more about what they do and how to get involved. If you’d like to submit your non-profit or community group for our directory or upcoming fair, please feel free to contact us at our email maldencommunitycoalition@gmail. com!”
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