Ever heard of Margaret Fuller? She was an author, editor, journalist, literary critic, educator, transcendentalist, and women?s rights advocate in the early 19th century. Margaret Fuller also was born and raised at 71 Cherry Street, just a few blocks from MIT. Since 1902, the Margaret Fuller Neighborhood House (MFNH) has served as a community touchstone in the Port neighborhood. Its food pantry, for instance, provides nourishment to 16,000 people each year, the most of any of the 12 food pantries in Cambridge.

The Margaret Fuller House needs a passenger van to expand its food services and to enable additional essential services for children, youth, elders, people with disabilities, and job seekers. Read about the breadth of services that a van will provide our Cambridge neighbors.

The Community Giving at MIT steering committee, led by Professor Bevin Engelward of the Department of Biological Engineering, is pleased to launch a spring mini-campaign to raise $40K to provide the MFNH with a new passenger van. To make a donation, please visit Atlas and enter in the third giving option, ?Van for Margaret Fuller House.?

Departments, programs, and students and staff across the Institute engage with the MFNH through partnership with the MIT Community Service Fund, service on the board of directors, volunteerism, and collection drives. In the words of MFNH Executive Director Christina Alexis, ?MIT?s collaboration with us makes our impact in the community even deeper. MIT?s many committed staff, students, and leaders provide us with compassionate support that showcases their investment in the community and helps foster a real sense of unity.? Through this partnership and the generosity of faculty and staff, the Community Giving at MIT steering committee hopes to advance this commitment to unity.

Visit Community Giving at MIT to discover more ways faculty and staff can strengthen the local community.