MIT Community Service Fund

If 100 donors make a gift to the MIT Community Service Fund on March 13, $10,000 will be donated by a long-time member of the MIT community and members of the MIT Community Service Fund Board of Trustees and the Community Giving at MIT Steering Committee. For MIT alumni, your CSF gift counts toward the annual gift program.

Based at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, LL EduCATE (Lincoln Laboratory Courses for Accessible, Technical Education) develops publicly available and accessible STEM lessons for middle and high school students. Here students learned about Bluetooth-based proximity detection in their Bluetooth Bandit workshop. Lincoln Laboratory volunteers draw upon real-world projects to connect abstract engineering ideas to concrete projects and experiments. Image courtesy of MassHire Greater Brockton Workforce Board.

Power MIT’s volunteer efforts 

For 55+ years, the MIT Community Service Fund (CSF) has served as MIT’s “home team” for community service, collaboration, and partnership, turning our commitment to equity into impact for our neighbors. 

The CSF empowers students, staff, faculty, and retirees to carry out service initiatives by applying their leadership skills and creative problem-solving approaches to community needs. CSF also provides reliable financial support to local nonprofits with MIT volunteers. 

Examples of CSF’s wide range of service initiatives aimed at addressing equity include: 

Education

• Introducing hundreds of students from local public schools to STEM activities and pathways to careers 
• Providing medical interpreter training during IAP 
• Mentoring middle school and high school students through academics, sports, and dance  

Food Security and Housing 

• Developing access to food security and nutritious meals 
• Promoting community gardens as hubs for green infrastructure and food justice for underserved communities
• Connecting individuals and families to secure, stable, and affordable housing  

Hear from 2023-24 CSF Grant Recipients 

• “Doing something for others with others was a great feeling.” MIT Mercy Initiative volunteer
• “What this leads to is opportunities for not only my students to succeed in the future, but the students from the rest of Brockton and the rest of urban schools in cities like us to think that they can perform things that are possible.” Brockton High School Aerospace Robotics Competition team member
• “CSV is grateful for the deep and meaningful partnership we have with departments across the MIT community.” Cambridge School Volunteers, CSF nonprofit recipient

MIT Architecture graduate students developed community gardens as hubs for green infrastructure and food justice for underserved communities. Photo credit: Pop-Up Community Kitchens

Top photo credit: Glen Cooper