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SBCDF Street Fest Sponsorship Provides Boost in the Arm

We are thrilled to announce that South Boston Community Development Foundation Inc. is sponsoring the 21st Annual South Boston Street Festival. 

With a $5,000 sponsorship, SBCDF continues its support of the Street Festival. 

“South Boston small businesses need a boost in the arm and this is a good boost to get people out walking around,” said David Nagle, chairman of the board for the Foundation. 

“The ongoing support from the South Boston Community Development Foundation is invaluable to the Street Festival,” said Donna Brown, executive director of South Boston Neighborhood Development Corporation. “We are honored to be a recipient of their generosity.”

SBCDF’s mission is to disburse funds to nonprofit organizations for residents of South Boston and to promote and encourage improvement in the quality of life in the neighborhood. 

The Foundation gets money from the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center’s gate sales. “We distribute that money through to nonprofits in South Boston,” David said. “The convention center gate goes back to the community.”

The Foundation was created in 2004, but it really kicked off in 2008, David said. When the convention center was built, legislation was put into place to form the Foundation specifically to benefit South Boston nonprofits.

“It had to do with building the convention center and the traffic,” David said. “It was a community mitigation.”

The South Boston Street Festival has been a recipient of that funding for 13 years. “It’s good for small businesses,” said David, noting that he had a small business -- the Quiet Man Pub -- in South Boston for years. “It helps a lot of the South Boston small businesses. It helps all the shops and stores and nail salons. 

“It’s a great neighborhood thing.”

Other South Boston recipients have included the Harry McDonough Sailing Center, the Edgerley Family South Boston Boys & Girls Club, Julie’s Family Learning Program, South Boston Neighborhood House, South Boston Collaborative Center, South Boston Community Health Center, and many more.

Before COVID-19, the Foundation was giving out about 85 grants a year, David said. But since COVID hit, the convention center hasn’t had any events -- thus no gate sales -- so the grant money is way down this year and likely through 2022. 

This year, the Foundation provided 35 grants and the Street Festival is grateful to be one of the recipients.

The Foundation won’t have a table at the festival, but David usually brings his grandsons (ages 5 and 2) to the event. He lives just a couple blocks away from the festival site and likes walking around and listening to the music. “The kids like the excitement,” he said.

He’s really looking forward to this year’s festival and hoping that it doesn’t rain, like it did in 2019.

“We’ve been pretty lucky; it’s been great weather. September is usually a great month,” he said, adding: “Keep up the good work. It's a great festival; it’s a great idea.”