The Highways of Easton Fund is a hyper-local, single-purpose fund that directs substantial, recurring support to the Town of Easton for roadway maintenance and related public works. All recorded grants are restricted to maintaining Easton's highways, indicating the foundation functions effectively as a designated municipal infrastructure supporter rather than a broad philanthropic donor. Its giving is highly place-based and operationally focused on sustaining town transportation assets.
Highly concentrated: all grants to a single municipal grantee (Town of Easton), repeated payments (5 grants) totaling $1.425M, indicating sustained, restricted support for a single operational purpose rather than diversified or competitive grantmaking.
The Highways of Easton Fund gives almost exclusively to one purpose: maintaining the highways of Easton. Across the recent grants on file, every recorded award is restricted to roadway maintenance, with the Town of Easton as the recipient. That makes the fund unusually focused compared with broader community foundations or operating charities. The latest grants show the pattern clearly, including $355,000 in 2024 to the Town of Easton for highway maintenance and $320,000 in 2025 for the same purpose. Earlier awards of $270,000 and two grants of $240,000 in 2023 point to a repeated, municipally directed support stream rather than one-off project funding. The foundation’s leadership is listed under David Ames Jr., and its reported assets and annual giving place it in a substantial funding position relative to the narrow scope of its mission. For researchers, the key point is that this is a place-based infrastructure fund centered on Easton’s public roadway system and the town department responsible for keeping it operating.
The foundation’s grantmaking is tied to municipal road and highway maintenance, not a broad mix of charitable programs. In 2024, it gave $355,000 to the Town of Easton for maintaining the highways of Easton, and in 2025 it followed with $320,000 for the same purpose. That repeated language suggests direct operating support for local roadway upkeep. The same pattern appears in 2023, when the fund awarded $270,000 and two separate grants of $240,000, each also designated for maintaining the highways of Easton. The beneficiary profile is therefore highly specific: the Town of Easton as municipal grantee, with the practical effect of supporting public works functions tied to roads, safety, and transportation infrastructure.
Recent grant sizes are tightly clustered around the mid-$200,000 range, with a p25 of $240,000, a median of $255,000, and a p75 of $291,250. The recent record also shows repeated awards in consecutive years, including grants in 2023, 2024, and 2025, all to the same municipal recipient. This points to a recurring support pattern rather than isolated gifts. The fund does not give to individuals and does not make program-related investments. Its structure, based on the data, is a local, place-based grantmaker with restricted support aimed at a single public-purpose recipient.
$1.4M
$13.3M
$325K
$335K
Most grants fall between $240K and $291K, with a median of $255K.
25th Percentile
$240K
Median
$255K
75th Percentile
$291K
About 100% of grants go to recipients in MA.
DAVID AMES JR
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Notable grantees: Town of Easton
Grantmaking is entirely in Massachusetts, with 100% of grants going to recipients in the HQ state. The recipient city shown in the recent grants list is Easton, MA, through the Town of Easton. No other recipient geographies appear in the data. The geographic footprint is therefore local and concentrated within one Massachusetts municipality rather than spread across multiple states or countries.
It supports maintenance of the highways of Easton. Every recent grant listed is restricted to that purpose, and the recipient is the Town of Easton in Easton, MA.
The recent grants list shows one recipient: the Town of Easton. The awards are municipal and tied to keeping Easton’s highways maintained.
Typical recent grant size is substantial and clustered in a narrow band: p25 is $240,000, median is $255,000, and p75 is $291,250. The listed recent awards include $240,000, $270,000, $320,000, and $355,000.
It is local. All recorded grants go to recipients in Massachusetts, and the recipient city shown is Easton, MA. The geographic scope of giving is listed as local.
No. The fund does not give to individuals and does not make program-related investments, based on the provided data.
2025
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2025.
Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TOWN OF EASTON | EASTON, MA | $320,000 | 2025 | TO MAINTAIN THE HIGHWAYS OF EASTON. |
| TOWN OF EASTON | EASTON, MA | $355,000 | 2024 | TO MAINTAIN THE HIGHWAYS OF EASTON |
| TOWN OF EASTON | EASTON, MA | $270,000 | 2023 | TO MAINTAIN THE HIGHWAYS OF EASTON |
| TOWN OF EASTON | EASTON, MA | $240,000 | 2023 | TO MAINTAIN THE HIGHWAYS OF EASTON |
| TOWN OF EASTON | EASTON, MA | $240,000 | 2023 | TO MAINTAIN THE HIGHWAYS OF EASTON |
TOWN OF EASTON
$320,000TO MAINTAIN THE HIGHWAYS OF EASTON.
TOWN OF EASTON
$355,000TO MAINTAIN THE HIGHWAYS OF EASTON
TOWN OF EASTON
$270,000TO MAINTAIN THE HIGHWAYS OF EASTON
TOWN OF EASTON
$240,000TO MAINTAIN THE HIGHWAYS OF EASTON
TOWN OF EASTON
$240,000TO MAINTAIN THE HIGHWAYS OF EASTON