A grant to aid the disabled

Thanks to a $1 million gift from the Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family Foundation, WGBH's National Center for Accessible Media will be able to research and develop media platforms for people with disabilities.

The gift last month to the public broadcaster "is an extension of our commitment to helping people with disabilities," said Rhonda Zinner, the president of the 46-year-old foundation and daughter of the Shapiros.

Some of the Shapiro family members have vision and hearing disabilities, she said, and the foundation feels strongly about giving to groups that benefit others with such disabilities.

The foundation also gives to Boston hospitals, artistic, educational, and cultural institutions, Jewish causes, and social services.

Carl Shapiro was a women's apparel maker in Boston, and he and his wife live in Boston and in Palm Beach, Fla. NCAM's facilities at WGBH's new studio complex in Brighton will be named the Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family National Center for Accessible Media.

When Hinckley, Allen & Snyder LLP began planning for its centennial last year, the initial idea, according to Joel Lewin, senior partner, was to throw "a huge, fancy black-tie celebration event. Instead, we solicited ideas around the firm -- with 120 lawyers in all -- and we decided instead to donate $100,000 to charity."

The firm, which has offices in Boston, Providence, and Concord, N.H., awarded centennial grants last month to 12 community-based organizations committed to childrens' issues.

The Boston office donated to Caspar Youth Services, which deals with substance abuse prevention and intervention services in Cambridge and Somerville schools; Children's Law Center of Massachusetts, a legal advocacy group; Christmas in the City, which supports and mentors Boston's homeless families at Christmastime; and Cornerstone Residential Program, a mental-health treatment center.

Jay McManus, director of the Children's Law Center in Lynn, said, "We were thrilled to hear of the gift, which comes unrestricted."

The center is a 30-year-old legal advocacy and resource center for low-income children in Lynn, Salem, and Lawrence, and McManus added that "we might do some outreach with it, and probably help kids who are aging out of foster care, when they turn 18."

Michael P. DeFanti, managing partner of the law firm , said "These centennial grants are our way of giving back to the communities we serve and showing how grateful we are to have reached such a significant milestone in our firm's history."

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