Polly Kornblith of Wildstar Equine Assisted Activities and Therapy of Sherborn receives a grant at Middlesex Savings Charitable Foundation's award ceremony on Nov. 8.

Middlesex Savings Bank’s private charitable foundation has awarded more than $700,000 in grants to nonprofit organizations in eastern and central Massachusetts.

The Middlesex Savings Charitable Foundation honored grant recipients at its annual awards ceremony on Nov. 8 at the Sheraton Framingham Hotel & Conference Center. The foundation awarded $742,247 to 43 nonprofit organizations, including 10 receiving Middlesex Savings grant’s for the first time: Dignity Matters of Wayland, Girlstart of Waltham, Goodnow Library Foundation of Sudbury, Leadership MetroWest Inc. of Framingham, Rifles to Rods of Ashland, Arts Wayland Inc., Family ACCESS of Newton, Thinkgive Inc. of Concord, Waltham Partnership for Youth and Wildstar Equine Assisted Activities and Therapy of Sherborn.

“Supporting and celebrating our grant recipients is an honor we look forward to each year,” Dana Neshe, president of the Middlesex Savings Charitable Foundation, said in a statement. “Our relationships with them have allowed Middlesex to deepen its understanding of the many challenges facing our neighbors today. Underwriting the organizations that work hard to face these challenges head-on is one way we seek to be right there with our community.”

The foundation also presented the John R. Heerwagen Award for Nonprofit Leadership to Jeff Feingold, president of Hope & Comfort in Needham. Feingold received a one-time $15,000 grant to benefit Hope & Comfort, an organization that seeks to provide essential hygiene products to support and improve the health, self-esteem and hygiene education of school-aged children and young adults in need.

The annual John R. Heerwagen Award for Nonprofit Leadership was established in 2016 and recognizes a strong, nonprofit leader whose work has significantly benefited the lives and well-being of residents within the Middlesex Savings Charitable Foundation’s community. It reflects the support that John R. Heerwagen, former CEO of Middlesex Savings Bank, provided to the foundation, its efforts to help strengthen local nonprofits and his belief in the importance of developing and recognizing strong leaders.

Middlesex Savings Bank is a mutual banks based in Natick with nearly $5 billion in assets.