BROOKLINE — The Town of Brookline is holding an open call for nonprofit agencies interested in participating in Team Brookline for the 2026 Boston Marathon season.
In 2012, Team Brookline was established as a coordinated approach to maximize charitable contributions to the community using the invitational application numbers provided to the Town by the Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.). The Select Board elected the Brookline Community Mental Health Center as the managing partner for Team Brookline. An open call for additional nonprofits led to the addition of four Brookline partner charities. In 2017, Team Brookline held another open call, and the Brookline Symphony Orchestra was selected as a new partner charity. Since its inception, Team Brookline has organized more than 431 runners who have raised $3.81 million to benefit those who live, work and go to school in Brookline.
The current call is open to nonprofit organizations that serve Brookline interested in participating in Team Brookline for the 2026 marathon season. The open call process will include an evaluation to ensure a fair and inclusive opportunity for all nonprofits serving the Brookline community. All current Team Brookline participating organizations will need to reapply to be considered for participation in the 2026 season. This process is intended to reaffirm and strengthen the program’s impact, transparency, and alignment with community needs.
The open call will be administered by the Town in consultation with the Brookline Center for Community Mental Health. Final decisions on participating organizations will be made by the Town Administrator in consultation with the Select Board.
An application can be found here. Applications must be submitted by Friday, June 6 at 12:30 p.m.
The Town would also like to recognize the record-breaking success of the 2025 Team Brookline. The team consisted of 36 runners, who raised over $392,000, surpassing the 2023 total of $335,000 for the total runner fundraising record.
Team Brookline ranked #20 among all 289 official B.A.A. Boston Marathon charities.
Caroline Fox also set the individual runner fundraising record, raising $31,614, surpassing the previous 2023 record of $30,356. Fox ranked #44 among all 2,856 charity runners in the Boston Marathon. Team Brookline runner and Brookline resident Matt Tong ran an impressive sub-3-hour marathon.
Additionally, the Brookline Recreation Department received a $15,000 B.A.A. Gives Back Grant for the spring 2025 season. The grant is awarded to organizations across the Commonwealth that align with the B.A.A.’s mission of promoting a healthy lifestyle through sports, especially running, in order to build healthy communities.
“Brookline Rec is incredibly grateful to the B.A.A. Gives Back grant program for this generous support. This funding will help us launch a sports equipment library, enabling low-income families and program scholarship recipients to borrow essential gear needed to participate in our sport programs,” said Director of Recreation Tim Davis. “This initiative further removes barriers to play and ensures all participants can stay safe and fully equipped, regardless of their financial circumstances. This is another huge step forward as our department invests in equitable access to parks and recreation.”
Visit Team Brookline’s webpage here to learn more.
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