The Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family Foundation is telling dozens of nonprofits in the Boston area that it will make no new grants this year after losing roughly $145 million in the Ponzi scandal allegedly run by Bernard Madoff.
Executive director Jean Whitney said in a letter to the heads of 80 nonprofits dated Friday that the move is to ensure the long-term health and stability of the foundation, which lost nearly half its assets.
The foundation will honor about $9 million of existing pledges.
The Boston Globe reported the philanthropy has given out $100 million in the past decade — including $18 million last year.
The foundation was founded in 1961 by Carl Shapiro, who made his fortune in the apparel industry.