OneWorld Boston, Inc., the new grant-making affiliate of Cummings Foundation, recently announced grant awards for four Winchester organizations. The awards of $100,000 each are part of a significant expansion of support from the Woburn-based foundation.

In its first grant cycle, OneWorld Boston received 203 proposals between January 2 to April 15, 2012. It will award approximately 70 new grants totaling about $7 million in 2012, almost all within Essex, eastern Middlesex, and Suffolk counties. Awards will be paid over one to five years.

The diverse Winchester institutions were recently invited to Cummings Properties in Woburn to receive their award letters and grant checks from Cummings Properties president and CEO Dennis Clarke. Also participating in the presentations was Representative Jason Lewis, who said, “This is great! All of Winchester is buzzing about this new grant program.”

Winchester Hospital will apply its funds to multiple areas, including the new Ambulatory Health Services Center, patient services at the Center for Cancer Care, and nursing education and scholarships.

Paul Manganaro, president of Winchester Field Development, noted that this award brings his organization one very big step closer to its goal of completing the renovation and restoration of Winchester’s athletic fields. The all-volunteer committee seeks to provide the community and athletic teams with safe and adequate facilities.

With their respective grants, Winchester Multicultural Network will fund a new executive director position, and the Griffin Museum of Photography will bolster its exhibits and programs.

Clarke, a Winchester resident, said, “We feel strongly that the Foundation should be committed to the areas in which Cummings Properties operates and most of our employees live. We are very pleased to support these very deserving organizations.”

Cummings Foundation is a principal beneficiary of the earnings from Woburn-based commercial real estate firm Cummings Properties. The company, established in 1969, manages more than 10 million square feet of prime office, lab, and medical space, including the landmark TradeCenter 128 in Woburn. Beacon Grille, the upscale eatery at TradeCenter 128, is also part of the Cummings organization.

The large majority of the Foundation’s awards will be granted in the tri-county area, but even some far-reaching healthcare grants have local ties. A total of $350,000 has been pledged to two rural hospitals in Rwanda, both part of Boston-based Partners In Health. Much of these funds will be used to establish the African country’s first cancer infusion center, to be located in the northern city of Butaro.

Dr. Peter Drobac, the hospitals’ medical director, visited Winchester Hospital’s new cancer center earlier this month as part of his research for Rwanda’s new cancer center. Local gynecological oncologist Dr. Arlan Fuller gave Drobac a tour of the hospital’s Center for Cancer Care, located on Washington Street.

Over the past 15 years, Cummings Foundation has awarded $220,000 in scholarships to graduates of Winchester High School through the McKeown Scholars Program. In 2004, it made its largest philanthropic commitment to date: $50 million to Tufts University, for what is known now as the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine.

OneWorld Boston’s next grant cycle is expected to open in fall 2012, with updated information to be posted at www.CummingsFoundation.org this summer. Letters of inquiry will be accepted, and select organizations will then be invited to submit in-depth proposals for approximately $15 million in awards, strictly within the tri-county area of northeast Massachusetts.