Boston-Based ACCION is One of 100 Best Charities in U.S.; Five Greater Boston Nonprofits Recognized by Worth Magazine.

Business Editors

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 4, 2001

ACCION, an international, nonprofit microlending organization based in Boston, has been named as one of the nation's top charitable institutions in the Dec. issue of Worth Magazine. ACCION makes small or "micro" loans as low as $100 overseas, and $500 in the United States, to low-income women and men who start their own businesses to improve the lives of themselves and their families.

Worth's "America's 100 Best Charities" list was chosen from over 800,000 registered U.S. nonprofits and is based on six months of research into mission fulfillment, financial accountability and program impact. ACCION was one of 21 organizations listed in the "Relief and Development" category.

"In the end, a charity made our list only after it had convinced us of the worthiness of its goal and the success of its mission," states the article, which will appear on newsstands Dec.6. "Readers can feel comfortable giving money to any of the 100 exceptional organizations."

Worth recognized ACCION as one of America's best charities along with four other Boston-based nonprofits: Jumpstart for Young Children, Oxfam America, Physicians for Human Rights and Reach Out and Read.

ACCION is a nonprofit umbrella organization for a network of 30 microlending institutions in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa and the United States. In Massachusetts, ACCION USA operates lending programs low- and moderate-income entrepreneurs in Boston, Lawrence, Springfield and Worcester. Since 1990, the ACCION Network has loaned over $3.7 billion in "micro" loans to more than 2 million low-income business owners worldwide.