Community Foundation of Greater New Britain
Awards More Than $146K in Final 2009 Grantmaking

(December 17, 2009) The Community Foundation of Greater New Britain has awarded a total of $146,225 in its final round of 2009 grants to nonprofit organizations located primarily in its four-town service area of Berlin, New Britain, Plainville and Southington.

The Community Foundation awards grants from discretionary, donor advised, field of interest and scholarship funds on a three-time basis and each year distributes upwards of $1 million or more to nonprofit agencies and organizations in its service area. Funding traditionally supports a wide variety of Berlin, New Britain, Plainville and/or Southington-based programs and initiatives in arts and humanities, community and economic development, early childhood development, education and health and human services.

Individuals, families, organizations and business groups can establish a variety of funds at the Community Foundation depending on their philanthropic interests and goals. Discretionary funds are administered at the discretion of the Community Foundation’s board of directors to meet the changing needs of our communities; Designated or Field of Interest funds support a specific organization or a field of interest that may be close to the heart of a donor; Donor Advised Funds support a donor’s current interests, with direct participation in the grantmaking process; Scholarships are funds that benefit students for academic study.

This round of grants includes a special initiative of the Community Foundation in support of Foodshare and its affiliated local food pantries, which are experiencing significantly greater demand in this time of economic stress. In researching the need for such a grant, the Community Foundation learned that Foodshare is seeing a 30-percent increase in requests for food, with many new clients who are unemployed middle-income families.

The Community Foundation will provide a total of $28,985 from the A.W. Stanley Discretionary Fund to Foodshare’s “Helping Hand” program, through which local partners can receive services that best suit their own needs. For example, a local pantry might request matching funds to cover transportation or food costs or for equipment that furthers their anti-hunger work.  The grant will provide $20,000 for direct aid to the local food pantries and another $8,985 to support the administrative costs of expanding the Helping Hand program in the four towns.

“Not surprisingly, the providers we spoke with universally reported that demand is higher than ever and that this trend is likely to continue for some time,” said Jim Williamson, Community Foundation President, who cited some troubling statistics reported by local food pantries:
• In Berlin, 40 plus families are served per month versus 10-12 households just 18 months ago; 
• The New Britain Food Collaborative served 200% more people than it projected it would serve last year;
• Southington Community Services and Bread for Life in Southington say that the demand for services has literally doubled in the last few months and they are running out of food.
“After meetings with representatives from the various food pantries and the staff of Foodshare in Hartford, we felt it was prudent to move quickly to strengthen the organizations providing these services in Berlin, New Britain, Plainville and Southington,” added Williamson.
Foodshare was selected to administer the grant because it serves as the region’s food bank and distributes more than 15 tons of food each day to a network of nearly 350 local partners that feed the hungry. It also has the ability to purchase food in the most cost efficient manner: every $30 that it receives provides enough food for a hungry person for an entire month.
Additional grants by category include:

Discretionary Funds ($117,905)

• COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH AFFILIATES, $25,000 from the A.W. Stanley Discretionary Fund; Weld Fund for Capital Needs; Marshall A. Pease Memorial Fund; Johnston Vance Memorial Fund; Anna T. Deutsch Fund; Vic and Jane Darnell Fund; Elizabeth J. Berry Fund; Con Fed Charitable Fund; Ron and Alice Gilrain Family Fund; Joseph A. Mlynarski MD Memorial Fund; and Robert A. and Phyllis T. Mugford Fund to support an organizational technology upgrade.

• HUMAN RESOURCES AGENCY, $20,000 from the A.W. Stanley Discretionary Fund to expand the New Britain Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) outreach and Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program to serve more people.

• OPPORTUNITIES INDUSTRIALIZATION CENTER OF NEW BRITAIN (OIC), up to $20,000 from the Georgia Knapp Thomson Fund; Jeanette Elizabeth Westlake Memorial Fund; William T. Livingston Memorial Fund; J. Edward and Justine B. Melson Family Fund; Ted and Nancy Johnson Fund; Andrew-Hicks Memorial Fund, Walter YH. Dickman Fund; and Howland Rogers Family Fund to support year two of the Bicycling Enthusiasms as an OIC youth and employment program that trains youth in advanced bicycle repair.  $15,000 will be paid immediately, with up to an additional $5,000 to be paid as a 1:1 match against money raised from new funding sources.

• NEW BRITAIN FOOD SECURITY COLLABORATIVE, $15,000 from the Howland Rogers Family Fund and the A.W. Stanley Discretionary Fund for second year support of the New Britain Food and Resource Center.

• CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT OF NEW BRITAIN, $4,920 from the Jeanette Elizabeth Westlake Memorial Fund and the Charles L. Munford Jr. Memorial Fund to purchase the TalkSystem, a device used to communicate in multiple languages simultaneously during educational workshops for parents.

• SOUTHINGTON’S TOWN-WIDE EFFORT TO PROMOTE SUCCESS (S.T.E.P.S.), $2,000 from the A.W. Stanley Discretionary Fund to hire a grant writer to complete the annual grant required by the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

• CONNECTICUT COUNCIL OF PHILANTHROPY, $2,000 from the William E. Attwood, Jr. Fund and the A.W. Stanley Discretionary Fund for a collaborative public policy project among Connecticut’s Community Foundations.

Donor Advised Grants ($24,620)
• CENTRAL CONNECTICUT SENIOR HEALTH SERVICES, $10,000 from The Catalyst Fund and A.W. Stanley Discretionary Fund, for the creation of a mobile CT Center for Healthy Aging.

• EARLY CHILDHOOD COLLABORATIVE OF SOUTHINGTON, $2,560 from the Charles and Joan Leach Fund, for the Family Resource Center.

• NEW BRITAIN FOOD SECURITY COLLABORATIVE, $1,000 from Conry Asset Management Charitable Fund, and $500 from the New Britain Day Nursery Fund, for operating needs; $410 from the Rathgeber Family Fund, for the Osgood Food Pantry.

• BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF NEW BRITAIN, INC., $1,000 from the Edmund G. Noyes Fund; $500 from the Susie and Charles Gustin Memorial Fund; and $500 from the New Britain Day Nursery Fund. For capital campaign.

• COMMUNITY CHEST OF NEW BRITAIN AND BERLIN, INC., $1,000 from the Stanley and Bernice Shepard Fund for general operating purposes.

• FOUNDATION OF SPECIAL CARE (NEW BRITAIN), $1,000 from the Stanley and Bernice Shepard Fund for general purposes.

• HOSPITAL OF CENTRAL CONNECTICUT (New Britain), $1,000 from the Stanley and Bernice Shepard Fund; and $500 from the Frank and Ernestine Fraprie Fund, for general operating purposes.

• GREATER NEW BRITAIN TEEN PREGNANCY PREVENTION, INC., $500 from Conry Asset Management Charitable Fund; and $500 from the New Britain Saturday Night Club, for the Pathways-Senderos Center.

• PRUDENCE CRANDALL CENTER, INC. (New Britain), $500 from the New Britain Day Nursery Fund, for direct services to children in need.

• WARM THE CHILDREN (New Britain), $500 from the New Britain Day Nursery Fund; $100 from the Frank and Ernestine Fraprie Fund. For winter clothing for New Britain children.

• YWCA OF NEW BRITAIN, $500 from the New Britain Day Nursery Fund, for capital campaign.

• FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST-CONGREGATIONAL (WEST HARTFORD), $500 from the Stanley and Bernice Shepard Fund, for general purposes.

• CCARC, INC. (New Britain), $220 from the Frank and Ernestine Fraprie Fund, for general operating purposes.

• YMCA OF NEW BRITAIN-BERLIN, $165 from the Stanley and Bernice Shepard Fund, for general purposes.

• UNIVERSITY OF HARTFORD, $165 from the Stanley and Bernice Shepard Fund, for the Barney School of Business.

• In addition, a non-local organization, the Metropolitan Opera Guild (New York), received $500 from the Stanley and Bernice Shepard Fund, for general purposes.

Field of Interest Funds ($1,200)

• CONNECTICUT COMMUNITY CARE, INC., $1200 from the Ev and Ethel Herre Memorial Fund, to provide comprehensive needs assessments and care management services to frail elderly in Greater New Britain who cannot afford to pay for services. 

Scholarships ($2,500)

• Monica Roosa Ordway, $2,500 from the Dr. Lorraine G. Spranzo Scholarship Fund, for doctoral studies at Yale University School of Nursing.

About the Community Foundation of Greater New Britain
The Community Foundation of Greater New Britain connects donors who care with causes that matter in Berlin, New Britain, Plainville and Southington. Established in 1941, the Community Foundation raises resources and develops partnerships that make a measurable improvement in the quality of life in each of these communities. For more information, please visit www.cfgnb.org or call 860-229-6018.

Media Contact
Susan Lewis (860) 243-1447 (office), (860) 798-8909 (cell),
slewis@aomc.com