Discovery Collaborative's Merrill Gay: New initiatives a community-wide effort
There is a lot of energy behind a series of new initiatives unveiled to the public earlier this month to help New Britain children achieve greater success in school and in life.
According to Merrill Gay, executive director of the New Britain Discovery Collaborative which brought together more than 120 community educators and leaders to tackle the problem, the initiatives presented in the city-wide Blueprint for New Britain's Young Children address five key areas that impact school readiness. Click here to read full Blueprint report.

A periodic message from Community Foundation President Jim Williamson and Board Chair Gerry Amodio.
We have been finding new ways to help nonprofits adjust to the most challenging times in recent memory. For the foreseeable future, we'll continue to take a leadership role, offering technical assistance workshops, strategic grantmaking and counseling local nonprofit leaders. Click here for more about these ongoing efforts.

New initiative gives $28K to support area food pantries
The Community Foundation has given out 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. This includes a special initiative to support the area's food pantries, which are experiencing record demand. Read more.

The revitalized Community Chest of New Britain and Berlin, Inc., a supporting organization of CFGNB, has issued its second round of 2009 grants to local nonprofits. The Chest's 14-member board recently approved a total of $31,189 in funding to FoodShare, Hospital for Special Care, and Central CT Senior Health Services. Read more.