The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving recently announced inaugural grants awarded through its $2.9 million Greater Together Community Funds initiative, a program designed to help residents identify their own community needs through “inclusive civic engagement.”
The list includes 19 projects in Ellington, Glastonbury and South Windsor. Grants range from $500 to $7,500 and are for local nonprofits to address issues including education, environment, health and food security, the arts and public safety, according to the Foundation.
Through this program, 29 community funds of $100,000 have been set up for each of the towns in the Foundation’s region, half of each fund is immediately available for grantmaking, while the other half of the fund is endowed, foundation representatives said. Advisory committees in each town administer the fund, with committee members – made up of those towns’ residents – identifying community needs and creating a grant-making process to ensure the greatest impact.
The Foundation has provided this list of grants:
Ellington
Ellington High School (EHS) – $1,750 to support the High School Compost Project.
Ellington Volunteer Ambulance Corps, Inc. – $4,125 to support English As Second Language Emergency Services Training for ESL students in Ellington and surrounding communities.
Friends of Hall Memorial Library – $5,000 to support a consultant to examine diverse library service opportunities.
The Ellington Historical Society Inc. – $2,500 to support renovations and repairs to the Nellie McKnight Museum and property.
The Ellington Volunteer Fire Department Incorporated – $7,500 to support training the public how to properly use fire extinguishers..
Town of Ellington – $3,125 to support the high school’s ‘Safe Grad’ event, an all-night, substance free event for all Ellington graduating seniors.
UR Community Cares, Inc. – $1,000 to support its Community Deeds Program which offers support for older residents and adults with physical disabilities.
Glastonbury
Community Health Resources, Inc. – $6,000 for behavioral health services for children and teens.
Glastonbury Links Together (Congregation Kol Haverim Inc., sponsoring organization) – $15,000 to support the creation of a free choice food bank in Glastonbury.
Historical Society of Glastonbury – $1,700 to support accessibility to an exhibit on the Wangunk Tribe.
Resonate (Irvine Lights, sponsoring organization) – $500 grant to support music opportunities for students in Glastonbury with financial hardship.
Talk-Truth in Action With Love & Kindness – $1,000 to support the creation of pollinator pathways designed to connect pollinator species..
UR Community Cares, Inc. – $3,000 to support a home-based service program, focused on older adult residents as well as residents with physical disabilities.
South Windsor
South Windsor High School Friends of the Performing Arts – $3,100 to purchase costumes and rehearsal mirrors for the South Windsor High school show choir, Choral Spectrum.
South Windsor Historical Society – $6,300 to help cover the cost of repairing the roof damage to the Union School historic building renovation caused by Hurricane Isaias.
South Windsor Girl Scouts – $1,600 to support summer camp and Girl Scout membership fees for disadvantaged South Windsor girls.
Friends of the South Windsor Public Library (FSWPL) – $4,600 to provide substitute funding for long-standing programs, including the provision of dictionaries to all South Windsor third graders, making museum passes available to South Windsor residents, and three $1,000 college scholarships.
South Windsor Walk and Wheels Ways – $6,700 to complete funding for the walking and biking pathway running across town.
South Windsor Operation Graduation – $2,700 to purchase supplies and small gifts for an all-night, substance-free event for all South Windsor graduating HS seniors.
For more information about the Greater Together Community Fund or to make a donation to any of the town community funds, go here.