Local Connecticut charities to feel loss of GE, employees

NORWALK, CT -- With General Electric responsible for some 25 to 30 percent of its funding, the local chapter of the United Way, United Way of Coastal Fairfield County, is reeling over the company’s planned departure from Connecticut. The GE Foundation’s charitable donations cover a broad spectrum globally, ranging from $20 million for maternal and child health care programs in a half-dozen African countries to a gift of $1.25 million to health centers in Fairfield County, but Maggie Osborn, President of Connecticut Council for Philanthropy, says the real loss for Fairfield County and Connecticut is the loss of the high-net-worth employees.