NAUGATUCK, CT -- Quinnipiac Professor Courtney McGinnis spent the summer studying the river quality thanks to a $7,876 grant from the Connecticut Community Foundation. She and two research assistants specifically looked for the presence of phthalates, a group of chemicals used to make plastics more flexible.
WATERBURY, CT -- Webster Financial Corp., one of the largest Connecticut-based banks, said Thursday it is joining the growing list of companies nationally handing out employee cash bonuses after federal legislation slashed corporate tax rates. Some of the savings from changes in corporate tax law will be shared in the community, boosting Webster's philanthropic endeavors by $1 million beginning this year.
NEW BRITAIN, CT -- Workers at Charter Oak State College and the Connecticut Distance Learning Consortium have donated $1,500 to help the Hurricane Maria Puerto Rico Relief Fund. After the hurricane, the Community Foundation of Greater New Britain joined with the American Savings Foundation and the Human Resources Agency of New Britain to create the Hurricane Maria Fund.
GREATER NEW HAVEN and FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CT -- Sustainable CT, a new statewide initiative to support Connecticut’s cities and towns, will have its regional launch at two events in the Fairfield and New Haven areas on January 9th, one at the Comstock Community Center, in collaboration with the Western Council of Governments, at 1:00 p.m., and the other in Bowers Auditorium at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at 6:30 p.m. The initiative was developed under the leadership of the Institute for Sustainable Energy at Eastern Connecticut State University in partnership with the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities. Three Connecticut philanthropies – the New Haven-based Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, the Hampshire Foundation, and the Common Sense Fund – have supported the program's development and launch.
NEW HAVEN, CT -- Environment and Human Health, Inc. (EHHI), an organization of physicians and public health professionals, is embarking on a new project to make schools healthier places for students to attend. In January 2018, EHHI will begin visiting local health departments and superintendents of schools with a new brochure that lists 12 ways to make schools healthier environments for students. The Connecticut Health Foundation has underwritten the brochure.
BERLIN, CT -- For 10 years now, Comcast employees based in the Western New England headquarters in Connecticut, along with their friends and family, have knitted and crocheted for a cause. This year the group handmade over 260 hats and scarves, most of which were donated to Operation Gratitude, a non-profit organization that distributes care packages to active-duty troops, as well as veterans, wounded heroes and emergency first-responders. Over 2,000 pieces have been made and donated since the campaign began.
HARTFORD, CT -- Elysa Gordon has been appointed to serve as vice president and senior advisor to the President of the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, the community foundation for Hartford and 28 surrounding communities.
DERBY, CT -- The Valley Community Foundation (VCF) was the named beneficiary for the estate of Raymond P.
WEST HARTFORD, CT -- For the sixth consecutive year, Farmington Bank’s West Hartford center branch office was the scene of community goodwill when it hosted the WTIC Holiday Store benefiting The Salvation Army for an entire day.
WESTPORT, CT -- A glitch in the Republican tax overhaul has created an uncertain future for Newman’s Own Foundation and the food company it operates. Under the 1969 tax law, Newman’s Own had five years to divest itself from the business after Newman’s death in 2008, or face a 200 percent tax on its assets. Newman’s Own was able to get congressional support for a waiver to extend that an additional five years. That waiver expires in November 2018.
SOUTHINGTON, CT -- A regional foundation has awarded over $431,000 to town health organizations and initiatives. The grants were awarded to six local health groups from the Barnes Memorial Trust, which is administered by the Main Street Community Foundation with the goal of advancing the health and well-being of Southington residents.
GREENWICH, CT -- The Greenwich Board of Selectmen unanimously voted to join “Sustainable CT,” a statewide initiative, created by towns for towns, that includes a detailed menu of sustainability best practices, tools and resources, peer learning a
NEW BRITAIN, CT -- For several years, the Community Foundation of Greater New Britain (CFGNB) has embraced a subtle but important enhancement of its mission, that of community leadership to complement its traditional and fundamental duties as grantmaker. The Foundation has now taken this evolution a step further, awarding nearly $200,000 from within the newly created category of Community Initiative Grants.
ORANGE, CT -- The Avangrid Foundation, the principal philanthropic arm of Avangrid, Inc. and its subsidiary companies, donated nearly $6 million to more than 650 organizations through grants, scholarships and matching gift programs throughout 2017.
WATERBURY, CT -- Following the recent hurricanes that devastated Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, hundreds of people have relocated to Connecticut — particularly to urban centers such as Greater Waterbury. Connecticut Community Foundation and the American Savings Foundation are rallying philanthropic dollars to help hurricane survivors settle into local communities and get the assistance they need while rebuilding happens back home in Puerto Rico.
HARETFORD, CT -- Already squeezed by the state’s persistent budget woes, nonprofits in Connecticut are bracing for a potential drop-off in donations due to changes in the sweeping tax bill that President Donald Trump signed into law last week. The Hartford Courant includes quotes from CCP President Karla Fortunato and CCP members: Rick Porth of United Way of Connecticut, and Sally Weisman and Deborah Rothstein of Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.
AMHERST — The Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation, which serves communities in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire through programs, grants, and service, announced the appointment of Nancy Garrabrants to its board of directors. Garrabrants is the former associate dean of the Center for Agriculture at UMass Amherst, where she was responsible for the Nutrition Education and 4-H Youth Development programs.
NEW LONDON, CT -- The Northeast Connecticut Women and Girls of Fund of The Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut hosted a Founders Celebration, on Dec. 7, at the Taylor Brooke Winery in Woodstock. Grants totaling $10,015 were given out to five nonprofit organizations and foundations for their work with women and girls in northeastern Connecticut.
FARMINGTON, CT -- Farmington Bank continued its long tradition of holiday giving, but this year added a twist. Farmington Bank employees delivered wish list items and gift cards, surprising one area nonprofit organization each business day from December 1 through 15.
HARTFORD, CT -- Dozens of state nonprofits have received grants provided under the auspices of Connecticut’s Neighborhood Assistance Act tax credit program. Among contributors to the program is Avangrid, and its subsidiaries, United Illuminating, Southern Connecticut Gas and Connecticut Natural Gas, which have distributed more than $417,000 in grants aimed at helping community and neighborhood organizations improve energy efficiency and save on energy costs, the company said in a press release. The three AVANGRID subsidiaries recently presented grants to 56 nonprofits at a ceremony at the Energize Connecticut Center.