Folks from various nonprofit organizations received a total of $668,000 in grants from the New Canaan Community Foundation at its annual grant awards presentation on May 19 held at the New Canaan Library. “We know the needs of the community are great, but they are matched by our residents’ spirit of giving and the work of our nonprofit partners,” Foundation President and CEO Cynthia Gorey told the gathering.
According to Gorey, the New Canaan Community Foundation (NCCF) funds donated at the grant awards came from two sources including contributions from the fall fundraising annual appeal and investment income. “Every dollar that donors give to us goes out directly as a grant in this year’s grant cycle,” Gorey said.
Additional donations were made by various NCCF funds such as the Carey Children’s Fund, Corbet Family Fund, Cronin Family Fund, Community Impact Fund, Dionne Fund for Special Needs, Fund for Children and Youth, Prior Family, Spirit of New Canaan Fund, WenJim Fund for Children and Education, and Worden Family Fund.
Roughly 200 people filled the Lamb Room at the Library for the grant presentations. Some were there for support, others were recipients of grants for projects ranging from replacing an outdated and inefficient lighting system in the New Canaan Historical Society Costume Museum to large mobile whiteboards and remote monitors for meeting spaces at the New Canaan Public Library.
Gorey said a team of over 100 people, including 80 volunteers and 20 board members, selected which nonprofit organizations would receive grants. Volunteers helped read proposals from organizations, made 85 site visits to every organization, and provided financial analysis of each organization, she said.
“All of that information is reported back to our board members who make the difficult decisions of deciding what we can afford to fund and what we can’t,” said Gorey. “Even though today we are giving away over $668,000 we were asked for well over $1,000,000.”
Grant recipients
Nonprofit organizations that received grants were categorized as arts, culture, and community resources; elderly; health care; human services; special needs; and youth and education.
NCCF donated a total of over $169,000 in grants to the following 20 arts, culture and community resources organizations: American Red Cross, Carriage Barn Arts Center, Center for Contemporary Printmaking, Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County, INTAKE Organization, Maritime Aquarium of Norwalk, New Canaan Historical Society, New Canaan Land Trust, New Canaan Library, New Canaan YMCA, New England Dance Theater, Norwalk Symphony Orchestra, Shakespeare on the Sound, Silvermine Arts Center, Stamford Museum and Nature Center, Stamford Symphony Orchestra, Summer Theatre of New Canaan, Town Players of New Canaan, Waveny Park Conservancy, and Wildlife in Crisis.
NCCF donated a total of $38,500 in grants to four elderly service organizations: ElderHouse, Getabout, Meals on Wheels, and Staying Put in New Canaan.
A total of $98,500 in grants were donated by NCCF to 10 health care organizations. They are AmeriCares Free Clinics, Child Guidance Center of Mid Fairfield and Southern CT, Circle of Care for Families of Children with Cancer, Laurel House, Liberation Programs, Silver Hill Hospital Tiny Miracles Foundation, Visiting Nurse and Hospice of Fairfield County, and Waveny LifeCare Network.
The 19 human services organizations that received $185,300 in grants are The Center, Child Advocates of SW Connecticut, Children’s Connection, Community Plates, Domestic Violence Crisis Center, Exchange Club Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse, Family and Children’s Agency, Family Centers, Family ReEntry, Filling in the Blanks, Inspirica, International Institute of Connecticut (IICONN), Kids in Crisis, Neighbors Link, New Covenant Center, Open Door Shelter, Person to Person, Pro Bono Partnership, Shelter for the Homeless.
The NCCF also awarded over $47,000 to six special needs organizations including Abilis, Inc., Arts for Healing, Camp Horizons, New Canaan Mounted Troop, Saint Catherine Center for Special Needs, and STAR Inc. Lighting the Way.
Fourteen youth and education organizations were awarded over $128,000 — The Boy Scouts of America Connecticut Yankee Council, Carver Foundation, Childcare Learning Centers, Domus Kids Earthplace’s Harbor Watch Program, Future 5, Horizons Student Enrichment Program at New Canaan Country School, Mercy Learning Center, New Canaan CARES, Norwalk Community College, Norwalk Grassroots Tennis and Education, REACH Prep, Shepherds Inc., and Voices of September 11th.
New Canaan Community Foundation President and CEO Cynthia Gorey, Distributions Committee Chairman John Knight (center), and Board of Directors Chairman Leo Karl III (left) hold a big check representing over $668,000 in grants to various local nonprofit organizations. — Rich Durazzo, Jr. photo
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