The grand nave of Yale’s historic Sterling Memorial Library is being renewed and restored, thanks to a $20 million gift from alum Richard Gilder, Class of ’54, and his wife, Lois Chiles.
The restoration honors outgoing Yale University President Richard C. Levin and his wife, Jane A. Levin, lecturer and director of undergraduate studies for the Directed Studies Program.
Gilder, founder of the brokerage firm now known as Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC, has for many years worked closely with the Levins to advance the university’s mission.
The restoration, designed by Helpern Architects, will encompass the full interior of the nave, including the card catalog areas to the south, the north space adjacent to the Selin Courtyard, and the area behind the circulation desk.
A major component of the project will be a complete restoration of the nave’s stained glass windows, which are among the approximately 3,300 windows that artist G. Owen Bonawit designed for placement throughout the library.
In addition, the nave’s multi-toned stone, woodwork, painted motifs, and the painting of the Alma Mater will be cleaned, repaired, and illuminated by modern lighting.
Work began this month and is expected to be completed in the fall of 2014.
Okafor aids Husky Sport
NBA and UConn basketball player Emeka Okafor recently donated $100,000 to Husky Sport, an extension of an initial donation of $250,000 to the program in 2007.
Okafor’s first gift allowed for the expansion in the number of trips per week Husky Sport could take to Hartford. Since 2007 the yearly enrollment in the service learning courses associated with Husky Sport went from 40 to 100.
Founded in 2003 by UConn’s Neag School of Education, this far-reaching community engagement initiative provides children in Hartford’s North End with a broad range of in-school, afterschool, and weekend programs focusing on sports, physical activity, nutrition, academic enrichment and life skills.
Okafor, a No. 2 pick in the 2004 NBA draft, graduated from UConn with a 3.8 GPA and bachelor’s degree in finance in just three years.
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Banks support loan fund
Two banks have made donations to The Greater New Haven Community Loan Fund, which serves affordable housing developers, nonprofit organizations and small contractors.
TD Bank, through the TD Charitable Foundation, recently donated a total of $7,500.
And the First Niagara Foundation awarded a $5,000 regional community grant to support the Real Options Overcoming Foreclosure Project and neighborhood stabilization activities that involve strategic targeting of the acquisition and renovation of foreclosed, vacant and blighted properties to return them to productive use.
The fund also provides counseling to homeowners in foreclosure as well as first-time home buyers. In 25 years of lending, the Loan Fund has made more than $53 million in loans for projects that have produced more than 2,325 units of housing for low/moderate income households.
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NBC offers $100k in grants
NBC Connecticut has launched its second annual grant program, 21st Century Solutions, in partnership with the NBCUniversal Foundation. The program will award three grants totaling $100,000 to local nonprofit organizations in Connecticut. Winners will be innovative, community-based programs in the areas of civic engagement, education, environment, jobs and economic empowerment, media arts, and technology. Grant submissions will be accepted through July 31.
Last year, the University of Connecticut Foundation was awarded a $50,000 grant for its Entrepreneurial Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities. Additionally, Charter Oak Cultural Center’s vegetable gardening and newspaper initiative providing employment for the homeless, and the Connecticut Pre-Engineering Program’s cyber-gaming math challenge focused on closing the achievement gap among urban students were also winning programs.
The online application is available at NBCConnecticut.com by searching ‘Solutions’.
