The holiday season showed the power of Central Connecticut donors to affect the lives of those who need a little extra help.
Once again, the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving was at the forefront, delivering $783,000 in year-end grants that made a difference for a host of food and shelter programs.
But the list of donors ran the gamut from small businesses to schools to banks.
The toll of the recession in Connecticut — the loss of more than 100,000 jobs and government budget cuts — has placed a strain on nonprofit agencies providing basic human needs. Foodshare, the regional food bank for Hartford and Tolland counties, reports a 30 percent increase in food requests in the last 18 months.
“This year we are facing an enormous challenge — and have needed more help,” said Diana Goode, executive director of Gifts of Love in Avon. “The importance of our programs has increased in the wake of the country’s economic downturn, with more families unable to afford the basics. Funding from the Hartford Foundation has allowed us to continue to help our clients in need.”
These year-end grants bring to almost $1.7 million the amount awarded this year by the Hartford Foundation for basic human needs and homeless programs.
More than one-third of the recently awarded grants — $300,000 — has been awarded to 62 agencies in 11 communities — Bloomfield, East Hartford, Enfield, Hartford, Newington, Rocky Hill, Simsbury, Vernon, West Hartford, Wethersfield, and Windsor — to support nonprofit agencies operating soup kitchens, food pantries as well as homeless shelters and health services.
“My constant battle is to find ways to be able to meet the demand — both with food donations and financial donations,” said Linda Bridge, executive director of the Enfield Food Shelf. “The grant couldn’t have come at a better time.” The agency feeds almost 400 families each week, and at Thanksgiving provided food for 530 families.
Support for the $300,000 in basic human needs primarily was through the Beatrice Fox Auerbach Foundation Fund, established at the Hartford Foundation in 2000 by heirs of the longtime Hartford department store owner and philanthropist. Grants range from $1,000 to $15,000 depending on the need targeted. In July, the Auerbach Fund also supported an additional $150,000 in grants to 25 local agencies for basic human needs.
Additional grants totaling almost $483,000 have been awarded by the Hartford Foundation to Immaculate Conception Shelter and Housing Corporation of Hartford and The Salvation Army of Greater Hartford for emergency shelter programs for the homeless. According to the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness, shelters have been operating at more than 100 percent for well over a year, reaching a high of 108 percent.
Businesses and their customers stepped up too:
• Farmington Bank customers and employees donated 675 toys to the Toys for Tots campaign of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve and another 100 toys to the Klingberg Family Centers. The toys were collected at all Farmington Bank’s 15 branch locations throughout central Connecticut. In addition, the Farmington Bank Foundation, the charitable arm of Farmington Bank, donated $5,000 to the Marine Corps Reserve’s Plainville headquarters for the purchase of additional toys.
• CREC’s Public Safety Academy faculty and students worked with local police to ‘Stuff a Cruiser’ at the Enfield Square. In all, 26 students and five faculty members contributed 226 hours to the effort, collecting more than 2,200 toys and $2,400.
• Liberty Bank donated $5,000 to Operation Fuel on behalf of the bank’s customers and employees. Non-profit Operation Fuel provides emergency energy assistance throughout Connecticut to low-income working families and senior citizens who are not eligible for energy assistance from government funded programs.
