One in five children under the age of 18 are struggling with hunger in Greater Hartford, according to a survey released by Foodshare, the regional food bank, and Feeding America, the nation’s largest hunger relief organization.
That’s better than the national average of one in four children, the study, “Map the Meal Gap: Child Food Insecurity 2011,” found.
“While Greater Hartford’s children are less likely to be food insecure than many other states throughout the nation, it is troubling when even one child is going to bed hungry,” says Gloria McAdam, president and CEO of Foodshare. “Through collaboration with other anti-poverty organizations and increased support of government assistance programs, Foodshare is already working hard to change these numbers. Distributing food alone will never bring an end to hunger. We must look toward increasing self-sufficiency and engaging the Greater Hartford community in longer term solutions if we ever hope to see lasting change.”
The study is an important tool because it provides critical information for developing strategies to alleviate child hunger. The data shows 55 percent of food insecure children are likely to be eligible for nutrition assistance such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
An executive summary of the report can be found at: feedingamerica.org/mapthegap/childsummary
SBM awards 37 grants
The SBM Charitable Foundation has awarded $489,662.50 to 37 area nonprofits as part of its “We’re Pulling for You” grants program. The foundation supports primarily East of the River programs.
A number of municipalities received funding including Manchester for its 13th annual Family History Day celebration and 20th annual Pride in Manchester Week community event; East Hartford for its Sounds of Summer Concert Series; Glastonbury for its free summer concert series; South Windsor for its Summer “S.T.A.R.S.” Community Service Program for area youth; and Vernon for its community 4th of July celebration.
East Hartford School Business Partnership, Inc. was awarded funding for its East Hartford High School financial education programs, as was the Enfield Loaves and Fishes for its food pantry, South Windsor Cultural Arts for its Sunday concert series, South Windsor’s Wood Memorial Library, and Windham Region Arts Council for bus transportation for Windham area third graders to attend the Arts Festival.
General funding support was awarded to Holy Family Shelter in Willimantic; Hockanum Valley Community Council in Vernon; the Cornerstone Foundation for its food pantry; Nutmeg State Games, and National Conference for Community Justice for East of the River students. Additional funding was granted to the Institute for International Sports in Storrs for World Scholar-Athlete Games at the World Youth Peace Summit held at the University of Hartford; Prevent Blindness Tri-State for its ‘Healthy Eyes for CT Kids’ program for East of the River youth; Riverfront Recapture’s youth rowing programs for East Hartford students, and St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center for child safety seat and community programs.
A variety of student and youth-oriented organizations also received funds.
The SBM Charitable Foundation, Inc. was founded in 2000 by Connecticut Bancshares, Inc., the parent company of the former Savings Bank of Manchester. Year-to-date, the foundation has awarded $787,062.50.
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Grant sets up concert
A $25,000 grant from the Richard P. Garmany Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving is helping make possible a free community Picnic in the Park concert by the Hartford Symphony Orchestra in Bushnell Park in Hartford on Sunday, Sept. 25.
The 2 p.m. concert, the symphony’s first under new music director Carolyn Kuan, will include classical, jazz, opera, rock ’n roll, the University of Connecticut Marching Band and choirs from the Greater Hartford Arts Academy and Simsbury High School.
Kuan is the 10th music director of the Hartford Symphony and is the first woman to hold that position. Past positions have included associate conductor of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, artist-in-residence at the New York City Ballet, and assistant conductor for the Baltimore Opera Company.
In the event of severe weather, the concert will be held in Mortensen Hall in the nearby Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts. Seating there will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis.
The Richard P. Garmany Fund was established at the Hartford Foundation in 2008 through the will of Garmany, a former executive at Aetna. Since then, 47 grants totaling almost $1 million have been awarded to support more than three dozen Greater Hartford cultural, environmental and healthcare nonprofits, including the Hartford Symphony’s Talcott Mountain Music Festival for the past two seasons.
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Connecticut shutout
The Small Business Administration has awarded 100 nonprofit organizations from 44 states and the District of Columbia grants worth $7.9 million under the Program for Investment in Microentrepreneurs Act (PRIME). But no Connecticut nonprofits participated.
Grants will be used to provide business-based training and technical assistance to low-income and very low-income entrepreneurs to help them start, operate, or grow a small business. Grants will also be used to better equip community-based nonprofit organizations to provide training.
“In the midst of the economic downturn the country has been experiencing, SBA’s PRIME grants are an increasingly important tool in our toolbox to help small businesses,” said SBA Administrator Karen G. Mills.
PRIME grants are intended to help qualified community-based organizations provide training to small businesses with five or fewer employees that are economically disadvantaged, and businesses owned by low-income individuals, including those who live on Indian reservations and tribal lands.
