Your Gifts in Action! Highlights from Grant Recipients Branford, CT

As 2017 comes to a close, it’s a fitting time to reflect on our accomplishments. With joy in our hearts, we are thrilled to say that it was an amazing year for the Branford Community Foundation (BCF)! We were able to donate more money than ever before—$111,190—to a number of vital causes in our community, from the community kitchen to the animal shelter.

Helping others is our primary mission, and it’s delightful to see what a difference our contributions have made, thanks to generous people like you! Here are highlights from three of our many grant recipients. We hope you are as inspired by the impact of BCF funding as we are!

Through the generosity of the Donald & Carla Grigley Memorial Fund at the BCF, the Patricia C. Andriole Volunteer Services Center was able to add a new room, alleviating operational congestion. The new space is utilized by the Community Dining Room for freezers, shelving, and food sorting, while also providing space for bins of seasonal clothes for the BHCare Clothing Bank. This arrangement has also released space for more Food Pantry freezers elsewhere.

BCF donated $5,000 to the Clifford Beers Guidance Clinic to help Branford children and families who are living with behavioral health disorders. “At Clifford Beers, we believe the Branford Community Foundation is not only an essential philanthropic funder, but also a true community partner,” says Alice Forrester, chief executive officer of Clifford Beers Clinic. “Together, we are finding and implementing innovative ways to solve some of our most difficult socioeconomic and health problems—to ensure that children and families can lead healthy and happy lives.”

BCF was also able to donate to the Shore Line Trolley Museum. “I am pleased to say this funding has changed our board dramatically,” says Wayne Sandford, president of the Shore Line Trolley Museum. “At our board meetings today, we are discussing where we are and where we want to be in five years. I cannot thank BCF enough for its support to move our organization forward from a working board to a planning board.”

From all of us at BCF, we’d like to thank you, our generous donors. Everything we do starts with you. Without your generosity, the Branford Community Foundation could not be the successful philanthropic organization it is today! You make all the difference.

Looking forward to seeing what we can do together in 2018! Donate to BCF, or start your own BCF fund today.