here - Community Foundation of Greater New Britain

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Grass Roots Philanthropy
The Community Foundation of Greater New Britain has long C
prided itself on both promoting community service and making
community philanthropy accessible to people from all walks of life.
Two Foundation programs, the Celebrate Our Communities!
community service awards program and the Catalyst Fund, epitomize
the Foundation’s commitment to this “grass roots” approach to
philanthropy.
When first conceived, it was hoped that Celebrate Our
Communities! would both honor unsung community heroes and
provide local charities in Berlin, New Britain, Plainville and
CELEBRATE
OUR
COMMUNITIES!
Southington with much-needed grants
to assist their efforts.
Three years, 12 award recipients
and $30,000 in Foundation grants later,
the program has done all that and
much, much more.
Once again in 2007, the Community Foundation set out to
discover that special community servant in each of the four towns it
serves, that unassuming yet generous individual whose contributions
to making life better in his or her community was deserving of
accolades. And we found four very special people, indeed.
Recipients of the 2007 Celebrate awards were: Helen DeRito
of Berlin, a member of the Junior Woman’s Club of Berlin and
president of the Hubbard School PTO who awarded her $2,500
grant to the Junior Woman’s Club of Berlin; James Jones of New
Britain, dean of students at Slade Middle School and a tireless youth
mentor who awarded his $2,500 grant to the Boys & Girls Club of
New Britain; Joseph Plourde of Plainville, a volunteer with the
Plainville Community Food Pantry who awarded his $2,500 grant
James Jones, recipient of the Celebrate New Britain! community service award, with
students Devon Nolan (center) and Anthony Almodovar (right).
to the Food Pantry; and Jill Notar-Francesco of Southington, a longtime
officer and member of the Southington PTO and Southington
Science and Math Initiative (SSMI) who awarded her $2,500 grant
to SSMI.
“These award recipients truly epitomize what community
service is all about,” said Jim Williamson, president of the
Community Foundation. “We are hopeful that their example
will inspire others to take on the noble call of volunteerism.”
reated in 2003 with the support of the Robert C. Vance Foundation,
the Catalyst Fund is a grass roots community service initiative that
provides a means by which citizens
from all walks of life can participate CATALYST
in the philanthropic process. For a FUND
modest annual investment of $250,
Paul and Ronni D’Addabbo are among dozens of committed citizens taking an active
role in changing their community for the better through Catalyst Fund membership.
Paul serves as chair of the Community Foundation’s Catalyst Fund Steering Committee.
Catalyst Fund members annually select a charitable focus, convene
educational sessions to learn about their issue and, at the end of
each year, choose a nonprofit recipient specializing in the issue of
choice to receive a grant.
In 2007, Catalyst Fund members chose food insecurity as their
issue of focus and awarded a $10,000 grant to the New Britain Food
Security Collaborative, which is developing a coordinated, systemic
response to food insecurity in New Britain.
The Collaborative is supported by a wide range of community
partners dedicated to effectively addressing food insecurity in New
Britain, said Collaborative Chair Barbara Kirejczyk on behalf of the
United Way of New Britain and Berlin, which has taken a leadership
role in developing the Collaborative. The Collaborative is working
cooperatively with Foodshare (the regional food bank for Hartford
and Tolland Counties), existing emergency food providers and
workforce development partners in New Britain to develop an effective
long-term approach that will increase the ability of New Britain
individuals and families to secure food with their own resources.
The Catalyst grant will be used to partially fund a part-time
staff position to coordinate the Collaborative’s outreach efforts. The
Collaborative will also establish a network of providers for families
in constant need of emergency food services; work in partnership
with Foodshare and others to increase the capacity of service
providers; work with local organizations to establish community
gardens, thereby increasing the consumption of fresh fruits and
vegetables in low- to moderate-income households; help address
the need for an emergency food pantry to serve the north side of the
city; and facilitate the provision of educational or workforce training
to increase the earning potential of families in need so that they may
become self-sufficient.
“The establishment of the New Britain Food Security
Collaborative is welcome and much-needed,” said Paul D’Addabbo,
chair of the Foundation’s Catalyst Fund Steering Committee. “We
are thrilled to be able to help support this signature initiative in
New Britain’s ongoing effort to address hunger.”