News

Letter: New Canaan Community Foundation Receiving Grant Applications

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Dear Editor,

The New Canaan Community Foundation currently has funding opportunities available for local nonprofit organizations. We want to ensure that potential partners know we are here, and listening to the interests and needs of our community. 

For over 40 years, we’ve invested in programs, capital projects, and the operations and growth of critical local organizations. These organizations span arts & culture; health; human services; seniors & special needs; youth & education—they’re the lifeblood of our community, and we are so fortunate to invest and partner in their work. 

We mobilize thoughtful grant investments, supported by many families across town, chipping in their charitable giving to have a greater impact together. Last year, our generous supporters helped us invest nearly $600,000 in local nonprofits. So that we can continue to strategically respond to local needs, we hope you’ll share our open funding opportunity with worthwhile nonprofit projects and start-up ideas.

Lauren Patterson

New Canaan Community Foundation Awards $586,000 in Grants [CORRECTED]

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A New Canaan organization on Wednesday distributed some $586,000 in grants to 78 local and area nonprofits. Recipients of the New Canaan Community Foundation grants ranged from organizations focused on the arts, culture and community resources, to health, human services, seniors, special needs, and youth organizations. The Community Foundation or ‘NCCF’ “works to mobilize people around issues that they care about,” President and CEO Lauren Patterson told NewCanaanite.com from a bustling auditorium at Norwalk Community College, where NCCF held its Grant Awards Ceremony. “In the fall and winter we focus on raising money, and in the spring our volunteers go out to vet the organizations and award the dollars,” Patterson said. This year, the 1977-established NCCF received a record-breaking 96 applications from nonprofit organizations for grants, which were considered by the foundation through a holistic review process, she said.

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Letter: ‘Sapienza Scholarship’ Helps Bridge Significant Gaps for NCHS Students

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Dear Editor,

In a couple of weeks, the Sapienza Scholarship committee of the New Canaan Community Foundation will begin its annual scholarship award process. We have been convening since 2007 when Ann Sapienza, a longtime New Canaan resident, set up an endowed fund for New Canaan students who could not afford a college education. Over the month of May our dedicated committee of board members and town residents will meet weekly to review more than 60 applications for grants to help New Canaan students with college costs. The applicants remain anonymous and the awards are need-based in nature. In addition to their financial needs, we learn about each student’s academic and athletic achievements, arts involvement, community service and job experience.

Around Town

0684-Radi0: Mobilizing New Canaan’s Volunteers and Donor Dollars

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In this installment of 0684-Radi0—free and downloadable here in iTunes—we talk to New Canaan Community Foundation President and CEO Lauren Patterson about the organization’s unique process of involving dozens of residents in reviewing local needs and prioritizing grant funding to address them. This week’s podcast is sponsored by the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce, connecting community with commerce. The Chamber hopes to see you at the Sidewalk Sale, coming up July 12 and 13. Here’s more from 0684-Radi0:

Around Town

Op-Ed: New Canaan’s ‘Young Philanthropists’

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As a sophomore at New Canaan High School two years ago, leading a busy life with sports, school and extracurricular activities, I had been less than inclined to add another program to my list of to-do’s. Yet my mom, having volunteered with the New Canaan Community Foundation, insisted I try the organization’s Young Philanthropists Program. In it, high school students meet regularly to learn and discuss community needs and how they’re met by nonprofits, as well as how grants help fund those agencies. No surprise, mom was right—this was a program for me: I love to help others and make a difference in my community, and the Young Philanthropists allows me to not only follow that passion, but to also learn about how a nonprofit is built and sustained. Since entering the program, I have learned a lot about nonprofit organizations in the area, and we have been able to participate in hands-on work with various organizations.