Many of the grants The Guilford Foundation funds provide joy and brightened spirits to the community at large, making it measurable better. Here are a few vignettes of recent grant recipients that showcase positive local impact:

Guilford Art Center (GAC): The operational funding TGF provides supports its education programming to more than 4,000 Guilford residents. Whether it’s ceramics, jewelry, metalsmithing, weaving, glass, drawing and painting, blacksmithing, and stone carving, GAC 400 classes annually for all ages and abilities.

Guilford Garden Club (GGC): Guilford boasts a stunning town green thanks to GGC and TGF. The Garden Club plants trees annually through its Tree Fund to keep the green vibrant and a center for community life. Their most recent grant was used to pay for 11 trees to be planted.

Friends of the Guilford Free Library: The Friends’s Fall Book Sales combines the joyful tradition of finding wonderful used books with supporting the library’s operating budget. The 2022 TGF grant defrayed costs associated with hosting the sale, including tent and table rentals plus labor costs. The event made $40,000 for the Guilford Free Library and enabled the community to purchase reasonably priced books.

Legacy Theatre/Wheel of Life Theatre Troupe: The Legacy Theatre created a theatre troupe to be more inclusive to artists of all abilities. The members, who range in age and mobility, used their 2022 TGF grant to offset the costs of instructors and professional collaborations to help produce Peter and Wendy, a story about Peter Pan. The artistic director contacted Pilobolus to collaborate and help mobility-challenged actors “fly” during the production.

Download the Q4 2023 article featured in Guilford Event Magazine to learn more about The Guilford Foundation’s support for organizations and programming that brings joy and is accessible to all community residents.