Written by Sigrid Kun, Guilford Events Magazine

As we begin 2025, let’s celebrate the dedication and accomplishments of The Guilford Foundation’s (TGF) 2024 grant recipients. TGF awarded $117,800 to 42 nonprofits providing services and programming to Guilford Residents. Over $28,000 was explicitly directed to youth initiatives, including care, educational support, mental health services, and invaluable enrichment for our Guilford youth.

Benincasa Community Farm (BCF).  BCF contributes approximately 2 tons of sustainably grown fruits and vegetables to local food pantries such as St. George in Guilford. BCF also offers programming for students (including GHS students meeting volunteer requirements) focused on environmental stewardship, sustainability, and food justice to promote greater food access and encourage healthy lifestyles. TGF’s grant award will assist in purchasing and installing a greenhouse/high tunnel that allows for near-year-round fruit and vegetable production at the farm, additional programming for students, and food pantry distributions.

Camp Hazen YMCA. Camp Hazen, YMCA’s year-round camping, outdoor education, and conference center in Chester, CT, is committed to helping youth develop valuable life skills through camping experiences that build healthy bodies, open minds, and awakened spirits. Overnight Camp (Grades 3-10), Day Camp (1st-7th grade), and Leadership Programs (entering 11th grade) address the social, cultural, and recreational needs of youth and give them the tools and values to make positive decisions to succeed in the future. TGF funding provides Guilford residents with financial assistance to enjoy this vibrant and unique environment.

Community Nursery School (CNS). This cooperative preschool is located in Guilford, uniquely situated on a scenic, wooded lot with nature trails, an outdoor classroom, and two amazing outdoor play areas. The School’s philosophy is to provide a nurturing environment that promotes each child’s emotional, social, educational, and physical needs. Alongside our committed staff, parents contribute by playing an active role in their children’s early education. CNS offers PreK programs for ages 2-4 and kindergarten and summer sessions. They started a Nature School, where the kids are outside with a greater focus on independence, appropriate risk-taking, and exploration of the natural world.

Guilford A Better Chance (GABC). TGF funding supports the work of GABC, which offers academically gifted girls of color the opportunity to attend Guilford High School, live in a caring community with a strong professional support team, and focus on a road to success through academic achievement and personal growth. Six GABC girls have been chosen from among hundreds of applicants to provide A Better Chance to students from communities lacking access to quality educational programs. The goal is to lessen the academic divide, one scholar at a time, and to prepare these students for a lifetime of achievement. GABC scholars have attended prestigious colleges and universities such as Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, and others.

Guilford Before and After School Care Program (GCC BASC). TGF funding assists the GCC BASC mission to provide before-school care (7-9 am) and afterschool care (3-6 pm) for children 5 to 12 years old. Care is offered to school-age children whose families reside in Guilford and need childcare due to work schedules. The program provides a much-needed service to the Guilford community, including one- and two-income families, single parents, grandparents, and guardians. TGF funding supports GCC BASC’s goal of offering financial assistance to those needing tuition assistance.

GCC Early Education (GCC EE). GCC EE offers high-quality early education and before and after school programs for children (ages 3-5) of working families in Guilford and surrounding towns. A TGF grant helps support GCC EE in providing a safe, positive, nurturing, inclusive, and consistent atmosphere as the foundation for each child’s social-emotional, physical, language, and cognitive development. GCC EE programs foster the development of self-awareness, self-expression, independence, and appropriate conflict-resolution skills. TGF funding aids GCC EEE in providing tuition assistance to financially support Guilford families.

Guilford Youth Mentoring (GYM).  GYM is an award-winning school-based program designed to support and encourage students as they transition from childhood to adulthood. It provides one-on-one mentors to follow them throughout their Guilford Public Schools experience. A TGF grant assists GYM in addressing the increased requests for mentors for needy students.  Moreover, as the number of mentors and mentees grows, the funds support training workshops, promotional and recruiting materials, and supplies for mentor/mentee activities. The goal is to improve the life path of the students who benefit from the program while enriching the lives of the mentor volunteers as they give back to their community.

Junior Achievement of Southwest New England (JA).  A grant from TGF allows JA to provide experiential career readiness and financial literacy programs for 1,000 Guilford High School students during the 2024-25 school year. These programs help GHS to meet the Mastery-Based Diploma Assessment (MBDA) requirements. Corporate and community volunteers deliver relevant, hands-on experiences to teach the basics of financial literacy, work readiness, and entrepreneurship. JA programs empower students to make a connection between what they learn in school and how it can be applied in the real world. They also give them strong foundational skills with the confidence to make their dreams a reality.

Little Sprouts (LS).  The dedicated staff at LS is excited to bring a quality preschool program back to the North Guilford community. LS boasts traditional preschool offerings for children 2, 3, 4, and 5. Now, in the form of Little Sprouts, TGF leadership, and investment enabled the relaunch of this memorable first school experience. The school takes pride in understanding each child’s educational and social needs to be self-reliant and confident and become lifelong learners. Parents see their children grow and learn with more educational opportunities, and families will easily transition their children to kindergarten. LS provides preschool enrichment and summer camp programs.