The Guilford Foundation Approves $9,850 to 7 Local Organizations

At its March Board meeting, the Guilford Foundation Board of Directors approved $9,850 of funding to 7 local organizations, bringing the total amount granted so far this year to $18,075.

“The Board was once again pleased to support a broad scope of needs in the community, from support for new mothers to walking tours to supporting substance abuse services,” stated Board President John Crawford.

The March 2013 awards are as follows:

• $2,000 to Women & Family Life to fund a comprehensive program to encourage women to breast feed by helping them overcome obstacles, and offering a sense of community and support during the infants first year.
• $1,450 to Read to Grow to provide books for Guilford families giving birth at Yale-New Haven and Saint Raphael Hospitals. The program improves literacy skills, bonding, and strengthens families, by engaging parents in their child’s education and development creating children who are ready to learn when they enter kindergarten.
• $1,400 to the Guilford Preservation Alliance for its Walking Tours, which trains and employs local high school students and graduates to give walking tours of the Guilford Green and its surrounding neighborhoods.
• $1,250 to the Guilford Keeping Society to help establish a program (“Young People Explore Old Guilford”). The Keeping Society will work on the success of Early Guilford Days to provide students to take the program to the next level, involving students from the 6th through 12th grades. This is a joint grant with the Guilford Fund for Education.
• $1,000 to Lifelinx, Inc., to support training to three agency employees to become certified recovery coaches. Recovery coaches help remove personal and environmental obstacles to substance abuse recovery, serving as a guide and mentor in the management of personal and family recovery.
• $1,000 to Pilgrim Fellowship to support a peer-to-peer mentoring component of their annual humanitarian trip.
• $750 to Shoreline Arts Alliance to institute a weeklong summer acting camp for children in collaboration with the annual Shakespeare on the Shoreline event. The program will encourage reading, critical thinking, imagination, and self-worth by promoting the arts as a method of educating and empowering.

The Board was pleased to support these worthy programs that enhance the quality of life in Guilford.