Main Street Community Foundation

Community Impact

View Main Street Community Foundation's "Community Impact" video or read the stories below to see how the Foundation, its donors and its volunteers have made an impact in the six communities of Bristol, Burlington, Plainville, Plymouth, Southington and Wolcott.

A New Home for the Southington Family Resource Center

“Wow! This is school!” four-year-old Olivia exclaimed as she arrived at the Southington Family Resource Center located in Room 17 at Hatton School. Home daycare provider Sue Cyr recounted Olivia’s first impression of the classroom as she explained, “I could take the children in my care to the park to run around, but until this classroom opened I was not able to give them the opportunity to go have a school experience.” Krista Pringle, the center’s director, added, “The work we do here is beneficial to everyone. It doesn’t matter what a family’s socio-economic background is, because everyone benefits from receiving help with parenting and school readiness skills.”

Community Benefits from VISTA Service Learning Project

Charity and generosity are two of the values that brought together a small team of eight students from Tunxis Community College and the Main Street Community Foundation. The students, participants in a VISTA service learning project in their Spring 2012 sociology class taught by Professor Marie Clucas, PhD, took on a project to benefit the immediate response funds at the Foundation.

Gift of Life Insurance to Benefit Future Generations

Hal Kilby, then the Vice President of Immanuel Lutheran School’s eighth grade class, presented a donation to the Bristol Brass Foundation on behalf of his peers. “I used the word ‘modest’ to describe the donation, and the adults in the audience laughed,” recounted Mr. Kilby, now a veteran teacher at Bristol’s Chippens Hill Middle School. He now realizes that the adults perceived the donation to be significant, not ‘modest’. That event was Hal Kilby’s introduction to philanthropy, and taught him that anyone can have a positive, long-term impact on his or her community through charitable giving.

Making a Difference in the Lives that Follow

Jay and Elizabeth Tyrrell were humble people. Very few people knew they were wealthy. There was certainly nothing flamboyant about their lifestyles. Jay could often be found in his garden wearing dungarees with holes in them. But here's the catch. They donated a large portion of their wealth to twelve charitable organizations that serve the Connecticut and Maine communities in which they lived including the Main Street Community Foundation.

Time to Give Back

The Clement Family Fund

To understand why the Clement Family Fund was established, you have to know a little about Tony and Sondra Clement. They have spent over 70 years in Bristol and they are both lifelong members and supporters of Asbury Methodist Church in Forestville. Their ties to the community are very strong.

Camp opportunities is an example of a grant
supported through the immediate
response funds.

Small Grants Provide Big Impact for Those in Need

One year after a Bristol family received an Immediate Response Fund grant, the mother approached Stafford School Principal Cathy Cassin. The family had regained its financial stability and wanted to make a donation to the fund that had helped her family. She stated that she wished to “pay it forward” to help another family in need.

Honoring His Wife’s Generous Spirit

Jim Frawley may be 95 but you’d never know it. He’s upbeat and his mind is as responsive as anyone half his age. What’s as remarkable is that he was married for 72 years to the same woman. His long-term relationship with his wife, Eleanor, is something in which he takes pride since quickly changing wives, workplaces and everything else has become the norm.

Technology for Teens Program

Since 2005, the Technology for Teens program has awarded laptop computers to students from Bristol who are current members in good standing of the Bristol Boys & Girls Club and are accepted or planning to attend an accredited college or university. This initiative was started through the generosity of Bob Fiondella of Bristol and provides computers to students who are unable to purchase this much needed academic resource on their own. The program is administered by the Main Street Community Foundation and applications are available annually from the foundation or at the Bristol Boys & Girls Club.

“Main Street” circa 1962
Photo courtesy of the Bristol History Room
at the Bristol Public Library

A Family Tradition of Giving
The Formagioni - Lodovico Family Fund

Feeling a deep sense of family connection, roots, loyalty, and commitment to Bristol, Tony and Judie Lodovico, life long residents, believe in the city that has been their home and community for more than 65 years. To carry on the tradition of giving — time, energy, and financial commitment to the city of Bristol, they chose to establish a fund to honor their parents, family members and extended family. The Formagioni - Lodovico Family Fund is an unrestricted fund, established in late 2009 and honors the memory of Mike and Kate Formagioni, Carl and Laura Formagioni, and Carmen “Nucci” and Jennie Lodovico.

Students Benefit from Bequest of St. Joseph School Alum

Mark Keating was a quiet, reserved man. He lived in Bristol most of his life. He was a lifelong parishioner of St. Joseph Church and frequently walked to mass. He was also a St. Joseph School alumnus.

Creativity Lives On…

Sid Bernard truly loved sharing the joy and thrill of every art project that he and “his” kids created together in the classroom each and every day. A devoted art teacher in the Bristol Public School System for 25 years and for nearly as many summers at Choate-Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, CT, Sid’s love for teaching was evident. Sid believed in the power of learning as is evidenced by his own educational accomplishments. He received his BFA from Alfred University and his MFA from California’s Claremont College. When his illness forced him to leave the classroom, Sid continued to keep in contact with the teachers and students in the several elementary schools at which he taught, especially at South Side School.