Main Street Community Foundation, through its spring competitive grant cycle, has awarded grants totaling $163,535 to 49 organizations serving Bristol, Burlington, Plainville, Plymouth, Southington and Wolcott. This round of grants will help these organizations meet the needs of local residents.

The Foundation strives to bolster a variety of causes in the communities it serves, such as the arts, historic preservation, and youth athletics. It also assesses and supports other pressing needs in the communities, such as food insecurity, lack of resources for homeless and low income individuals, or people in domestic violence situations. The annual spring general grant cycle supports all of these causes with distribution from over 30 endowed funds that were established by donors to support what they are most passionate about.

applications for this cycle are submitted once a year, and they are thoughtfully reviewed by 24 local residents that make up the Community Foundation’s volunteer Distribution Committee. The Committee not only reviews all proposals, but also conducts site visits, and makes the final funding recommendations to the Foundation’s Board of Directors. All of this is to ensure that the grants awarded are feasible and align with the donor’s intent.

Since its establishment in 1995, MSCF has awarded grants and scholarships totaling more than $23.4 million and is one of the leading grantmakers in the region.

The following grants were awarded in the 2022 General Grant Cycle as described below:

• American Clock & Watch Museum - $2,400 - Restoration of 3 stained glass windows from the E. Ingraham Clock Company to be displayed in the Ingraham Memorial wing (Bristol Brass General Grant Fund).
• Animal Rescue Foundation, Inc. - $3,000 - Spay and neuter surgeries and emergent medical care for shelter cats and dogs (Elizabeth I. and Louis J. Matt Animal Protection Fund).
• Army’s Legacy Animal Rescue - $1,000 – Spay and neuter surgeries for homeless dogs in foster care (Elizabeth I. and Louis J. Matt Animal Protection Fund).
• Boys & Girls Club of Bristol - $6,000 - Be A Star: Mental Health Awareness and Bullying Intervention program (Douglas and Noreen Schumann Special Interest Fund & Dumont Family Charitable Fund).
• Brian’s Angels Homeless Outreach - $2,000 – Assist homeless clients to secure state issues identification cards (Gnazzo/Reidy Charitable Fund).
• Bristol Adult Resource Center - $3,650 – Commercial freezer for the Hidden Café (Pat & Bob Wollenberg Charitable Fund).
• Bristol Child Development Center - $4,963 – Operating support for summer day camp provided to children ages 5-10 years old (Bristol Savings Bank Fund & Turkus Family Fund).
• Bristol Choral Society - $1,700 – Replacement of concert attire for members (Gnazzo/Reidy Charitable Fund).
• Bristol CT Little League - $3,470 – Installation of irrigation system for Field 2 in Forestville. (Malerbo Children’s Field Maintenance Fund)
• Bristol Girls Little League Softball - $6,000 – Installation of safety netting along fencing to protect spectators (Malerbo Children’s Field Maintenance Fund).
• Bristol Historical Society - $2,500 - Archival boxes and shelving to ensure proper preservation of collection items (*Stephen and Katherine Saman Memorial Fund).
• Bristol Police Department - $2,460 - Care and maintenance of the Bristol Police emotional support dog and sensory kits to assist people in crisis (Bristol Brass General Grant Fund & Tedesco-Gallant Charitable Fund).
• Bristol School Readiness Council - $2,052 - Mini voice amplifiers to improve student’s language and speech development (Fuller and Myrtle Barnes Fund for Education).
• Burlington Volunteer Fire Department - $1,600 - Two portable battery-powered light towers to illuminate an active scene and improve safety conditions (James R. Parker Trust).
• Community Counseling Centers of Central CT - $2,050 – Therapeutic Arts Group for teen girls (Douglas and Noreen Schumann Special Interest Fund).
• Early Childhood Collaborative of Southington - $6,000 - Conscious Discipline trauma-informed, social emotional program offered to families and childcare providers in Southington (KAWFY Memorial Fund).
• Grace Baptist Church - $3,420 - Grace Pantry program to provide fresh food items including meat and produce (Edward W. and Audrey K. Mink Memorial Fund & Ronald F. & Emilie P. Duhaime Family Fund).
• Healing Meals Foundation - $3,440 - Healthy Meals program providing nutritious, organic meals to low-income residents living with a serious health condition in the Foundation’s service area (Pat & Bob Wollenberg Family Fund for the Community).
• Human Resources Agency of New Britain - $4,438 - Operating support for the addition of a Bristol-based coordinator for the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program (Bristol Savings Bank Fund).
• Junior Achievement of Southwest New England, Inc. - $3,500 - Financial literacy, workforce readiness and entrepreneurship programming at Joseph A. DePaolo Middle School in Southington (KAWFY Memorial Fund).
• Junior Women’s Club of Wolcott - $2,000 - Essential household items for women and children from Wolcott transitioning from a domestic violence emergency shelter to permanent housing (Bristol Brass General Grant Fund).
• Literacy Volunteers of Central CT - $5,000 - Greater Bristol Literacy Project serving low to moderate income residents in Bristol, Plainville and Burlington (Bristol Brass General Grant Fund).
• Lewis S. Mills High School Crew Booster Club - $4,000 – Oars for the Kailey Prenoveau Memorial Boat (James R. Parker Trust).
• New Britain Museum of American Art - $2,500 – Access to the Arts program for Wolcott upper elementary public-school students (Fuller and Myrtle Barnes Fund for Education).
• Operation Fuel, Inc. - $5,000 – Emergency energy assistance for low-income residents in the Foundation’s service area (Bristol Savings Bank Fund & Bristol Brass General Grant Fund).
• Plainville Community Food Pantry - $2,940 – Operating support for the intervention, outreach and referral program (Jim & Eleanor Frawley Community Fund).
• Plymouth Community Food Pantry - $5,000 - Healthy Options Program Plus program to provide non-perishable dairy and produce to program clients (Bristol Savings Bank Fund & Jaspersohn Family Memorial Fund).
• Plymouth Volunteer Ambulance Corps – $2,377 - Replacement of an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) (Bristol Brass General Grant Fund & Karen and Kim Murphy Family Charitable Fund).
• Productions for Change - $1,870 – Creation of a promotional video for St. Vincent De Paul Mission of Bristol (Angela and Al Caruso Family Charitable Fund & Formagioni-Lodovico Family Fund).
• Reach Out and Read - $4,000 - Bristol Rx for Success! –Literacy Initiative for children ages 0-5 in collaboration with local pediatric clinics (Fuller and Myrtle Barnes Fund for Education & Bristol Brass General Grant Fund).
• Shepard Meadows Equestrian Center - $4,500 – Scholarships for military veterans to participate in horsemanship programs (Bristol Brass General Grant Fund & Terry and Marguerite Fletcher Family Fund).
• Southington Community Cultural Arts - $2,798 – Two potter wheels for the pottery program (KAWFY Memorial Fund).
• Southington Girls Softball League - $2,000 – Upgrades to Field 1 including drainage and grading (KAWFY Memorial Fund and JoAnn & David Mills Family Fund)
• Southington Public Schools – Family Resource Center of Southington - $5,000 – Full STEAM Ahead school readiness program (KAWFY Memorial Fund).
• St. Vincent DePaul Mission of Bristol - $5,175 – Technology and related supplies for new Resource Room for use by clients (Smith Family Charitable Fund).
• Tabernacle Christian Church - $4,000 - Giving Back Food Pantry program to provide groceries and fresh foods to food-insecure residents of Southington and surrounding areas (Bristol Brass General Grant Fund and KAWFY Memorial Fund).
• Terryville Plymouth Little League - $5,000 – Concession Stand renovation and repair (Bristol Brass General Grant Fund).
• Terryville Public Library – 1,000 Books before Kindergarten literacy program (Hamzy Family Charitable Fund).
• The Children’s Museum, Inc. - $2,500 – Science Achievement for All program for K-8th grade students in Bristol public schools (Fuller and Myrtle Barnes Fund for Education).
• The Family Center/Imagine Nation, A Museum Early Learning Center - $5,000 – Imagine Nation Inspires Life-Time Learners program including in-person workshops and community outreach programs (Bristol Brass General Grant Fund and Jay & Elizabeth Tyrrell Fund for the Arts).
• The Palace Theater Group - $2,500 - School performance of My Fair Lady at the Palace Theater for high school students from Bristol, Southington and Wolcott (Bristol Savings Bank Fund and Southington Arts Council Legacy Fund).
• The Salvation Army - $5,000 – Creative Arts and Music (CAM) Academy for Bristol youth (Douglas and Noreen Schumann Special Interest Fund and Margaret Haberman Memorial Fund for Music).
• Town of Burlington – Animal Control - $752 – Dog beds for the shelter (James R. Parker Trust).
• United Way of West Central Connecticut - $3,000 – Six new laptops for the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program (Bristol Brass General Grant Fund and Pat & Bob Wollenberg Family Fund for the Community).
• Veterans Strong Community Center - $5,000 - Operating support for direct outreach services for veterans in the communities served by the Foundation (Bristol Brass General Grant Fund, Paige Wartonick Laferriere Memorial Fund and Becker Family Fund).
• West Cemetery Association of Bristol CT - $1,000 – Operating support for technical assistance with application for the Stage Register of Historic Places (Stephen and Katherine Saman Memorial Fund).
• Wheeler Clinic - $5,000 - Operating support for a Peer Specialist in the Walk With Me program, a behavioral health treatment program for LGBTQ+ adolescents (Bristol Brass General Grant Fund).
• Wolcott Citizens Against Substance Abuse (CASA) - $1,500 – CASA Family Togetherness Night program (Pat & Bob Wollenberg Family Fund for the Community and Douglas and Noreen Schumann Special Interest Fund).
• Zion Lutheran Evangelical Church - $2,980 – Shelving and equipment for the Meals for Neighbors food pantry and soup kitchen (Ciccarelli-Vitale Community Advancement Fund).