Main Street Community Foundation (MSCF) will join in a nationwide celebration of Community Foundation Week from November 12-18 to recognize the importance of these philanthropic organizations. Community foundations are uniquely situated to improve their regions through supporting innovative solutions and creating powerful partnerships. You have likely felt MSCF’s impact in the communities of Bristol, Burlington, Plainville, Plymouth, Southington and Wolcott, though you may not have known the programs and activities were fueled by your local community foundation.

Twenty-five years ago, MSCF was established by local community leaders who could not have envisioned a worldwide pandemic in 2020. However, they did create an enduring organization that in the past several months was able to quickly mobilize resources and provide COVID-19 response-related grants to meet the most urgent local needs. This timely response, and more than $20.8 million in grants and scholarships provided since 1995, would not have been possible without the support of donors.

“There has never been a year like this, and MSCF has only been able to respond in the way it has due to the generosity of many donors,” stated Susan Sadecki, President & CEO of MSCF. “The partnerships we have built with donors, nonprofits, other foundations and the general public has been game-changing for our communities.”

MSCF is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year and was planning on hosting The Main Event: A Quarter Century Celebration to not only commemorate this milestone but to raise funds for its community leadership initiatives. Like most other events, it was canceled.

However, all sponsors of the event have redirected their support to MSCF’s COVID-19 Response Fund. This includes the Quarter Century Sponsorship ($25,000) from Robert R. Rosenheim Foundation and the Leadership Sponsorships ($10,000) from Barnes Group Foundation and Merrill Lynch Wealth Management. A complete list of sponsors can be found at mainstreetfoundation.org/the-main-event-2020.

“We are very grateful to our sponsors,” stated Sadecki. “Their donations are being combined with those we’ve received all year to provide additional resources to organizations now and to provide aid to local nonprofits in the recovery period.”

As Main Street Community Foundation continues to find solutions for its six communities – it is the collective work of all community foundations that will have the most profound impact. This was most evident amid this year’s coronavirus pandemic where over $1 billion was distributed by community foundations nationwide in response to the crisis. Additionally, community foundations, including MSCF, went beyond the money to help their communities adapt during this critical time—supporting charities, schools, nonprofits, and small businesses through partnerships with public institutions in cities, states, and in cooperation with the federal government.

Community Foundation Week was created in 1989 by former president George H.W. Bush to recognize the work of community foundations throughout America and their collaborative approach to working with the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to address community needs.