The fund was established by the Manning/Sisson families to honor the memory of Mary M. Sisson along with her parents, Dennis and Anna May Manning. Grants will be made to charitable organizations for general charitable purposes at the recommendation of the donors, with preference for programs that foster the sport of swimming through team competition and skill-building at the municipal recreational level for the City of Bristol or the Town of Plainville, and/or support of swim team programs at the collegiate level.

Dennis and Anna May Manning raised their seven children in Bristol. They were involved in all of the sports each child played, especially the sport of swimming. They often participated as timekeepers at swim meets, coordinated award banquets and lent a hand wherever help was needed. Additionally, Anna May served as a middle school swim team coach in Bristol.

Mary was the oldest of the seven Manning siblings and an accomplished swimmer. She worked as a lifeguard at the Marriott in Farmington and the Dennis Malone Aquatic Center in Bristol, and she served as a swim team coach for the recreational team in Plainville. She was often seen performing her expert duties as a Connecticut Swim Team Official at high school swim meets. Additionally, Mary, like her mother Anna May, was a skilled knitter and an expert seamstress. She had a special passion for crocheting with a creative genius that provided great joy to others with her countless gifts of blankets, animals, dolls and shawls.

Through this fund, the family hopes to foster compassion, kindness and build the character of young individuals through the sport of swimming in the same manner it fulfilled their lives.