Spotlight on Guilford – Guilford Foundation from GCTV on Vimeo.

Pictured: The Guilford Foundation Board members Mary Jo Kestner, Stephen Page, Edward Seibert, Executive Director Liza Janssen Petra, and awardee Virginia Gresham, shot on the Green in front of one of the lampposts.

Gresham, a Guilford High School Senior, intends to install plaques with historic facts on the 20 lampposts of the Guilford Green. She’s been planning her project since January 2011 and has secured approval from the Girl Scout council as will as the Guilford Green Committee, who was impressed with her professionalism as well as the intent of the project. She has worked closely with the Committee as well as town historian Joel Helander on the style of the plaques as well as the text.

“Our town, Guilford, is one of the oldest in Connecticut and has a fascinating and rich history,” Virginia writes in her application. “Guilford was planned around the historic Guilford Green, 12 acres of trees and memorials… At this time, there is no obvious way to communicate the many historic facts about Guilford to its many visitors and citizens.”

She continues, “My project not only makes these important facts readily available to locals and visitors alike, but enables viewers to give themselves a self-guided tour around New England’s largest town green at the same time. My project will put plaques on the twenty lampposts around the green, each of which will contain an short paragraph setting forth important historical information about the influential citizens and locations in town, and the Green itself.”

The Guilford Foundation was pleased to support Viriginia’s efforts to enhance the Guilford Green and provide interesting facts about our unique town. The mission of the Guilford Foundation is to connect people who care to causes that matter to them to enrich the quality of life in Guilford; now, and for generations to come.

“We hope to grow the number of funds at the Foundation by reaching a broad cross section of Guilford individuals and organizations and encouraging them to create a perpetual legacy that will keep on benefitting Guilford for decades to come,” says Board President John Crawford. “Increasing the number of legacy funds mean more resources for the community.”

Carol Sirot, who has a well-established history of philanthropy in the greater New Haven area, approached TGF in December 2011 to create a legacy in her hometown. Working with Carol and her philanthropic vision, TGF created its very first Donor Advised fund, which allows the donor to make recommendations on how to allocate the income from the fund to causes that matter to her.

The “Gustave & Carol L. Sirot Fund” is designed to support initiatives, projects and nonprofit organizations that serve to improve the quality of life in Guilford, with special consideration to helping women who are disabled, abused, have chronic health issues, are hearing impaired, or need help staying in their homes. Up to four times a year, Carol will have the opportunity to advise on a grant to an organization that meets her criteria.

In response to a question as to why Carol cares so deeply about giving back to her community, Carol responded, “By helping other people, I have discovered that I am helping myself.”

Soon after Carol’s gift, TGF former Board President Tim Geelan approached TGF with a creative fund idea for a group of his friends. In addition to Tim’s commitment to the Guilford Foundation, he is also a dedicated soccer player. Tim managed to combine these two passions and channel the energy into creating a fund called the “Guilford Bell Curve Charitable Fund,” which, like the Gustave & Carol L. Sirot Fund, is a donor advised fund.

What’s unique about this fund is that is has been started collectively by his teammates rather than by just one person. In addition, we created this fund as our first “Acorn Fund,” which means that TGF will give some time to the donors to build up the fund to reach the $10,000 minimum for creating a fund. This opportunity represents a new flexibility by the Guilford Foundation as we work to better meet the needs of those in the community who may be new to philanthropy but are interested in getting involved.

Executive Director Liza Janssen Petra notes, “Our mission is to connect people who care with the causes that matter to them, and we want to make this as compelling as possible to people in the community who may not consider themselves philanthropists. Anyone can create a named fund with as little as just a few thousand dollars to start.”

The third new fund created is the Saint George Knights of Columbus Fund for Children in Need, which was established by the Guilford Knights of Columbus to provide designated, annual funding to the Guilford Social Services department to provide financial support for kids in need. Like the Guilford Bell Curve Fund, this is an “Acorn Fund.”

Finally, the children of Guilford legacy Corky Fisher established a fund in her memory—the Corky Fisher Educational Fund. Corky was a friend of Dr. Elisabeth Adams, and, during her lifetime, Corky quietly provided funding to support those issues promoted by Dr. Adams. Corky’s kids established a fund that will continue to support those issues in perpetuity, in particular, those that provide Guilford youth with a set of positive values preparing them for successful integration into adult life.

The Guilford Foundation is pleased that these donors entrusted us with their philanthropic vision and for caring enough to leave a lasting legacy for the community. For information about how to create legacy funds at the Guilford Foundation, Acorn Funds, and other philanthropic opportunities, contact Liza Janssen Petra at lizapetra@gmail.com, or visit our website www.guilfordfoundation.org.

Many thanks to Drink Communications for designing this document.

Elizabeth Adams Fund Scholarship: Matthew Doyle (in absentia) & Amanda Simon.

Joan Shrewsbury presents the Adams Award to Amanda Simon.

Carl A. Balestracci, Jr. Humanitarian Fund Scholarship: Alejandro Betancourt & Emily Ott.

Carl Balestracci presents the award to Emily Ott and Alejandro Betancourt.

Al & Gene Bishop Fund for Vocational and Industrial Arts: Michael Shay.

Al & Gene Bishop present the Bishop award to Michael Shay.

Stuart D. Burt Scholarship: Amanda Shank.

Stephen Page presents the award to Amanda Shank.

Stephen Looney Scholarship: Marissa Mormile & Marco Parisi (in absentia). Pictured with Joan Shrewsbury and Marissa Mormile are Stephen Looney’s niece and nephew, who helped to present the award.

Joan Shrewsbury, Marissa Mormile, Andrew Elsaid, and Olivia Elsaid (l-r).

Elizabeth M. “Lizzie” Schwanfelder Fund: Juan Carlos Lluberes

Elisa Milano and Jennifer Alexander present the award to Juan Carlos Lluberes.

Thursday, May 31, 2012

The Guilford Yacht Club

379 Whitfield Street, Guilford, Connecticut

Reception at 6:00pm

Dinner & Awards at 6:45pm

Admission is $50 per person – $25 under 18

This dinner is made possible through the generous support of our sponsors:

• Guilford Savings Bank
• Prospector Funds
• The Guilford Courier
• Shoreline Financial Advisors, LLC
• Royal Printing Service
• Drink Communications

• $800 to the Guilford Free Library to purchase a core teen graphic novel collection and two children’s reference books series on countries of the world.
• $1,000 to Guilford Parks & Recreation to support the Town’s annual 4^th of July fireworks display.
• $1,000 to Guilford Social Services for the Back to School Program, which provides children from low-income families entering grades K-12 the opportunity to start the school year with new shores, backpacks, lunch boxes and new school supplies.
• $1,500 to Women & Family Life Center to support a new program called “Teen Speak,” which will be a series of events designed to create community awareness about three interrelated topics: media and girls self-image, bullying, and teen dating violence.

YAG is an initiative of the Guilford Foundation whose intent is to foster philanthropy among high school students. Members of YAG raise funds throughout the year through events such as popcorn sales, coupon books, and direct appeal, and then the group solicits grant applications for projects from organizations that serve Guilford residents. The YAG members review the grant applications and select those projects that meet their rigorous funding standards and present their recommendations to the Guilford Foundation Board of Directors for ratification. The Guilford Foundation matches the funds raised through YAG to provide one half of the grant award for the grants.

The initiative, started in 2010, has been a major success in accomplishing its two missions: 1) to engage Guilford’s youth in the world of philanthropy, including fund raising, assessments of local needs, and grant writing; and 2) increasing the support provided to local organizations through new sources. Any Guilford High School student interested in participating in YAG must be a member of the GHS Interact Club and should contact the Laura Samperi in the GHS Guidance Office, Allen Jacob (allen@sunset-creek.com) of Guilford Rotary Club, or Liza Petra (lizapetra@gmail.com) at the Guilford Foundation.

At its March Board meeting, the Guilford Foundation Board of Directors approved $15,550 of funding to 7 local organizations.

“The Board was once again pleased to support a broad scope of needs in the community, from youth scholarships to senior services to families in need,” stated Board President John Crawford.

The March awards are as follows:

• $1,500 to Guilford A Better Chance, Inc., to provide partial scholarships for students to attend summer college preparatory classes.

• $3,000 to Clifford W. Beers Guidance Clinic, Inc., to provide emergency financial assistance to Guilford residents through the Shoreline Collaborative.

• $2,500 to Girl Scouts of Connecticut Troop 62117 to help a Girl Scout achieve her Gold Award by erecting plaques with historic facts on the lampposts of the Guilford Green.

• $1,200 to the Guilford Housing Authority to install raised beds for gardens for use by residents.

• $550 to Literacy Volunteers Valley Shore to reach out to Guilford residents regarding services and opportunities.

• $3,000 to the Orchard House, an adult day center located in Branford, to initiate outreach efforts to clients in Guilford and to assist with the development of marketing and promotional materials.

• $3,800 to Pilgrim Fellowship to provide scholarship funding for youth members to attend the annual mission trip.

The Guilford Foundation’s next application deadline for funding is on June 1^st, 2012. For more information on the grant application process, go to www.guilfordfoundation.org or email Liza Janssen Petra at lizapetra@gmail.com.

3 Shoreline towns’ charity to offer fuel aid. Click the link for the article in the New Haven Register.