RICHARD WEIZEL rweizel@ctpost.com
Connecticut Post (Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA)
STRATFORD — When 24-year-old Phaylin Kim came to the United States two years ago to live with an aunt in Stratford her first priority was to complete her final year of high school and go on to college.
After Kim graduated in May from Stratford High School's full-time night program for those 16 and over, she was able to receive a $100 "mini-grant" from the Stratford Community Fund program to further her education.
Now, a first year student at Housatonic Community College in Bridgeport, Kim said she is planning to use the grant money to buy books.
"The money is not a lot, but it does help and being recognized to receive the award gave me the courage to go further with my education," said Kim, a permanent U.S. resident from Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh City. "I'm even thinking now about a career in nursing." Kim is among hundreds of people who have benefited from the non-profit Stratford Community Fund since it was established in 1990 by a group of local citizens and town officials to make small grants available to benefit a wide range of community programs.
The fund's 12-member Board of Directors selects grant recipients twice a year, in January and June, said Board President Elaine Watson, coordinator of the elementary curriculum for the Stratford school system's
"Our whole purpose is to provide recognition and some financial help to programs that help people of all ages," Watson said. "We receive all our funding from private and corporate donations and are trying to increase our endowment fund so we can help more people in the future."
Watson said the grants are generally between $100 and $250, and are awarded to programs throughout town, which determine how to use the money.
Barbara Pitcher, coordinator of Continuing Education and Summer Schools for the Stratford School district, said the Community Fund is providing a major boost to students like Kim.
"I feel like in our program we're saving lives by allowing students 16 and over who could not complete high school to earn their diplomas at night," Pitcher said. "While these grants from the Community Fund are not a great deal of money, it does help and also inspires our students. When they are selected they feel like they have accomplished something important, and gives them that much more hope."
Lou Perno, executive director of Sterling House, a community-based center that provides programs for children and adults in need, said the fund has been helping children attend its summer camp program for more than a decade.
"They have been providing mini-grants of between $200-$250 every summer to Sterling House that enables us to award a camp scholarship for a child whose family could not possibly afford to pay for," Perno said. "For two weeks during the summer a child who would otherwise be at home is able to participate here. It also helps parents by providing a couple of weeks of much needed day-care during the summer so they can go to work."
That has been the fund's main purpose since its inception, said Lewis Chaplowe, a retired attorney and former board president who helped establish the program 17 years ago.
"I got the idea back in 1986 when an old man came to my Stratford office saying he had no family, but had lived in Stratford all his adult life and wanted to leave all his money to some kind of program that benefits people in Stratford," Chaplowe said. Chaplowe, a member of the Stratford Rotary Club, said that idea was to find a way to establish a program where people could make donations to benefit the town. After sharing the idea with club members, they decided to start the Stratford Community Fund with $1,000 in seed money.
"After that, it just grew and through donations and investments and we filed all the papers to make it a non-profit organization with a Board of Directors," Chaplow said. "We now we have an endowment fund of about $65,000 and use the $3,000 to $5,000 in annual interest to award the grants." Looking to the future, Virginia Harris, another board member, said the community fund's emphasis over the next year will be to issue grants related to environmental programs and projects. The Community Fund's new "Green Awareness Mini-Grants Program" is committed to promoting environmental awareness and sustainability in town, through education, everyday practice, and advocacy. "Even though our focus will continue to be very broad, the board is in agreement that we should go in the 'green' direction because it's so important not only to the community, but to society as a whole," Harris said.
Those wishing to make contributions to the Community Fund, or apply, can visit www.stratfordcommunityfund.com, or contact the group at P.O. Box 1344 Stratford, CT 06615
After Kim graduated in May from Stratford High School's full-time night program for those 16 and over, she was able to receive a $100 "mini-grant" from the Stratford Community Fund program to further her education.
Now, a first year student at Housatonic Community College in Bridgeport, Kim said she is planning to use the grant money to buy books.
"The money is not a lot, but it does help and being recognized to receive the award gave me the courage to go further with my education," said Kim, a permanent U.S. resident from Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh City. "I'm even thinking now about a career in nursing." Kim is among hundreds of people who have benefited from the non-profit Stratford Community Fund since it was established in 1990 by a group of local citizens and town officials to make small grants available to benefit a wide range of community programs.
The fund's 12-member Board of Directors selects grant recipients twice a year, in January and June, said Board President Elaine Watson, coordinator of the elementary curriculum for the Stratford school system's
"Our whole purpose is to provide recognition and some financial help to programs that help people of all ages," Watson said. "We receive all our funding from private and corporate donations and are trying to increase our endowment fund so we can help more people in the future."
Watson said the grants are generally between $100 and $250, and are awarded to programs throughout town, which determine how to use the money.
Barbara Pitcher, coordinator of Continuing Education and Summer Schools for the Stratford School district, said the Community Fund is providing a major boost to students like Kim.
"I feel like in our program we're saving lives by allowing students 16 and over who could not complete high school to earn their diplomas at night," Pitcher said. "While these grants from the Community Fund are not a great deal of money, it does help and also inspires our students. When they are selected they feel like they have accomplished something important, and gives them that much more hope."
Lou Perno, executive director of Sterling House, a community-based center that provides programs for children and adults in need, said the fund has been helping children attend its summer camp program for more than a decade.
"They have been providing mini-grants of between $200-$250 every summer to Sterling House that enables us to award a camp scholarship for a child whose family could not possibly afford to pay for," Perno said. "For two weeks during the summer a child who would otherwise be at home is able to participate here. It also helps parents by providing a couple of weeks of much needed day-care during the summer so they can go to work."
That has been the fund's main purpose since its inception, said Lewis Chaplowe, a retired attorney and former board president who helped establish the program 17 years ago.
"I got the idea back in 1986 when an old man came to my Stratford office saying he had no family, but had lived in Stratford all his adult life and wanted to leave all his money to some kind of program that benefits people in Stratford," Chaplowe said. Chaplowe, a member of the Stratford Rotary Club, said that idea was to find a way to establish a program where people could make donations to benefit the town. After sharing the idea with club members, they decided to start the Stratford Community Fund with $1,000 in seed money.
"After that, it just grew and through donations and investments and we filed all the papers to make it a non-profit organization with a Board of Directors," Chaplow said. "We now we have an endowment fund of about $65,000 and use the $3,000 to $5,000 in annual interest to award the grants." Looking to the future, Virginia Harris, another board member, said the community fund's emphasis over the next year will be to issue grants related to environmental programs and projects. The Community Fund's new "Green Awareness Mini-Grants Program" is committed to promoting environmental awareness and sustainability in town, through education, everyday practice, and advocacy. "Even though our focus will continue to be very broad, the board is in agreement that we should go in the 'green' direction because it's so important not only to the community, but to society as a whole," Harris said.
Those wishing to make contributions to the Community Fund, or apply, can visit www.stratfordcommunityfund.com, or contact the group at P.O. Box 1344 Stratford, CT 06615
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