DERBY- The Valley Community Foundation (VCF) is proud to announce that with the help of Valley residents, employees and VCF donor advised fund holders during The Great Give® 2017 nearly $300,000 was raised for nonprofit organizations located in Ansonia, Derby, Oxford, Seymour or Shelton. The total amount includes $25,000 in matching funds and prizes provided by VCF and others, which were shared during the fifth annual celebratory ice cream social on May 25.
“Of the nearly $1.3 million raised in The Great Give® 2017, approximately twenty-five percent will be specifically distributed for the benefit of Valley residents,” said Sharon Closius, President and CEO of the Valley Community Foundation. “It is truly inspiring to see this level of sustained support for local nonprofits, especially those here in the Valley.” For the fifth consecutive year, VCF has been the second largest sponsor of the event, incentivizing giving by matching funds and offering prizes to participating organizations.
This year, Valley-based organizations won multiple special prizes awarded throughout The Great Give® 2017, which was announced at the ice cream social. A total of $25,000 in prizes were awarded by VCF during The Great Give® 2017 to organizations located in the Valley. VCF awarded two prizes, the first to the Valley Independent Sentinel for greatest total number of Valley donors and the second to St. Mary-St. Michael School for the greatest number of new Valley donors. Both organizations also received additional prizes. The Valley Independent Sentinel received $250 as an Early Bird prize and St. Mary-St. Michael School received an additional $750 as a result of two hourly prizes. For the second year in a row, the Liberty Bank Foundation sponsored a prize in the amount of $2,000 for the Valley-based organization supporting basic needs that attracted the greatest number of individual donors during a specified time, which was presented to TEAM, Inc.
Center Stage Theatre was awarded a second place overall Grand Prize from The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven for most money raised by an organization with less than five full-time staff in addition to a $1,000 Early Bird Prize. BHCare was also awarded a second place overall Grand Prize for the most money raised by an organization with more than five full-time staff. Derby Day Care, Shelton High School Robotics Team and Shelton Historical Society also received money as a result of competitive hourly prizes.
The Great Give® is the annual online giving event on giveGreater.org®, a local resource for learning and giving created in 2010 by VCF’s partner in philanthropy, The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven to increase philanthropy in the Greater New Haven region of South Central Connecticut. Overall, The Great Give® 2017 generated nearly $1.3 million, including matching funds and prizes from the two foundations and other generous community sponsors for nonprofits serving the 20-town region of The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, which includes VCF’s five-town service area. There were more than 8,000 donors who gave more than 11,000 gifts. To see participating nonprofits and prize information, visit www.thegreatgive.org.
About the Valley Community Foundation
Established in 2004, the Valley Community Foundation distributes hundreds of thousands of grant dollars each year to support the local nonprofit sector and the people it serves. In addition to grantmaking, VCF works in strong partnership with The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven (TCF), to promote philanthropy in Ansonia, Derby, Oxford, Seymour and Shelton and receives funding from The Gates Fund and other preference funds at TCF. To learn how your gifts of cash, life insurance, appreciated stocks, bonds, real estate, and other assets can help to support the quality of life in the Valley, please visit the website at www.valleyfoundation.org or contact VCF President, Sharon Closius, at sclosius@valleyfoundation.org or 203-751-9162.
(This is a press release from Valley Community Foundation)
