John Patrick Flanagan Foundation Awards $31K in 2014 Grants to Local Charities

Fairfield, CT – The John Patrick Flanagan Foundation (JPFF), a charitable foundation established to help vulnerable children and families of Connecticut, announced that it has awarded $31,932 in grants for 2014 to local organizations. The grants were awarded to nine Fairfield or Bridgeport-based charities including the Connecticut Audubon Society, Wakeman Smilow-Burroughs, McGivney Community Center, New Beginnings Family Academy, Discovery Museum and the High School Scholarship Foundation of Fairfield, among others.
 
“We are incredibly grateful and humbled by the opportunity to support these amazing organizations that are doing so much to help children in need in our community,” commented Amanda Flanagan, Chairperson of the John Patrick Flanagan Foundation. “As we reach more than $115,000 in total grants since our inception in 2008, we look forward to continuing to celebrate John Flanagan’s memory through these activities in the years ahead.”
 
The grant allocations are as follows:
 
- CT Audubon Society Center at Fairfield ($9,432) – to fund the cost for the “JPFF Trailblazers Program,” which enters its sixth year of existence, providing Bridgeport public school students with transportation to the Nature Center for field trips. Since its inception more than 2,500 students have participated in the Trailblazers program.
- United in Hope Scholarship Fund ($2,500) – to provide college tuition assistance to a recent high school graduate from the area. This grant is jointly supported by the Chad A. Jacobs Memorial Foundation, which granted an identical amount.
- McGivney Center ($7,500) – to help fund the Center’s afterschool program for K-10th grade children in Bridgeport, by supporting staff salaries, providing supplies and underwriting field trip costs.
- Wakeman Smilow-Burroughs Clubhouse in Bridgeport ($7,500) – to help fund teen counselors who provide programming at the Clubhouse in Bridgeport, such as an afterschool job program, community service program, and high school and college prep.
- Discovery Museum ($1,300) – to help fund a science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) accelerated program for high-achieving Bridgeport public school students.
- New Beginnings Family Academy ($2,000) – to fund a Pre-K science-focused program that includes field trips to the Beardsley Zoo.
- High School Scholarship Foundation of Fairfield ($1,000) – to fund an annual scholarship to a college-bound, high-achieving student with an economic need at Fairfield Warde High School.
- Bridgeport Youth Lacrosse ($500) – to support payment for referees during the league’s spring season.
- Bridgeport Hospital ($200) – to provide children’s books for the “JPFF Children’s Corner” that was established in 2010 at the hospital’s cancer wing to serve children visiting, or accompanying friends or relatives receiving treatment.
 
Since 2008, the John Patrick Flanagan Foundation has raised approximately $500,000 and granted out more than $115,000 to programs that provide resources and opportunities to disadvantaged children and families. It has made nature science field trips possible for more than 2,500 inner-city school children to date, funded teen programming and college preparation resources for inner city teens, helped economically-disadvantaged immigrant women and children learn English and life skills, supported children affected by HIV/AIDS, sponsored volunteer attorneys who work to place children in safe permanent homes and secure for them appropriate mental health and education services, provided scholarships for children in the community who have a financial need and children who have lost a parent to cancer.
 
To learn more about the John Patrick Flanagan Foundation or to make a donation, please visit www.jpff.org or click the John Patrick Flanagan Foundation.
 
About John Patrick Flanagan Foundation
The John Patrick Flanagan Foundation was established in loving memory of John Patrick Flanagan who passed away from a rare and aggressive neuroendocrine cancer on December 24, 2008 at the age of 44. John's family, friends and colleagues have established the Foundation to serve as a charitable legacy to support what he cherished above all else: children and family. The Mission of the John Patrick Flanagan Foundation is to help vulnerable children and families by supporting charities that provide the direction, education and healthy environment that vulnerable children and families need to have the opportunity to reach their full potential.

F
Submitted by Fairfield, CT

Become a Local Voice in Your Community!

HamletHub invites you to contribute stories, events, and more to keep your neighbors informed and connected.

Read Next