YMCA Recevies $240K for Danbury Area Children's Programs

The Regional YMCA of Western Connecticut has been awarded eight grants totaling $242,291 to support and extend its youth development and education programming.

The Grossman Family Foundation has awarded a $165,491 grant to enroll up to 30 low-income Danbury students in the School Age program at the Regional YMCA Children’s Center in Bethel. This before/after school program helps children in grades K-7 maintain their academic progress during the school year and summer months.

The Perrin Family Foundation has awarded $25,000 to support the youth development activities at the Regional YMCA’s ESCAPE to the Arts center in downtown Danbury. ESCAPE’s three core programs — After School, Achievers and Youth & Government — help underprivileged teens develop the personal and leadership skills they need for prosperous futures. The funds will be used to support leadership building activities and art projects that will draw attention to student-identified societal issues during the 2014-2015 school year.

General Mills recently named the Regional YMCA one of 50 nationwide Champions for Healthy Kids grant recipients. The $20,000 grant will help expand the Regional Y’s SCRAM (Students Can Run and Move) fitness/nutrition program which currently gets kids active and moving at four Danbury elementary after school programs. The grant will extend SCRAM to a fifth school.

Fairfield County Community Foundation, the George A. and Grace L. Long Foundation, and the Lily Palmer Fry Foundation have awarded $20,000, $2,500 and $4,000, respectively, to the Regional YMCA to help disadvantaged children attend summer camp programs. Thanks to these funds, dozens of children will be able to spend their summer vacations laughing, learning and exploring at Camp Greenknoll and ESCAPE to the Arts.

Pitney Bowes has granted $5,000 to support the ESCAPE After School and Summer Camp programs. 

People’s United Bank has awarded $3,000 to the Achievers program at ESCAPE to the Arts. Achievers help underprivileged high school students pursue higher education and career goals through individual mentoring and personal/leadership development workshops.

“We are grateful to be able to partner with so many notable organizations and for them to see the value and quality of our Y programs,” Marie Miszewski, President and CEO, Regional YMCA of Western Connecticut, said. “These grants give us the ability to help children across our area grow academically, emotionally and physically. Every child deserves the chance to become what they want to be. We’re proud of the work we do to help them along every step of the way — from learning the ABCs in preschool to mastering elementary level math and literacy skills, and from exploring the outdoors at summer camp to being prepared to explore the wider world after high school graduation.”