Guilford Foundation Discusses 'Service Agency of the Year' Award, GCTV, and the Guilford Green

The Guilford Foundation was busy in 2012, and this year promises to be the same! The Founation was chosen as 'Service Agency of the Year,' by the Guilford Chamber of Commerce, and will celebrate that honor later this month at the Chamber's annual meeting and gala. They also recently awarded a grant to GCTV and continue to work collaboratively on the future of the Guilford Green. Executive Director Liza Petra and President John Crawford took a few minutes to sit down with Guilford Patch to talk about their recent news, and what's coming up for them this year. 

Last month, the Foundation elected to award GCTV a grant to support their Digital Broadcast Technology Project. Thanks to the grant, and other contributions and fundraising, GCTV will be able to stream live, be instant in their communication, and update information from a remote location. GCTV talks about the grant in a recent online video clip. 

As a nonprofit in town, GCTV was eligible to apply for a grant, and opted to apply for a multi-year grant. Their application for the grant requested funding over three years. Four times a year, Guilford Foundaiton reviews the grants and elect GCTV as a recipient. 

"We are pleased to support their efforts and the service they provide to the town," continued Petra. "Like we saw this year in the time of the hurricane, residents need information as quickly as possible, and the funding from this grant will go to support GCTV's efforts in this area." 

"With our support, we are hoping GCTV will be able to get to the next level of communication," added Guilford Foundation's President John Crawford. "Now, you would have to be up at 2:30 in the morning to watch the Board of Finance meeting, but with this new technology, that would be accessible to residents at any time."

Guilford Foundation is also celebrating their recent award: They were just named the 'Service Agency of the Year' by the Guilford Chamber of Commerce. According to the Chamber, criteria for the award included the following: 

• This honor can be awarded to a non-chamber member, but must be awarded to an organization.
• Organization must have provided or performed an outstanding service to the community in the past year.
• Organization must demonstrate dedication and consistent volunteerism towards bettering the community.

"We just heard about this award and we are thrilled," Petra stated. "We hope that it will provide us with more visibility in the town so we can continue to grow our work."

So what's up next for the Guilford Foundation?

"I think that we need to consider housing issues, such as affordable housing," said Crawford. "I think we at the Foundation will play a role in that as our community looks towards these issues."

"We will also be giving out 9 scholarships in May," added Petra. "So we're going to be looking at those in the coming months."

"We would also like to further our collaborative efforts with neighboring towns like Madison and Branford," Petra continued. "If we leverage our efforts through collaboration, we can have an even bigger impact on our own Guilford community."

The Guilford Foundation will also continue to be instrumental in the future of the Guilford Green after the destruction of Sandy. They continue to work with the Guilford Garden Club, the Green Committee, Guilford's tree warden, and others "to think strategically about short and long term development of green," according to Crawford.

"The community had a visceral response to seeing the Green destroyed, and part of our role as grant makers is to convene certain organization and bring groups together," said Crawford. "At the same time we were getting input from residents and it's our job to connect the people who care with the causes that matter."

"We have the opportunity to look at the Green in a holistic way, look at what is there, and think about what we want it to look like in 5-10 years," concludes Petra. "We continue to assess sustainability in the long term, examine what was damaged, and evaluate what we want this central space in our community to be in our future."