Impact Fairfield County Pooled Its Members’ Donations and Is Giving Them to These Nonprofits

Impact Fairfield County, the area’s premier women’s collective giving organization, has awarded two $100,000 grants to Fairfield County nonprofits: Boys & Girls Club of Stamford (“BGCS”) and Filling in the Blanks (“FITB”).

The winners of the two grants were selected by a vote of Impact FFC’s 281-women membership at their Grant Awards Celebration in Darien on May 8.

— an announcement from Impact Fairfield County

Each grantee will also receive an additional $10,500 in unrestricted funding. In addition, Impact FFC awarded three $20,000 unrestricted general operating grants to the other finalists: Jewish Family Services of Greenwich, Optimus Health Care, and Teaching Matters.

This year’s finalists’ applications requested support for early literacy programming, transportation for a human services agency, after-school youth counseling, maternal health navigation, and mobile food pantry services.

“With this year’s grants, we will be supporting initiatives designed to better meet the health, wellness and basic needs of our community members,” Impact FFC Co-President Jenny San Jose said.

Now in its ninth year of helping Fairfield County’s neediest, Impact FFC has provided more than $2.1 million in total grant funding.

The Process

The vote followed a rigorous application process which narrowed down an initial pool of nearly 60 nonprofit applicants to five finalist organizations who presented at the Grant Awards Celebration.

After undertaking a comprehensive review of the applications and conducting thorough site visits, members selected the five finalists, and ultimately the two winners, based on criteria including the organization’s demonstrated impact, the population served, and the long-term sustainability of the project.

Kellyann Day, CEO of New Reach and Reverend Sara Smith, CEO of nOURish BRIDGEPORT, also presented updates on their 2022 Impact FFC Grant Award initiatives.

Last year, New Reach saw a 98% eviction prevention rate and nOURish BRIDGEPORT distributed 14 tons of fresh produce throughout Bridgeport and other areas of Fairfield County.

Impact FFC’s 2024 Grant Winners

The Boys & Girls Club of Stamford

The Stamford organization’s mission is to enable all youth to reach their full potential. The average household income of the families served is $25,000; half live in single-parent households; 95% are individuals of color; half are English Language Learners. 550+ children and teens attend BGCS daily, participating in a wide range of programs that support their academic, emotional, and social development.

The Impact FFC Grant will support the transformation of BGCS’ after-school services by integrating youth mental health gatekeeper and social-emotional development frameworks.

BGCS will equip staff through the Recognize, Refer, and Respond model and Mental Health First Aid. Staff will learn to identify signs of distress, to de-escalate, and make referrals. Fostering a culture of emotional intelligence and empathy through Yale University’s RULER model, this initiative will impact all 3,000 youth that BGCS serves and provide clinical counseling to 300 children and teens per year.

“We are a safety net for the 550 children and teens that come to us each and every day. With Impact FFC’s grant, we’ll be able to reduce the stigma of mental health and dramatically increase support at the intersection of the most underserved youth in our trusted space where they spend so much of their day,” said Craig Baker, CEO of The Boys & Girls Club of Stamford.

Filling in the Blanks

Filling in the Blanks, based in Norwalk, is fighting childhood hunger by providing over 8,000 children in need with meals on the weekends, delivering over 3 million meals in their 11-year history.

After learning that families were sharing the meals provided for the children, FITB launched the “Fresh Food on the Move” mobile food pantry program, which conducts two monthly distributions in Norwalk and Stamford. This initiative serves 900 families a month, offering Grade-A quality fresh vegetables, fruit, meat, grains, and dairy, empowering families to cook nutritious meals at home and eat together.

“Fresh Food on the Move” creates a supportive environment similar to a farmers’ market, partnering with local agencies and providing services ranging from hygiene products, winter coats, books, flu vaccines, health insurance, housing and employment opportunities, and financial literacy at the events, in addition to the food pantry.

With support from the Impact FFC Grant, FITB will fund seven mobile food pantry events, providing over 175,000 pounds of fresh food to community members.

In a joint statement, Shawnee Knight and Tina Kramer, co-founders, presidents of Filling in the Blanks, said:

“Our mobile pantry is more than just food — it’s a community hub providing essential services with dignity and compassion and helping to reduce stress from their lives. With the addition of these seven events, we’ll be able to provide increased consistency, trust and compassion for our families, transforming the lives of so many who struggle with food insecurity and other challenges.”

About Impact FFC

Impact FFC is a collective giving organization whose mission is to encourage women to engage in local philanthropy through deeper knowledge and active participation in grantmaking. It unites women by pooling membership funds to provide large, transformational grants to nonprofit organizations across Fairfield County.

Impact FFC’s membership represents 19 towns across Fairfield County, supporting a variety of initiatives ranging from education and skill training, to healthcare, to basic needs.

For more information or to join Impact FFC, please email membership@impactffc.org.