Glastonbury Community Fund Opens 2026 Grant CycleApplications being accepted through May 22

By Peter Marteka

Editor

The Glastonbury Community Fund at the Greater Hartford Gives Foundation (formerly the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving), is now accepting applications for its 2026 grant cycle. The fund is guided by a volunteer committee of Glastonbury residents who engage in participatory grantmaking to support projects that enhance the quality of life for those who live and work in town.

The ABC House has received grants in the past. (Submitted)

Application Period

Applications will be accepted through May 22 with grant awards expected to be announced by the end of June. Starting this year, all community funds are using a common application available through the Foundation’s online grant portal. Interested applicants should visit GreaterHartfordGives.org/glastonburycf for the application and full eligibility guidelines.

Information session

To support prospective applicants, the fund will host a virtual information session on April 29. To register, visit GreaterHartfordGives.org/glastonburycf.

Local impact

Over the past five years, the Glastonbury Community Fund has awarded more than $138,000 to organizations serving Glastonbury residents. Typical grant awards range from $2,500 to $7,500.

Recent grant making includes:

2025: $37,900 to 14 organizations, including $3,000 for Arts for Learning Connecticut to support the Express Yourself @ Gideon Welles program; $5,000 to Community Health Resources, Inc. for mental health first aid program for individuals in Glastonbury and $1,500 for Glastonbury Chorus, Inc. to provide music at senior living facilities

2024: $24,500 to 11 organizations.

2023: $21,150 to eight organizations

2022: $28,000 to 11 organizations

2020: $27,000 to six organizations

Glastonbury Community Fund Committee members

The Glastonbury Community Fund Committee is composed of the following resident volunteers: co-chairs Laura Amenta and Laura Hecker, secretary Linda Cimino, and members Jon Brink, James Hagen, Margaret LaCroix, Donald Kray, Joel Reich, Ira Yellen, Tom Edgington, Carianne Crummett, Kelly Sellew, Bridget Cooper, Diana Velasco, and Molly Lauck.

Layavinyasa is a woman-led organization that builds bridges between people of different cultures and forges new paradigms using Indian art forms. (Marteka)

Heckler said the grants bring “unique solutions and needs that matter in our own backyard.”

“The partnership between the foundation and the local communities is more than just funding. It’s a belief in the power of local voices and in local solutions,” she said in a video describing the committee’s work.

Committee members noted that funding is often given to non-profits that may not have huge operating budgets, “but often make a huge difference in the mission they are trying to accomplish.” The fund helps groups dealing with domestic violence, food insecurity and mental health concerns.

“They all exist in a town like Glastonbury,” Amenta said. “Then we have these other needs we’ll call quintessential Glastonbury. Things that are uniquely Glastonbury and need to be supported.”

In 2019, the Hartford Foundation established the Greater Together Community Funds in each of the 29 towns it serves, including Glastonbury with an initial investment of $100,000. In 2021, the Foundation awarded an additional $50,000 to each of the community funds. In January 2025, as part of the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving’s Centennial year and the fifth anniversary of the Community Funds program, the Foundation awarded $100,000 to each fund. This includes $50,000 immediately available for grantmaking and $50,000 allocated to endowment.

About the Greater Hartford Gives Foundation

Greater Hartford Gives Foundation (formerly the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving) is a community foundation, a hub for community-driven change. The Foundation fuels impact throughout Greater Hartford and beyond by making connections, providing funding, and sharing knowledge.

The town’s community farm has been a recipient of funding. (Submitted)

The Foundation’s goal is to create an inclusive region where everyone prospers. Together, with a powerful network of changemakers, the Foundation identify neighbors’ most pressing needs and invest resources in initiatives that dismantle racial and economic barriers and improve quality of life.

In the Foundation’s 100-year history, it has invested more than $1 billion throughout the region. Learn more at greaterhartfordgives.org. GL