Farrel Fund Benefits Valley Residents
Since the Farrel Fund was created, it has distributed more than $220,000 in grants to nonprofits that benefit residents and programs primarily in the Lower Naugatuck Valley. It will continue to distribute grants in perpetuity to support the community Franklin Farrel so loved.
What does an Ansonia native, Yale graduate and Olympic Hockey team member have in common? They are one in the same man whose love for his community continues even after his death.
Franklin Farrel III recognized the importance of maintaining a mutually beneficial relationship between industry and community early on. The Yale graduate and one time goalie for the American Olympic Hockey team was raised in a family once characterized by an Ansonia mayor as having "proven itself to be dedicated to better human relations by its many years of unstinting humanitarian service."
The Farrel family's philanthropic history dates back 150 years. Franklin's grandfather funded the construction of Ansonia's Macedonia Baptist Church in 1892 when a group of Farrel Company employees needed a permanent place to worship. He later donated the bell in the Church belfry and the memorial stained glass window in the Church's sanctuary.
Franklin's father was known to personally deliver food baskets to the sick and needy in his community on his own horse and buggy. Franklin, himself, donated a block of stock to the Church in honor of a loyal Company employee and member of the congregation. For his unwavering support, he received a centennial humanitarian award from the Church.
The humble nature of Franklin and tremendous sense of community is evident in a thank you letter he once crafted after receiving a citation from the mayor: "Neither the Company nor the family could have accomplished what they did without the support and help of the many people who did their jobs and made invaluable suggestions." It was in that spirit that Franklin made perhaps the most lasting gift of all of his family members to his local community with the creation of a Charitable Remainder Trust, that upon his death, became a permanent fund at The Community Foundation.
Since the Farrel Fund was created, it has distributed more than $220,000 in grants to nonprofits that benefit residents and programs primarily in the Lower Naugatuck Valley, per the Ansonia native's wishes. It will continue to distribute grants in perpetuity to support the community he so loved. To date, grants have been awarded:
- to replace a mobile community health van used by Griffin Health Services to perform health screenings for approximately 8,000 residents;
- to help Area Congregations Together build and open a new homeless shelter;
- to combat domestic violence by supporting the Domestic Violence Services of Greater New Haven program;
- to update computer equipment at the Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross;
- to support the creation of a Valley Family Resource Center serving hundreds of parents in conjunction with several key partners including the Ansonia, Derby and Shelton public school systems.
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