Bill & Kate Lee to be Honored at Guilford Foundation Annual Meeting

The Guilford Foundation will honor the philanthropic vision and impact of Guilford residents Bill & Kate Lee at the 2014 Annual Meeting and Celebration, which will take place on Thursday, May 22, 2014 at 6pm at the Guilford Yacht Club.

The Lees have a long commitment to supporting causes in Guilford and beyond, and one of the causes nearest to their heart is the work of the Guilford Community Fund. The Community Fund raises and distributes over $120,000 each year to non-profit organizations best qualified to serve Guilford residents in need. These funds are critical to the ability of these organizations to address needs in Guilford, from services for intellectual disabilities to outdoor education to housing to women in transition to mental health services to Meals on Wheels and the Food Bank.

In 2013, Bill and Kate established a permanent legacy fund at the Guilford Foundation to support the annual fund drive of the Community Fund, the Lee Family Fund. This fund will ensure that permanent resources exist to support the important work of the Community Fund. In addition to creating the fund, the Lees challenged the community to support this effort by matching any gift made to the fund—up to $25,000. Another prominent Guilford family responded with a challenge of their own: the Bishop family offered to match gifts made by shoppers at their Farm Market & Winery during November 2014, resulting in a gift to the fund of $8460.28.

The mission of the Guilford Foundation is to connect people who care with the causes that matter to them to enrich the quality of life in Guilford; now and for generations to come. The Lee family is a perfect example of this. Tom Pinchbeck, President of the Guilford Foundation Board of Directors notes: “We were honored to connect the Lee Family with a cause that matters to them, and to all of us: the annual fund drive of the Community Fund. The Foundation is thrilled to recognize and celebrate the visionary leadership of Bill & Kate Lee at our Annual Meeting.”

For questions, please contact Liza Janssen Petra, Executive Director of the Guilford Foundation, at lizapetra@gmail.com or (203) 745 9930.