East Bay Nonprofits Get $42,000 to Help Families

Seven local nonprofit organizations will share $42,400 in grants from the Rhode Island Foundation through the Bristol Female Charitable Society Fund. The uses range from preventing domestic violence to feeding low-income families.

“We are proud to support the work of organizations that are so closely connected to their community and make such a huge difference in the lives of their neighbors,” said Neil D. Steinberg, president and CEO of the Rhode Island Foundation.

Founded in 1811, the Bristol Female Charitable Society worked “to promote benevolence and charity, and especially to extend relief to the poor and indigent.”  In its earliest days, the Society provided goods such as firewood, corn meal, meat, sugar, tea and flour to the neediest members of the community. To continue their community work in perpetuity, members established the Bristol Female Charitable Society Fund in 2003, a permanent endowment at the Rhode Island Foundation that provides grants to area nonprofit organizations. Preference is given to groups that serve Bristol.

In the past decade, the Society has awarded 87 grants totaling $253,846. This year’s recipients are:

·         Bristol Good Neighbors Inc. received $3,900, for programs and general operating support

·         East Bay Food Pantry received $3,900 for its Access Nutrition Initiative

·         First Baptist Church of Bristol received $3,500 for the Deacons' Fund to assist the poor and disadvantaged with health care and medical costs, food, utilities and rent

·         First Congregational Church received $3,500 for the Pastor's Confidential Discretionary Fund to help individuals with basic human needs

·         St. Michael's Church received $3,500 for its Discretionary Fund to assist individuals with basic human needs

·         Women's Resource Center received $2,100 to provide domestic violence prevention services for Bristol County residents

·         East Bay Coalition for the Homeless received $1,000 to support the transitional housing program for homeless families

The Rhode Island Foundation is the largest and most comprehensive funder of nonprofit organizations in Rhode Island.  In 2012, the Foundation made grants of more than $30.4 million to organizations addressing Rhode Island’s most pressing issues and needs of diverse communities. Through leadership, fundraising and grantmaking activities, often in partnership with individuals and organizations, the Foundation is helping our state reach its true potential. For more information, visit www.rifoundation.org.