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Bank foundation
grants made
PUTNAM/W. WARWICK — The Centreville Bank Charitable Foundation has awarded $113,861 in funding to 15 organizations in Rhode Island and Connecticut, said Harold M. Horvat, bank president, CEO and chairman.
This round of charitable giving brings total grants awarded to $1,063,861 for 2020, the largest annual giving amount in bank history.
Connecticut organizations receiving fourth quarter grants are:
Habitat for Humanity of Eastern Connecticut – This grant is provided to support the building of two new housing projects; Martin House – This organization provides residential services to 54 mental health patients discharged from Norwich Hospital. Funds will be used to help pay meal costs after fees and government funds have been exhausted; Read to Grow – Focused on the development of language skills and literacy, this grant will support the “Books for Kids Program,” which provides free books to low-income families at schools, daycare facilities, and health centers. The organization also offers literacy workshops for parents; Salvation Army of Norwich – Funds will be used to support the Emergency Assistance Program, which helps individuals and families impacted by COVID-19; The Furniture Bank – This grant will help to purchase beds for people in need of transitional housing; United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut – Grant matches 2020 employee donations as part of the bank’s United Way campaign.
Rhode Island organizations: Beautiful Day – Grant will support the “Refugee Youth Program,” which offers job-readiness classes training for refugee teens; Community Preparatory School – Funding will support facility improvements related to COVID19 and the purchase of Chromebooks and expanded connectivity for students; Coventry Housing Associates Corporation – A funding recipient since 2007, Coventry Housing’s “Tis the Season” program helps low-income families meet basic needs during the holidays by helping to purchase winter clothing, toys, and gift cards; Cranston Public Library – Grant will help purchase and distribute school tool kits, which include math hands-on teaching material, equipment for science experiments, educational games, programmable robots, musical instruments, and writing and drawing utensils for students learning at home; Day One – Rhode Island’s only sexual assault and trauma resource center, these funds will be used to help meet the basic needs of clients during periods of crisis; Friends of Casa – Funding will be used to help meet the needs of children in the care of the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth & Families (DCYF), specifically to purchase Chromebooks and tablets, clothing, face masks, hygiene items, etc.; House of Hope Community Development Corporation – This grant is directed towards the “Echo (Emergency COVID Housing Opportunity) Village temporary shelter, specifically to help fund the creation of one unit of “tiny housing” for those experiencing homelessness. The funding also will be put towards case management and support services; Reach Out & Read Rhode Island – Funding will be used to support this program, which provides free books to families during pediatric wellness visits; United Way of Rhode Island – Grant matches 2020 employee donations as part of the bank’s United Way campaign.

“To state the obvious, this has been a challenging year for so many individuals and organizations,” said Horvat. “We made a determined effort early in the year to dig deep to support as many organizations as possible that are helping those hardest hit by the pandemic specifically, but also by life in general. We’re thankful to be in a position to award this level of charitable funding and hope that it makes a difference in our Rhode Island and Connecticut market areas.”

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