Generosity: Time & donations
Putnam Area Foundation awards $30k
PUTNAM — The Putnam Area Foundation, Inc. (PAF) approved $30,000 in community grants supporting organizations that serve families and residents across northeastern Connecticut — strengthening youth opportunities, improving community access to local history, supporting volunteer service, and providing practical public-safety and veteran resources.
This year’s grant recipients include: The Hale YMCA Youth & Family Center, to enhance programming for the Cutler Summer Day Camp, supporting a stronger summer experience for local children and families; the Putnam Aspinock Historical Society, to add additional walkways at the Gertrude Chandler Warner Boxcar Children Museum site, improving accessibility and the visitor experience; the Putnam Police Department, to help fund the purchase of a FLIR Scout Pro thermal imaging monocular—a tool commonly used to support nighttime and low-visibility operations such as search-and-rescue and situational awareness; the Rectory School, to support its annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, helping students contribute meaningful volunteer hours and hands-on service in the region; the Danielson Veterans Coffeehouse, to support fellowship and ongoing community support for local veterans, including the purchase of a box truck from the Midwest Food Bank New England to aid in the distribution of food to the community; the Theatre of Northeastern Connecticut to support 2026 programming at the Bradley Playhouse in Putnam.
“Community foundations should be practical: we listen locally, then fund what improves daily life,” said Thomas A. Borner, president of the Putnam Area Foundation. “This set of grants back programs that matter—summer opportunities for kids, better access to local history, support for veterans, and tools that can help keep residents safer when it counts.”
PAF - MuralFest
PUTNAM — MuralFest Putnam, a historic public art project planned for June 2028 in Putnam, received its first major donation from the Putnam Area Foundation (PAF), a local charitable organization that supports nonprofit organizations and community initiatives serving the Putnam area and northeastern Connecticut.
PAF President Tom Borner was the first to pledge $10,000 to the initiative when MuralFest Putnam planning launched in May 2025.
“I was excited from the moment I learned of the project, and we are pleased to be a lead sponsor,” he said. “We look forward to Putnam hosting the many artists from all parts of the country who will celebrate our long and rich history with educational and engaging murals that will have a lasting impact for years to come.”
Borner recently presented MuralFest Putnam Community Coordinator Elaine Turner with a check for $3,400, representing the first installment of the $10,000 pledge.
“We are grateful for the leadership of Tom Borner and the Putnam Area Foundation,” said Turner. “We are proud of the close relationships we share with the members of our business community and appreciate their generosity and kindness. Muralfest Putnam 2028 is taking shape one donation, one meeting, one volunteer at a time...and these early donations help to jump-start our efforts.”
If you would like to be part of this historic, community-building and beautification public art project, email
Grant to Rectory School
POMFRET — The Putnam Area Foundation, Inc. (PAF) has awarded Rectory School a community grant in support of the school’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, part of a broader $30,000 investment in nonprofit organizations serving families and residents across northeastern Connecticut.
The grant will support Rectory’s 2026 Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, a schoolwide initiative that engages every student K-9 in meaningful, hands-on service while helping them better understand their role in the communities they belong to—locally, nationally, and globally.
This year’s program reflects a thoughtful evolution of Rectory’s long-standing commitment to service, guided by the theme “Cultivating a Beloved Community,” inspired by Dr. King’s vision of a society grounded in care, fairness, and mutual responsibility. Through a combination of a keynote presentation, interactive workshops, and community-based service projects, students will explore how service is not a single act, but a way of living thoughtfully and responsibly alongside others.
Throughout the day, students will be encouraged to see themselves as members of many interconnected communities—from their families, dorms, classrooms, and teams to their towns, their country, and the wider world. The experience is designed to help students understand that meaningful change does not require grand gestures, but begins with everyday choices, compassion, and action.
“Dr. King believed that everyone can serve, and this grant allows our students to bring that belief to life,” said Head of School Julie Anderson. “With the support of the Putnam Area Foundation, our students will take part in service that strengthens local organizations while deepening their understanding of what it means to belong to—and contribute to—a caring community.”
“The Putnam Area Foundation is pleased to fund Rectory’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service because it connects students with real needs in northeastern Connecticut,” said Kyle Borner, Putnam Area Foundation (PAF) Board Member. “By partnering with local organizations and taking on hands-on projects, students see that Dr. King’s call to serve starts right here—through practical action that strengthens the community around them.”
The Putnam Area Foundation’s community grant program supports organizations that strengthen youth opportunities, preserve and share local history, promote volunteer service, and provide critical public-safety and veteran resources across Northeastern Connecticut. Rectory School was selected in recognition of its commitment to developing young people who lead with empathy, responsibility, and purpose.
Captions:
From left: Kyle Borner, Putnam Area Foundation (PAF) board member; Julie Anderson, Rectory School Head of School; and Melissa Zahansky, Rectory School MLK Day of Service Lead.
Putnam Area Foundation President Tom Borner presents MuralFest Putnam Community Coordinator Elaine Turner with a check for $3,400, representing the first installment of a $10.000 pledge to the historic public art project.
Community Service
Fifty-five members of the Woodstock Academy community took part in the annual Martin Luther King Day community service project on Saturday. Members of the wrestling team, girls’ hockey team and Residential life program rucked the donated food in backpacks from the Hale YMCA in Putnam to the Daily Bread food pantry. Members of the girls’ basketball team, the indoor track teams and competition dance team all donated food to fill the backpacks. Photos by George Vangel, Cahan Quinn and Will Fleeton of Woodstock Academy.