In 2019, the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving established a $100,000 Greater Together Community Fund for the Town of Avon. Since then, the fund has received another $80,000 totaling in an investment of $180,000.

The Avon Greater Together Community Fund Advisory Committee supports the community in addressing the needs in Avon, connects Avon to the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, and encourages broad and inclusive civic engagement in Avon by striving to reach as many diverse groups as possible. This is accomplished by combining the input of a disparate group of committee members with the Avon community at large with the goal to deliver a stronger, more equitable Avon.

2024 Grant Awards

The following organizations were recipients of grant awards during 2024:

  • NAMI Farmington Valley ($10,000) - to fund 1 Degree of Separation, a comedy show aimed at ending the stigma of mental illness by normalizing mental health conditions, encouraging each other to find humor and hope for our lives, and teaching the public to empathize, listen, converse, and be present.
  • Interval House ($5,000) - to fund 24/7 hotline counseling, safety planning and information, emergency shelter, support groups, community outreach, and preventative education covering topics of healthy relationships, respect and boundaries, and self-love in Avon.
  • West Avon Congregational Church ($4,575) - to fund the 3rd annual Avon CommunityPride Block Party which celebrates and supports the LGBTQIA+ members of the town of Avon. These funds will enable them to include a live band, an open mic time emceed by a local Drag Queen specifically to feature Avon students, more food, more kids and family activities, and more specialized giveaways.
  • Avon Friends for Equity ($4,450) - to fund a theme-based series of 3 panel discussions based on Matthew Desmond’s Poverty by America at the Avon Free Public Library this fall 2024 and bring Avon community members together to understand the reasons behind why there is so much poverty in America and what we can do to become poverty abolitionists.
  • Seniors Job Bank ($1,600) - to fund a free half-day in-person educational workshop in partnership with the Avon Senior Center that will provide valuable resources for mature workers such as defining your encore career and achieving abundance in retirement.
  • Avon Historical Society ($5,000) - to support the design, production, and installation of 13 interpretive panels on the history of Avon from colonial period to the modern era, which will serve as the main content of the new Avon History Museum opening in fall 2024.
  • Playhouse 44 ($3,000) - to support the infrastructure and ongoing operation of a new Avon-centric, affordable option for professional quality entertainment that is enjoyable, interesting, motivational, and thought-provoking.
  • Scholars Educational Enrichment Directive (SEED) ($2,795) - to support the continuation of the children’s educational programming at the Avon Free Public Library that provides enrichment opportunities for age groups K-3 in Avon by incorporating cultural holidays, diversity calendar celebrations, multicultural events, art, literature, and STEM activities. Following the program’s success last year, this year’s cultural traditions will include Brazilian, Spanish, Ukranian, Arabic, African American, and Central and South American.
  • Operation Fuel ($2,500) - to support emergency energy distribution in Avon and reduce the energy burden for low- and moderate-income Avon residents.
  • Avon Land Trust ($1,000) - to support programming such as field trips with FAVARH, the building of bluebird houses and scarecrows in fall, the widening and lengthening of the walkway on “cow alley” trail, and the publishing of an e-book showing all trails in Avon on land trust, town, and state properties.

2024 Grant Process

The Avon Community Fund is pleased to announce a competitive grant opportunity for one or more nonprofits proposing projects to benefit the residents of Avon, with the overall goal to encourage broad and inclusive civic engagement. Each applying organization may submit more than one proposal, however, the maximum total award to an organization is $10,000. Grant applications should request a minimum of $250 and not exceed $10,000. Applications are due Friday, March 8, 2024. Below are the necessary documents to apply.

  • Click here to review the Request for Proposals (RFP) 
  • Click here to access the Word Document version of application (for a working copy) 
  • Click here to access application for submittal 
  • Click here for project budget template 
  • Click here for Webinar on Fiscal Sponsorship Basics 

2024 Grantee Video Highlights

2023 Grantee Video Highlights

Avon Greater Together Community Fund Announces Second Round of Grant Awards

The following organizations were recipients of grant awards during 2023:
  • Greystone Foundation ($10,000) - to support the Greystone Foundation’s mission of directly assisting households that are financially struggling by providing monetary assistance, free financial assessments, and budgetary counseling.
  • Avon Free Public Library ($8,700) - support a children’s educational program that provides enrichment opportunities for age groups K-3 in Avon by incorporating cultural holidays, diversity calendar celebrations, multicultural events, art, literature, and STEM activities (led by two Avon residents, sponsored by the AFPL).
  • Avon Lions Club ($5,000) - to support Avon Lions Club’s town-wide Hometown Festival this September 2023, a tradition that stopped after COVID.
  • Special Olympics Connecticut ($2,500) - to support a 12-month long Special Olympics program for the Farmington Valley (Avon, Canton, and Farmington) and shape the attitudes around the way people with intellectual disabilities are treated on a day-to-day basis.
  • Avon High School Booster Club ($10,000) - to support the Avon Public Schools’ Family and Student Supports Coordinator’s planning of a Community Walk (5K) for Avon in Hartford to help bridge the gaps between the students residing in Hartford and the students residing in Avon.
  • Avon Land Trust ($4,000) - to support the continuation of an environmental/conservation education speaker series at the Avon Free Public Library and help with purchase of materials and coordination for new bridge decking at Oakes Preserve.
  • Farmington Valley American Muslim Center ($5,000) - to engage the Farmington Valley community in the Farmington Valley American Muslim Center’s food packing event this October 2023, when meals will be distributed to local food banks (in Avon, Farmington, Simsbury, and Collinsville).
  • Gifts of Love ($3,700) - to support the startup of a new program aiming to assist senior citizens in the Avon community by operating a mobile food pantry twice per week at the Avon Senior Center.
  • U.S. Horse Welfare Organization Inc. ($1,100) - to fund two children’s (ages 12-17) participation in a 6-week Equine-Assisted Learning program to strengthen important life skills, teamwork, leadership, stress relief, self-regulation, and more.
The following organizations were recipients of inaugural grant awards during 2021:

Applying to Become an Advisory Committee Member

Are you interested in joining the advisory committee to help fund effective, efficient projects that benefit our Avon community? Complete the application below and send to avontogetherfund@gmail.com.

Download the application

Advisory Committee Members

The role of the Advisory Committee is to design and lead an inclusive process to identify the needs in your community and design a grantmaking process aimed to ensure that the Greater Together Community Funds can have the greatest impact for the benefit of town residents.

The Advisory Committee members for your town are:

Haleigh Guerrera, Gregory M. Jones, Panya Khattar, Lisa Levin, Mark Li, Kathryn Mastandrea, Elizabeth Ann Pavlakis, Lori Shield, Elizabeth Zagata

Click here to read the Advisory Committee Conflict of Interest Policy.
For more information about the Advisory Committee, please review the FAQ.

Questions? Please contact the advisory committee at avontogetherfund@gmail.com. 
For media inquiries, please contact Chris Senecal at csenecal@hfpg.org.

Background Research

The Avon Greater Together Community Fund Advisory Committee conducted a survey in April 2022 in addition to their research in February 2021 to identify what was important to Avon residents. The surveys and focus group report are available here: