Canton Community Fund

SpiritHorse Therapeutic Riding Center of Canton: $4,550 for its Canton Summer Equine Therapy Session, which combines riding, caring for the horses and arts and crafts for Canton children with special needs.

Girls on the Run: $3,000 for its Girls on the Run Canton after-school girl empowerment and running program for Canton Intermediate School girls in the Fall of 2024.

Roaring Brook Nature Center: $4,900 for its Sunday Series: How to Bring Nature to Your Home, a collection of educational talks about how to attract bees, butterflies, birds and other beneficial wildlife to your yard.

Canton Fuel Bank: $2,000 to pay fuel and electric bills for Canton residents in need, as determined by the town social services director.

Operation Fuel: $5,000 Emergency Energy Assistance for Canton residents in need, as determined by the town social services director.

Hartford Interval House:  $5,000 for Canton residents to participate in the “Victim to Survivor: Empowering Survivors” program.

Canton Music Department:  $4,900 for a Canton Summer Arts Camp Bandfest for music students in the summer of 2025.

Canton Lions Club: $3,500 for Lions Kidsight USA, an eyesight screening tool that Lions Club volunteers can bring into the community to screen young children in day care centers and preschools so any vision difficulties can be caught early.

Canton Dog Park: $2,000 for the materials for volunteers to build a “Weather Protection Structure” at the Dog Park on Commerce Drive.

Canton Historical Museum: $4,750 for a 2024 “Lighting Improvement Plan” that will save energy and money.

New Horizons, parent company of Cherry Brook Health Care Center: $6,500 for recreational transport for seniors living at the nonprofit nursing home, most of whom are on Medicaid.

Boy Scouts of America Troop 117, $2,040: For outdoor service enrichment, providing camping gear, including tents and propane stoves, to allow scouts from all backgrounds to experience camping and outdoor service projects

Canton Schools’ Music Department, $4,900: To commission a composer to create a choral piece of music that all Canton choirs, Grades 2-12, can sing together. The students will have the chance to work with the composer on the piece, and choir members from all the town’s schools will sing the piece together at the high school auditorium in the spring of 2024. The choral teachers hope this opportunity will reignite interest in the district’s choral programs, which was hurt by pandemic-related school closings and restrictions

For All Ages, $1,580: To support the Tea @ 3 Intergenerational Friendship Community, addressing the loneliness crisis exacerbated by the pandemic. The Tea @ 3 intergenerational program provides a free, 12-week opportunity for older adults to connect with college students for a weekly phone call over a cup of tea. The program also offers virtual, communitywide live events designed to promote a sense of belonging.
  

Roaring Brook Nature Center, $1,910: For signage and lecture series with the Canton Public Library around wildlife rehabiliation. In response to an increase demand for the Roaring Brook Nature Center’s (RBNC) staff to help with wildlife rehabilitation, the grant will fund signs designed to educate visitors about what wildlife rehabilitation means and how the staff treats wildlife brought to the RBNC. It will also cover printing costs for a pamphlet explaining the “dos and don’ts” regarding wildlife rehabilitation, as well as a free, three-part lecture series on the necessity and benefits of wildlife rehabilitation

SpiritHorse Therapeutic Riding Center of Canton, $3,500: To provide summer equine therapy and half-day camp to Canton children with special needs who would not be able to afford the camp experience otherwise. The summer program includes a 30-minute therapeutic riding lesson, arts and crafts, farming chores, horse care, gardening and nature walks, according to each participant’s ability.

Canton Historical Society: $3,500 to support an electrical safety and energy conservation program

Canton Land Conservation Trust: $6,000 to help fund the creation of the Pratt Preserve nature area, educational area and public access point to Cherry Brook

Canton Main Street: $4,000 to provide public seating areas in Downtown Collinsville, including  wheelchair-accessible tables

Canton Youth Soccer Association: $1,500 to support the TOPS adaptive soccer program for athletes with special needs  

Cherry Brook Garden Club: $4,000 to design, plant and maintain a pollinator-friendly native plant garden and revitalize the pathways at the Bicentennial Park beside the Farmington River

Friends of Canton Public Libraries: $4,000 to create the Nancy Donoghue Memorial Garden and wheel-chair accessible outdoor table, with a solar-powered electric outlet at the Canton Public Library

SpiritHorse Therapeutic Riding Center of Canton: $2,500 to support equine therapy for Canton residents in its early intervention program.