Pomeroy-Brace Fund at the Hartford Foundation Announces Grants to Support Projects Serving Granby Residents

Fund awards more than $280,000 to 16 local nonprofits

Seth Pomeroy Holcombe and Lucy Eaton Holcombe were longtime residents of the village of North Granby in the Town of Granby. Both were active in their community, enthusiastically supporting the culture and history of the town they loved. Seth and Lucy served on many boards and committees, and shared a passion for Morgan horses, giving a home to many horses over the years and founding the Granby Horse Council. To continue their lifetime of giving back, the Holcombe’s established the Pomeroy-Brace Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving to support organizations serving the residents of Granby.

This month, the Fund provided 16 grants totaling more than $280,000 to local nonprofit organizations. Among those receiving grants is The Connecticut Invention Convention Inc. (CIC) whose $15,000 grant will be used to expand the existing Granby Middle School based program to engage Granby Parks and Recreation afterschool and summer program participants.

The program will run from June 26 to August 11 and offer seven weeks of programming with approximately 12 different inventors (Grades 1-5) participating each week. The program will be integrated into the overall programming of the Parks & Rec Department’s “Salmon Brook Park Day-Camp” to help bring an educational component to the camp and address summer learning loss in the community. Participating students will be eligible to compete for spaces in the CIC’s Summer Finals competition which will be held at the CT Science Center on August 26. The CIC will be distributing a prizes and experiences to recognize student creativity and perseverance.

The Connecticut Invention Convention is dedicated to serving Granby's Community Based Organizations and the students they serve. The Pomeroy-Brace grant is instrumental in bringing Invention Convention programs to the Granby Parks & Recreation Department and, of equal importance, in helping us develop a scalable model of supporting communities and their students in varied ways. The grant also allows us to provide supplies, student prizes, and other supports to the Department at no cost. Collectively, this support will help the CIC bring a crucial element of STEM and creative problem solving to the summer experience to Granby youth.
Nick Briere
CIC Executive Director

In addition to The Connecticut Invention Connection, the following organizations were awarded Pomeroy-Brace grants.