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Family and Friendship Forever

Eileen Marie Kelly was a longtime resident and volunteer of Cromwell. There was no act too big nor too small when it came to helping others – family, friends, neighbors, and strangers who were truly just friends waiting to happen. She lived with a traumatic brain injury brought on by an Arterial Venous Malformation. Since her unexpected death two years ago, her cousin, Kasey Harding and her family have been working on how they could honor Eileen’s life and love of Cromwell.

Kasey learned about the Community Foundation of Middlesex County’s Campaign for Bully-Free Communities Buddy Bench initiative when CFMC partnered with CHC and the Middletown Police Department to place a purple bench in Harbor Park last year. Sharing the idea with family and friends, Kasey soon began plans to have a bench placed in Cromwell in celebration of Eileen. Continue Reading »

Each year, the Community Foundation of Middlesex County Council of Business Partners eagerly awaits October. Why? Because in October, we get to see our friends and fellow UPStanders at our annual Campaign for Bully-Free Rally, we hear great stories throughout the month of the incredible projects and programs our youth are involved with – all year round – to ensure safe, respectful schools and neighborhoods, and we celebrate the incredible boys and girls who have one another’s backs each and every day, cheering one another on, and supporting one another as a community.

2020 changed our usual plans – as it did for so many. Rather than get together at our annual rally, we asked our friends at the schools to share with us their projects and photos of their “orange spirit” on Unity Day. Continue Reading »

Students, educators, business owners, and community leaders came out in large numbers to rally for bully-free communities on October 3, in recognition of National Bullying Prevention Awareness Month. While the weather forecast, for the first time in six years, worked against an outdoor event, the Community Foundation and its Council of Business Partners are incredibly thankful that the rally site could move from EMPOWER Leadership Sports Center’s outdoor facility in Middletown to Sports on 66 in East Haddam.

The sixth annual Rally for Bully-Free Communities included team building activities, guest speakers, pledge taking, and the presentation of the Bully-Free Community Spotlight Award before a crowd of more than 400 people. Continue Reading »

Cassandra Day joined us at Sports on 66 for our annual Campaign for Bully-Free Communities Rally

check out her story and photo gallery HERE in the Middletown Press

We wish to give a big THANK YOU to our friend and Campaign for Bully-Free Communities Ambassador, Renee DiNino.

Renee has welcomed a variety of guests on her show to talk about the importance of being Upstanders, not bystanders, to support our neighbors and friends in times of need.

You can catch all the fun of our conversation with Renee HERE

Dave Director, Connecticut Lighting Centers and Founding member of the CFMC Council of Business Partners, Donny Marshall, CFMC Campaign for Bully-Free Communities Spokesperson, Renee DiNino, iHeart Radio and CFMC Campaign for Bully-Free Communities Ambassador, and Cynthia H. Clegg, President & CEO, Community Foundation of Middlesex County (CFMC)

Community Foundation of Middlesex County Supports Social Inclusion Youth Project

The “Buddy Bench” is a simple idea to eliminate loneliness and foster friendship on the playground. Representatives from the Community Foundation of Middlesex County and Rushford Academy recently joined students, teachers and parents at Essex Elementary School for a very special ribbon cutting ceremony. The Community Foundation’s Council of Business Partners Fund presented a Buddy Bench for the school’s labyrinth site, an initiative to create an outdoor space of community and inclusion. The wooden bench, with the words “Buddy Bench” spelled out in bright-colored letters, was built by Continue Reading »