Grants are given to non-profit organizations in Fairfield County for projects that will make a continuing difference in the community. They may be in the form of funds or a one-time use of the Westport Woman’s Clubhouse for an event. Grants are considered each year to deserving organizations in education, health and safety-related programs, and in the arts.
Please MAIL your application to us with the additional information requested below. All applications must be type-written and received by the Westport Woman's Club by January 15, 2025. Due to the number of applicants, we cannot accept requests by email. Organizations receiving a grant are expected to list the Westport Woman’s Club as a sponsor or donor. Grants are evaluated year by year, case by case. Monies may not be used for salaries. WWC may conduct a site-visit. The recipient may be invited to present the project outcomes to WWC.
Community Service has been the trademark of the Westport Woman’s Club since its inception in 1907. Each year club members volunteer many hours to find the right balance between current needs within the local community, available funds, and the WWC mission. This year’s 29 Community Service Grant recipients serve a variety of social needs including homelessness, family crises, and food insecurity.
WWC 2022 Community Service Grants, totaling $39,000, were awarded to the following Fairfield County nonprofit organizations: Bridgeport Caribe Youth Leaders; Bridgeport Rescue Mission; Burroughs Community Center; Caroline House, Inc; Center for Family Justice; Child Advocates of SW CT; Circle of Care for Families of Children with Cancer, Inc; Circle of Friends; Clasp Homes, Inc.; Domestic Violence Crisis Center; ElderHouse, Inc; Family & Children’s Agency, Inc; Food Rescue US; Help for Kids; Homes with Hope, Inc; Human Services Council / Children’s Connection; Malta House, Inc; Person-to-Person, Inc; Positive Directions; REACH Youth Program at Bridgeport Hospital; Regional Hospice of Western CT, Inc; St. Catherine Center for Special Needs; Sweet P Bakery; The Rowan Center; Town of Westport, Department of Human Services – Family Programs; Town of Westport, Department of Human Services – Elderly; Westport Community Theatre; Women’s Mentoring Network, Inc; VFW.
The Westport Woman’s Club, organized in 1907, is a non-profit philanthropic organization dedicated to volunteerism and the raising funds in support of the educational, charitable, cultural and public health services in Westport and surrounding towns. You do not have to be a Westport Resident to join The Westport Woman’s Club. To join, call the WWC office at 203-227-4240.
Sixteen Fairfield County community service organizations have recently received 2021 grants from the Westport Woman’s Club. The recipients serve social needs including homelessness, family crises, and food insecurity.
Community Service has been the trademark of the Westport Woman’s Club since its inception in 1907. Each year the WWC members spend many volunteer hours to find the right balance between current needs within the community, available funds and the WWC mission. Due to the current health crisis, with COVID-19 impacting so many people in Fairfield County community, the WWC Community Services Committee has decided to focus on shelter and mental health for their annual grant distributions this spring. The recipients of the WWC 2021 Community Service Grants are following Fairfield County nonprofit organizations in the total amount of $25,000.
Interested community members can visit these organizations’ websites to support the COVID-19 services each is providing within our Fairfield County community.
The Westport Woman’s Club, organized in 1907, is a non-profit philanthropic organization dedicated to volunteerism and the raising funds in support of the educational, charitable, cultural and public health services in Westport and surrounding towns. You do not have to be a Westport Resident to join The Westport Woman’s Club. To join, call the WWC office at 203-227-4240 or click here.
Each year the Westport Woman’s Club evaluates grant applications from Fairfield County nonprofit organizations. WWC members spend countless volunteer hours each fall through spring on due diligence to find the right balance between current needs within the community, raised funds, and the WWC mission statement. This past March, COVID-19 arrived as a surprise participant late in the grant evaluation process.
Current WWC President, Christina McVaney shares, “As we go through the current crisis, it has never been more important for philanthropic organizations such as the Westport Woman's Club to use our resources to make the most impact in our community. For that reason, we have identified 5 local organizations that we believe will make an important contribution in Fairfield County in the coming months.”
With the physical and mental well-being of our neighbors taking precedence, the Westport Woman’s Club announces their Spring 2020 Community Service Grants, totaling $50,000, to the following Fairfield County nonprofits: Bridgeport Rescue Mission (www.bridgeportrescuemission.org), Filling in the Blanks (www.fillingintheblanks.org), Domestic Violence Crisis Center (www.dvccct.org), Homes with Hope, Inc. (www.hwhct.org), and Westport Families in Need (coordinated by Westport’s Department of Human Service’s COVID-19 Fund ~ www.westportct.gov). Please visit these five organizations/websites to support the COVID-19 services each are providing within our Fairfield County community.
The Westport Woman’s Club (www.westportwomansclub.org), organized in 1907, is a non-profit philanthropic organization dedicated to volunteerism and the raising of funds in support of the educational, charitable, cultural and public health services in Westport and surrounding towns. You do not have to be a Westport Resident to join The Westport Woman’s Club. To join, call the WWC office at 203-227-4240. Link to 06880 post:
The Westport Woman’s Club’s Ruegg Committee presented their 2019 Ruegg Grant, in the amount of $10,000, to Aspetuck Land Trust to help sponsor their “Green Corridor: Saugatuck to Shore" program, focusing on "Westport: A Model of Change." This WWC grant will be used to educate and motivate homeowners to take care of their yards in more sustainable ways to increase biodiversity and improve the environment by planting native plants, switching to organic lawn care, and reducing pesticide usage. The land trust is developing two model native landscape demonstration sites in Westport: one at Earthplace, and another at the land trust’s Caryl and Edna Haskins Preserve on Green Acre Lane. This effort to educate Westport residents will involve workshops and partnerships with Westport non-profits, as well as local businesses. Aspetuck Land Trust shares, "Every homeowner can make a difference by taking care of their yards in more sustainable ways."
In May 2019, a total of $33,000 was awarded by the WWC Community Services Committee to an array of local and deserving charities.
Arts - Outreach Programs
Norwalk Youth Symphony
Westport Community Band
Westport Country Playhouse
Counseling
The Center for Family Justice, Inc.
Greater Bridgeport Area Prevention Program (GBAPP)
Liberation Programs, Inc.
Education – Children/Youth
Adam J. Lewis Academy
Caroline House
Hall Neighborhood House
Mercy Learning Center
Norwalk Housing Foundation
Urban Impact
The Westport Library
Young Life / Young Lives
Food and Clothing
Bridgeport Rescue Mission
Connecticut Food Bank
Family & Children’s Agency (FCA)
General Needs Based Aid & Action
Person-To-Person (P2P)
Health – Assistance and Education
Breast Cancer Emergency Aid Foundation, Inc.
CancerCare in CT
Circle of Care
Norwalk Community Health Center
The Rowan Center: Sexual Assault Crisis Counseling & Education
Visiting Nurse & Hospice of Fairfield County
Housing – Adults and Young Adults
Domestic Violence Crisis Center (DVCC)
Homes with Hope
Keystone House
Seniors
ElderHouse, Inc.
Westport Human Services: Project GO
Special Needs: Children, Young Adults
Circle of Friends
CLASP Homes
Women’s Enrichment & Training
Burroughs Community Center
Women’s Mentoring Network
Bedford Hall Grant
Connecticut Master Gardener Association (CMGA)
The WWC Grant Awards Breakfast was held on Wednesday, May 22nd and gratitude was the main course! The Westport Woman’s Club Community Services Director, Susan Hricik, presented Grant Awards to 34 local non-profit organizations, totaling $33,000. These funds were raised from the WWC Yankee Doodle Fair and other yearly WWC fundraisers which support these annual Community Service Grants. Also awarded was a Bedford Hall Grant, which allows a one-time free rental of our Hall by nonprofits for fundraising or friend-raising purposes. (more…)
The Westport Woman's Club's Ruegg Committee presented their 2018 Ruegg Grant, in the amount of $1,200, to Wakeman Town Farm for the purchase of an innovative Mobile Chicken Coop that aids in soil fertilization.
Wakeman Town Farm is a local non-profit educational center whose mission is to provide Westport families with a link to the land. It has become a community hub where people of all ages in Westport and surrounding towns come to learn about organic farming, sustainability and homesteading, as well as to attend events designed to bring families to the farm. The farm has partnered with the Westport Parks & Recreation Department to promote various children’s programs, including summer camps, a Farm Apprentice Program, a Middle School Farm Club and internships for high school and college students. (more…)
The Westport Woman’s Club is currently accepting grant applications from Fairfield County non-profit organizations. Please click here for Grant Application Form. The due date for applications to be submitted is October 31, 2017.
Members of the Westport Woman's Club Ruegg Committee award 2017 Ruegg Grant to members of Westport Astronomical Society Board. (more…)
Today, at Westport's Project Return, the Westport Woman's Club's Ruegg Committee presented their 2016 Ruegg Grant, in the amount of $10,000, for use in repainting the group's facility, a historic house on North Compo Road. (more…)
On May 19, at the Westport Woman's Club's Bedford Hall, The group presented $30,000 in community services grants to local non-profit organizations. Also awarded were Bedford Hall grants, which allow a one time per year free use of the hall by nonprofits for fundraising or friend-raising purposes. (more…)
WWC awarded $36,400 to 33 local nonprofit organizations at their Annual Grants Awards Breakfast today.
Pictured (center) and surrounded by the recipients are Nancy Saipe, WWC Community Services Director and Dorothy Curran, WWC President.
On Earth Day, at the head of the Earthplace trails system, the Westport Woman’s Club’s Community Services chair, Nancy Saipe, presented its annual $5,000 Ruegg Grant to Tony McDowell, EarthPlace executive director and Lisa Shufro, Trustee and Grounds chair. Also presenting were WWC president, Dorothy Curran, and Jo Fuchs-Luscombe, Mary Lee Clayton, and Arlene Thrope.
The WWC Ruegg Grant committee (Nancy Saipe, Mary Lee Clayton, Jo Luscombe, Arlene Thrope and Barbara Szefc) unanimously selected EarthPlace as the 2015 recipient of the Ruegg Grant. The Ruegg Grant, established in 1995 by an endowment left to the club by former member Lea Ruegg, is given to deserving organizations in the arts, educational endeavors, and health and safety-related programs.
EarthPlace will use the funds to re-draw and update inaccurate maps of their 74 acre sanctuary. The new maps will include all trails, habitats, bordering areas and other nature elements; there are several miles of trails, including a trail suitable tor wheFel chairs and strollers. (more…)
