MARC receives gift from original founder

MARC Community Resources has received a $10,000 gift from Rene Bolt of El Cajon, CA. These funds will go towards the newly established Rene and Burt Bolt Endowment Fund, named in honor of MARC’s original founding family. It was in 1955 that Rene Bolt brought together other parents of children with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities establishing the roots of MARC Community Resources.

“Rene and I had been having conversations surrounding our Founders Event (held on Wednesday, Sept. 26), and was surprised and thrilled when I received Rene’s generous gift. Despite being on the other side of the country, MARC and its mission remains close to her heart, and we are incredibly grateful.”, states Linda Iovanna, MARC’s President and CEO. Rene quickly points out that as MARC’s first president, it was with the help of those eight other mothers of children with IDD who responded to the small advertisement she placed in the local newspaper over 60 years ago that sparked the grassroots movement to ensure public education was available to all children.

The Rene and Burt Bolt Endowment fund initially opened with a gift from former Xavier High School teacher and former board member of MARC and The Arc of CT, Brother John Robert Houlihan. Brother Houlihan, also known as “Houli” by Xavier and Mercy students and alumni, founded MYARC in 1971, the student volunteer collaboration with Xavier and Mercy High School and MARC that continues today. Brother Houlihan’s contribution will ensure that this program and the array of quality services provided by MARC will continue for generations to come. Rene stated she “was touched by Brother Houlihan’s work, devotion and generosity towards MARC, and that her family and her are pleased to be able to add to The Rene and Burt Bolt Endowment Fund.”

MARC Community Resources mission is to empower people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities to make their own life choices and aid in the fulfillment of their dreams — through employment, housing, social, and community involvement and advocacy.