Subway’s foundation accepting applications for grants

MILFORD >> A charitable organization begun by the late Frederick A. DeLuca, cofounder of Subway, is accepting grant applications beginning Sept. 1.

Those eligible to apply for grants ranging from $1,000 to $5,000, include Connecticut public charities, nonprofit and community organizations with a concentration on education, job training, and the arts, according to a press release from Subway.

Last year, the Frederick A. DeLuca Foundation awarded grants to 140 Connecticut organizations and 54 high schools, the release states.

Past recipients of DeLuca Foundation grants have supported child and adult literacy programs, animal rescue organizations, food banks, and several other community outreach programs, including Boys and Girls Club of Milford; Connecticut Food Bank; Connecticut Science Center; Disabled American Veterans Charitable Service Trust; Junior Achievement of Western CT; Southwest New England Mercy Learning Center of Bridgeport; Read to Grow; and Special Olympics CT.

Proposals will be accepted beginning Sept. 1, with a deadline of Oct. 8 and the decisions will be made on or before Dec. 31, with notification and checks mailed in January.

To receive an application, email delucafoundation@subway.com.

The Frederick A. DeLuca Foundation, Inc., is a private foundation created in 1998 by DeLuca, who “understood the importance of helping others in their endeavors, as he was given help when starting his neighborhood restaurant business in Bridgeport 50 years ago, with a $1,000 loan from a family friend, Dr. Peter Buck,” according to a press release.

The company was founded 50 years ago by DeLuca, 17 at the time, and Buck.

For more information about the foundation and 2016 guidelines, e-mail delucafoundation@subway.com.

CANDICE CHOI — AP FILE PHOTO Subway cofounder Fred DeLuca poses for a photo at a Subway restaurant in New York in 2014. DeLuca died Sept. 14, 2015. He was 67.