KentPresents grants $125K to nonprofits

KENT — KentPresents, the ideas festival held every summer in Kent, is awarding grants of $125,000 to 38 nonprofit organizations serving Litchfield County. This year’s contribution represents a 25 percent dollar increase from the $100,000 donation in 2016, when 29 local organizations received grants.

The groups receiving awards provide social and emergency services, housing, educational and economic opportunities, and enhance the cultural and artistic lives of low- and moderate-income individuals and families in Kent and nearby communities. In selecting the recipients, special emphasis is placed on basic needs, emergency services and education programs.

“We are very pleased that in our third year KentPresents has been able to increase the size of our gift and to continue to make meaningful grants to so many organizations,” said Donna and Ben Rosen of Kent, founders and guiding spirits of KentPresents. “In the years to come we hope to continue to support needs-based groups that help people in our communities to thrive.”

Applications for grants were reviewed by a group of 12 citizens (not including the Rosens) from Kent and surrounding communities.

The third annual KentPresents ideas festival was held at the Kent School July 27-29. It brought together over 400 people from across the U.S., including 79 leaders in a variety of cultural and intellectual fields. Among the presenters were Nobel Prize laureates; Tony, Peabody, Emmy and Pulitzer Prize winners; and distinguished speakers from the arts, economics, education, energy, environment, global affairs, health care, humanities, national issues, performing arts and science and technology.

Rosen is chairman emeritus of the California Institute of Technology; chairman emeritus of Compaq Computer, a former venture capitalist; currently on boards of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (emeritus) and New York Philharmonic (emeritus); former Met Opera board member; and former Columbia Business School board chairman. Mrs. Rosen was a longtime contemporary art gallery owner in New Orleans and is now active in philanthropy, the visual arts and serves on boards of the Whitney Museum of American art and the American Friends of the British Museum.

In 2018, KentPresents will be held Aug. 16-18, again in Kent. For further information, visit the KentPresents website at www.kentpresents.org.

2017 grant recipients

Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation - Jane Lloyd Fund, Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation - Kent Education Learning Foundation, Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation Northwest Corner Fund for Prevention of Substance Abuse, Children’s Center of New Milford, Chore Service Inc., Civic Life Project, Community Culinary Institute of Northwest Connecticut, Corner Food Pantry, CT Antique Machinery, EMS Institute, Five Points Gallery, Gathering Place of Torrington, Greenwoods Counseling Referrals, Hotchkiss Library of Sharon, Housatonic Youth Service Bureau, Kent Affordable Housing, Kent Cemetery Association, Kent Center School Scholarship Fund, Kent Community Fund, Kent Education Center and Nursery School, Kent Memorial Library, Kent Veterans Memorial Committee, Kent Village Housing for the Elderly, Kent Volunteer Fire Department, Kent Youth Hockey, Litchfield Hills Chore Services, Literacy Volunteers on the Green, Loaves and Fishes Hospitality House, New Milford Homeless Shelter, New Milford Visiting Nurses Association, Prime Time House, Robotics and Beyond, Sharon Playhouse, Theater Works, UWWC Back to School, Wassaic Project, Wheels of Greater New Milford and Women’s Support Services.