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For generations, through prosperity and hard times, Valley residents have come together in support of their community and its people. This commitment has been as enduring as the Naugatuck and Housatonic Rivers that created the Valley.
A contribution to The General Fund can be as equally long-lasting. It will be used to make grants that address community needs today, as well as to increase the endowment for the needs of future generations. Grants may be awarded in the areas of health, education and youth, community and economic development, arts and culture, and other vital areas.
For more information on how you can support The General Fund, contact Jamie Cohen at jcohen@valleyfoundation.org or call (203) 225.0880.
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Est. 2005. The Adanti family established this fund with the many gifts given in memory of Michael J. Adanti, who died in a car accident in the summer of 2005. Linda Adanti, Michael’s wife, and their daughter, Kristen Adanti-Pedersen will advise the Fund.
When his grandson J.J.’s kindergarten teacher needed male volunteers, Poppy—Michael Adanti—was there. Tie flipped back over his shoulder, an apron tied about his waist, the retired Southern Connecticut State University president was ready to go shoulder to shoulder with his little charges on whatever was the craft du jour. "He always gave his time, and his heart and soul to everything he did,” says Linda, his wife of 40 years who, along with their daughter Kristen, established the Michael J. Adanti Memorial Community Fund to honor the man she’d known since childhood. |
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 Est. 2004. The Pagliaro family established this fund with the many gifts given in memory of Joseph A. Pagliaro Sr. who was the founding Board Chair of the Valley Community Foundation. It is their hope that friends and family will contribute to this advised fund as the way to honor their father, father-in-law and husband.
He'd sit back. Learn. And then he'd step up to be chairman. That was Joseph A. Pagliaro Sr., the man people said was the embodiment of the spirit of community service. And the man who became the founding chairman of the Valley Community Foundation. |
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 Est. 2004. Mary L. Pepe established this donor advised fund to honor her family; father, Anthony M. Pepe; mother, Norma P. Pepe; and brother, William A. Pepe, and their contributions to the Valley community.
Family, heritage and community have always been important to the Pepe family. Like many in "the greatest generation," Anthony and Norma Palazzi Pepe were second generation Italian Americans. Born and raised in Derby, they were children of the Great Depression, graduates of Derby High School, a veteran and a young woman of World War II, and parents of baby boomers. |
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 Est. 2005. The Board of the Derby Public Library transferred endowments to the Foundation for investment management to care for, and grow, these funds which support various valuable activities and programs of the Library that are outside operating costs.
The death of their beloved eleven-year-old son Harcourt in 1897 spurred Colonel and Mrs. H. Holton Wood to donate in their son’s memory, the land, the building and $5,000 to establish the Derby Public Library in 1902. Since then, many have joined the ranks of these early philanthropists. The Library’s original endowment, started with gifts dating back to the 1940s, has grown to almost $600,000, and in 2005 was turned over to the Valley Community Foundation (VCF) for financial management. |
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Est. 2004. This fund was established by the Cohen Family of Derby to support the purchase of books for the Derby Public Library.
What do you get a happily married couple for their 40th wedding anniversary when they say they want nothing? That was the position the family of Meyer and Jennie Cohen of Derby found themselves in back in 1951. Deciding to do something that would honor their parents and last into perpetuity, their daughter-in-law, Jane Cohen, set up the Cohen Family Book Fund, an endowment to support the Derby Public Library. |
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 Est. 2005 by Alan Tyma in honor of his father. This fund will be advised by the donor.
John Tyma was not a politician. He wasn’t a big name legislator. Or a powerful businessman. He was the guy who lived an ordinary life extraordinarily. He touched many within his sphere, whether it be the factory workers he eventually supervised, the eager, bright-faced youngsters he coached on his only child’s Little League and basketball teams, his teammates on the fast-pitch softball team, or the family and friends who turned to him to talk. |
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 Est. 2005. James E. Ryan started and is building this fund to provide scholarships for girls from Assumption School in Ansonia to attend Sacred Heart Academy in Hamden.
At 18, Megan Ryan of Ansonia is already serving her first year as a corporator at the Valley United Way. As such, she will attend the non-profit’s 2006 annual meeting and play a role in electing the new board of directors. Later, she will assist with fund-raising. Her younger sister, Katey, 15, is eager to follow in her sister’s footsteps. |
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 Est. 2005. The JAT Scholarship Committee transferred, and will advise, this scholarship fund to provide college scholarships to students graduating from Ansonia High School, preferably African-American, who excel academically, and are accepted into an accredited college or university.
Whether he was instigating Biblical competitions from the pulpit, encouraging his parishioners at the Macedonia Baptist Church to visit other churches to speak about what it was like to be a negro in the 1960s, or walking Valley main streets persuading merchants to hire African Americans, the Reverend Dr. Julian A. Taylor always had his life’s mission in mind: to reach young African Americans and encourage them to pursue their education and lifelong learning. |
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 Est. 2004. George J. Ryan established this fund to provide scholarships for higher education to students graduating from secondary schools in the region serviced by the Valley Community Foundation.
When he left the service after World War II, George Ryan had a decision to make: what should he do with the rest of his life? With aid from the GI bill, the Shelton resident jumped with both feet into the automotive industry he had come to love as a kid while pumping gas at his uncle’s gas station. |
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 Est. 2005. This fund was started and is being built by David M. Grant and his wife, Gail, as a donor advised fund to support their various community activities and as a means to involve their sons in philanthropy.
David J. Grant, 25, and his brother Michael, 22, have been raised to give back to community. Since they were kids they would do such things as accompany their parents to serve Thanksgiving dinner to the homeless before sitting down to their own family celebration. Now, as young adults, they’re beginning to volunteer on their own . |
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 Est. 2001 with gifts at the time of Sam Rifkin’s death in 2001. David Rifkin, Sam’s son, added to the fund and requested its transfer to the new Foundation.
"If you believe in it, you need to contribute to it." Those are the words of Dave Rifkin, who, like his late father Sam, believes in the Valley. And so, like his father, he contributes. Not just his time and his energy to high-powered volunteer activities on the Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce or the Valley United Way, but by establishing an endowed fund that will give back to the community for years to come. |
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 Est. 2004. Established by Dorothy Palazzi, this donor advised fund honors Miss Palazzi’s parents, Ildebrando and Guerina Palazzi; and her sisters, Derva A. Palazzi and Norma Palazzi Pepe.
When Ildebrando Palazzi arrived in the United States from Italy in 1911 at age 21, he came with only a few years of grammar school education. But Ildebrando, one of a large Italian family and the only one of his family to come to the United States, made his way in this foreign land. He worked hard as a stone mason and met and married Guerina Bassi who had come to America with her family in 1916. They settled in Derby and raised three daughters. |
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Est. 2004. This fund was started and is being built by M. Elizabeth Kennard to honor her grandmothers, Mary L. Powers and Mary J. Kennard; and her mother, Mary P. Kennard, all teachers who understood the value of education and promoted it professionally and personally.
Two of the “Marys” for which the Mary Fund was named were widowed at a young age and forced in the 1900s to raise their children alone on their teaching salaries.
"Where would they be without their educations? ” asks Liz Kennard, granddaughter of Mary L. Powers and Mary J. Kennard, who, unlike so many women of their time, were educated. |
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Est. 2006 by the Bassett family.
The Bassett family has a rich history in the Valley, especially in Derby. The family’s beginnings trace back to John and Margery Bassett who immigrated to the United States from England in 1642. They landed in Boston as indentured servants, and after paying their debts, they moved to New Haven with their son Robert. |
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Est. 2005 by the Cecarelli Family of Derby to support the purchase of books for the Derby Public Library.
As a life long citizen of Derby, civic leader and former mayor, Ed Cecarelli discovered at a young age the adventures of books and the treasures that abound at the Derby Public Library. Ed spent many an afternoon there, studying his Latin, History or English homework.
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Est. 2006 by gifts of many donors and Team DeFillipo to honor coach Lou DeFillipo and his wife Dolly. The fund supports a scholarship to a graduating student from Derby High School or other grants and awards as recommended by the Advisory Committee.
Every once in awhile, if you are fortunate enough, someone comes into your life who truly points you on a path toward success - someone who gets you to believe in yourself and your ability to do extraordinary things. For hundreds of young football players at Derby High School from 1968-1982, that special someone was Coach Lou DeFilippo. |
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Est. 2005 by the Friends of Ansonia Historical Commission to provide scholarships for graduates of Assumption School, Ansonia.
In March 2005, the City of Ansonia’s Historical Commission approved the commissioning of a portrait to honor native son, Honorable Joseph P. Flynn, in recognition of his outstanding service to his community, bar, and bench. Judge Flynn has had a varied career in the legal profession and in public service. |
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Est. 2005 by the transfer of the Robert J. Geissler Memorial Award assets held by Shelton High School.
The Geissler Family has always valued the importance of education - Wife and mother Margaret Geissler taught business, accounting, and shorthand, and despite having a learning disability, Harold and Margaret's son Robert obtained a degree in accounting from the University of Bridgeport.
In 1995 the family established a scholarship Fund at Shelton High School, where it was kept in a regular savings account through a local bank. It seemed like a perfectly natural thing for them to do—after all, the entire family graduated from SHS.
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Est. December 2005 by Paul Kondrath in memory of his wife to support scholarships at Academy of Our Lady of Mercy, Lauralton Hall.
Patricia Kondrath thought education was important, so much so that she instilled her strong desire for learning and knowledge deep within her family.
“Our attorney, Alan Tyma, suggested utilizing the Valley Community Foundation as a flexible way to simplify the process of the donations we receive.”
“My wife attended school at Lauralton, felt that she had received an excellent education, and always supported them,” said Mr. Kondrath. |
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Est. 2003 by the children of Ann O'Neil to memorialize their mother and supports an award to a student of Ansonia High School who most embodies the qualities of high moral character.
Ann O’Neil always placed a high value on integrity. She raised her five children to the highest standards of honesty, hardwork, & determination. Mrs. O’Neil herself was one of theirteen children who left school in ninth grade to help support her family. |
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Est. 2006 by the Board of the Oak Cliff Cemetery Association by a transfer of their endowment for investment management to care for, and grow the funds that support the cemetery.
The Oak Cliff Cemetery Association oversees three properties, including the Elm Street Cemetery in Ansonia and the Olde Uptown Burying Ground in Derby, one of the earliest town cemeteries in the country. The sites all have major historic significance to the Valley. |
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Est. 2005 by Dorothy and Kenneth Schaible as a donor advised fund to support their various community activities and as a means to involve their children in philanthropy.
Ken and Dotty Schaible know first hand the value of a community foundation. Ken served for more than seven years on the Board of The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven and was one of the founders of the Valley Community Foundation. |
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Est. 2006 by the Stamos family to honor their wife and mother Mary Vartelas Stamos and for general purposes with a preference for organizations and projects erving Ansonia.
Mary Vartelas Stamos was a devoted wife, mother, and grandmother, whose entire life reflected a concern and love for her family, friends, faith, and community. The daughter of Greek immigrants, she and her 8 brothers and sisters were born and raised in Ansonia. |
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Est. 2006 by Frank Saldamarco in celebration of his wife Dorothy's birthday and to support organizations in their hometown of Derby.
Dorothy Saldamarco always wanted to pay special tribute to her father, Lorenzo Torbi, an orphan rasied by foster parents and who immigrated from Italy to Derby at the age of 17.
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Est. 2004 by the Board of the Valley Bar Association as a means to honor and memorialize Bar Association members or other members of the legal profession.
The Valley Bar Association, a voluntary association of local practicing attorneys, has been in existence for over 75 years, with many members spanning two and in some cases three generations. |
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Est. 2006 by the Board of the VWF Post 597 to support the band program of Ansonia High School.
From 1937–1941 a young student stood tall with saxophone in hand next to his fellow Derby High School band members in a brand new uniform provided by an unknown Valley benefactor. He never forgot the pride he felt when he put the uniform on for the first time. |
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Est. 2006 by Donald and Joseph Warichar to honor their parents and provide a scholarship to a student from Derby High School.
More than 70 years ago, Joseph Warichar built his family home on Sentinel Hill in Derby, an area filled with large farms and fields. He had a custom made truck, complete with slanted binds and compartment doors, and would travel bringing fresh fruit and other goods to his customers. |
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Est. 2006 by Selma L. Yudkin in memory of her husband and to support students and organizations in his hometown of Derby.
Harold Yudkin was a truly unique and energetic man who was actively involved throughout his entire life in his beloved community of Derby. He loved his family, his friends and co-workers, and his chosen profession of law which he successfully practiced with distinction for more than 60 years. |
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Ann O'Neil Memorial for Integrity Fund
Torbi Family Fund
Valley Bar Association Fund
Veterans of Foreign War Post 597 Fund
Joseph and Pauline Warichar Memorial Fund
Harold B. Yudkin Fund