2017 – 2018 Grants

 

Andrew Shaw Memorial Trust Scout Cabin – $200,000 Leadership Gift

The Boy Scouts have been active in Darien for 100 years. Today, more than 300 boys learn leadership skills and initiate community service in Darien. For example, Darien EMS-Post 53 was started as a Darien Boy Scout project! The Scouts, which will soon welcome girls, continue to grow. To meet these needs the Andrew Shaw Memorial Trust is undertaking a capital campaign to expand the campground and to construct a brand new facility on the property. The new cabin will be 50% larger and will provide much needed space and functionality, allowing the scout program to grow and flourish into the next century. The Darien Foundation has made a leadership gift of $200,000 to their capital campaign.

 

DAF Media – $65 000

Launched in the fall of 2017, DAF Media is a joint venture between The Darien Foundation and the Darien Athletic Foundation that offers live broadcasts of local arts, athletics, and community events. High school students, overseen by adult volunteers and veteran TV broadcaster Damian Andrew, work the cutting-edge cameras, computers, software, microphones, mixers, and lights. They also gain very translatable skills such as the logistical prep and teamwork that go into producing high-quality live stream. DAF Media broadcasts are all made available on-demand via their You Tube channel.

 

Darien Historical Society – $32,000

A two-part grant was awarded to the Darien Historical Society. First, $14,000 was awarded to save a unique piece of Darien’s history – The Whaleboat Middlesex, which was built by Darien High School students and local citizens in 1776 for a reenactment of Revolutionary water battles in the Long Island Sound. The Middlesex will be restored and set up outside as a “hands-on” teaching tool that children (and adults) can climb aboard. Another $18,000 will fund the purchase and installation of a new generator to ensure that the town’s priceless and irreplaceable artifacts will be enjoyed by generations to come.

 

Darien STEM Venture Unit #353 – $30,000

The Darien STEM Venture Unit is a co-educational, scouting program which provides high school age youth in Darien the opportunity to develop teaching and leadership skills in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. These students serve as mentors and counselors at after-school and summer camp enrichment programs. The Darien Foundation provided a grant of $30,000 for capital equipment needed to conduct a wide variety of STEM experiments and demonstrations in Chemistry/Biomedical, Computer Coding/Robotics, Aquaponics, Aerospace/Electronic Engineering, Astronomy and Forensics.

 

Darien TV 79 – $25,000

Since 2006, TV 79 has provided “gavel to gavel” coverage of public meetings without editing or commentary, bringing town government to citizens’ homes. On a typical week, TV79 covers up to 11 different meetings, as many as four in a single evening—all made available on-demand at Vimeo. TV79 is a leader among Connecticut towns for providing such transparency and accessibility. The Darien Foundation awarded a capital grant to replace and upgrade camera and remote equipment.