Liberty Bank gives $141K to nonprofits

The Liberty Bank Foundation, which celebrates its 15th anniversary this year, has awarded nearly $141,000 to nonprofit organizations in New London and Middlesex counties.

The foundation's largesse in New London County ranged from children's organizations to arts groups and the United Way of Southeastern Connecticut, which was the largest recipient with a grant of $14,500.

Chandler Howard, the president and chief executive officer of the Middletown-based mutual savings bank and its foundation, said the $140,800 in grants to 19 nonprofits would help many needy recipients throughout New London and Middlesex counties.

"The ripples from the grants being awarded ... will spread out to touch hundreds of people and improve their lives," he said.

Since 1997, the Liberty Bank Foundation has awarded more than $6.8 million to support local nonprofit programs, provide scholarships for students as well as underwrite remediation programs for students from kindergarten to high school.

"That's what this is all about ... it's about the people that we are all working together to benefit. People who are at the lower end of the income ladder, who may not have the advantage of a college education, who struggle from paycheck to paycheck, and who, like all the rest of us, want to build a better life for themselves and their families," said Howard.

The foundation funds nonprofits within its market area of the central, eastern and shoreline portions of the state. The foundation's mission is to improve the quality of life for low- or moderate-income people by investing in preventive programs for children and families, affordable housing and boosting the capacity of nonprofits.

Liberty Bank is Connecticut's oldest mutual savings bank and has more than $3.4 billion in assets and 43 branches in its market area.