HELP OUT – TAKE OUT is a public-private partnership that supports both local restaurants and Branford residents who are struggling or have lost income due to the pandemic.

A joint effort of Rotary and Branford Counseling & Community Services (BCCS), the program purchases gift cards from local restaurants and distributes them to Branford residents in need, especially those who are out of work, cannot work, or have lost hours as a result of the coronavirus. Branford Rotary has donated $10,000 to start HELP OUT – TAKE O­UT, and hopes to quickly ramp-up the program with donations from the community.

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Operation Warm is a project of the Rotary Clubs in Bridgeport, Orange, West Haven, New Haven, and Trumbull Connecticut. Each year, they invest well over $25,000 in order to help students keep warm as they travel to and from school each day. 

The jackets themselves are imported by the Operation Warm: Coats for Kids Foundation in Pennsylvania. This charity’s mission is to “…provide brand new winter coats to children in need, helping to improve self-confidence, peer acceptance, school attendance and overall wellness. For a child, a brand new winter coat can be #morethanacoat.”

The Clinton Rotary Club’s Cancer Relief Fund (CRCRF), a non-profit entity, was organized in 1997. The Fund is set up to financially help cancer patients and their families from the Town of Clinton, CT. Funds are available for cancer patients by submitting an application to the Clinton Rotary Cancer Relief Committee who determines eligibility for assistance.  Checks are issued directly to billing entities submitted for general living expenses, such as property insurance, mortgage payments, utilities, taxes, food, and more. Each family’s situation is different and so are the needs. However, CRCRF does not pay medical or hospital bills. Since 1997, CRCRF has donated over $300,000 to Clinton area applicants.

Derby-Shelton Rotary Club has approved grants totaling $10,500. Despite COVID, the Club was still able to touch the lives of many people in our community. Grants 2021 grants were made to the following organizations: Boy Scouts Housatonic Council – $2,500; Junior Achievement- $1,500; Parent-Child Resource Center – $1500; New Haven Symphony Orchestra – $1,000 (for the Shelton family concert series); Girl Scouts of CT – $1,000; cARTie (a mobile art museum)-$500; Boys and Girls Club – $2,500; and The Umbrella Center for Domestic Violence Services – $2,000 (For shelter furniture).