CCF Receives $2 Million in New Funds
Gifts Boost Scholarship Distributions by $100K for 2010

WATERBURY – September 17, 2010 – CCF recently awarded more than $600,000 in scholarships from funds established by area donors to students from 21 towns in Greater Waterbury and the Litchfield Hills. This year’s scholarship distributions increased by $100,000 compared to last year thanks to the establishment of new scholarship funds at CCF.

John L. and Jeanne C. Hughes Scholarship Fund
The estate of Jeanne C. Hughes of Southbury established the John L. and Jeanne C. Hughes Scholarship Fund with contributions of more than $812,000. She gave an additional $17,000 to the Heritage Village Scholarship Fund at CCF for students who live in Southbury, are in their senior year at Pomperaug High School, and rank in the top third of their class.

Mrs. Hughes’ gifts resulted in over 20 scholarship awards this year.

Mrs. Hughes also established the John L. and Jeanne C. Hughes Fund through her estate. The unrestricted fund received more than $812,000 in contributions in 2010 and will be part of CCF’s Regional Grant Fund to benefit nonprofits that address the greatest needs in the community.

George and Eleanor S. DiCorpo Scholarship Fund
Watertown resident Eleanor DiCorpo remembered CCF in her estate plans through a bequest of $234,000 to the George and Eleanor S. DiCorpo Scholarship Fund.

“Eleanor was very generous. However, she did not tout herself as a philanthropist,” said her long-time friend Mary Isabelle of Thomaston.

According to the wishes of Mrs. DiCorpo, who retired from MacDermid in Waterbury and had no children with her husband, an auto sales executive, awards from her fund will be distributed as part of CCF’s Regional Scholarship Fund with preference given to students who have attended Holy Cross High School in Waterbury.

“Her friends’ children graduated from Holy Cross High School,” remembered Isabelle. “Through her relationship with these friends, Eleanor believed that Holy Cross was a great educational institution where students learned good morals and were provided with a positive, all-around learning experience.”

“She was a wonderful woman,” Isabelle added. “She was very down to earth, smart, and above all she respected and loved education."

Brown-Garrison Memorial Scholarship Fund
Although they lived and worked in the Hartford area, Betty Garrison and Marion Brown never felt more welcomed than when they visited their friends in Thomaston.

“They felt accepted here,” said George P. Seabourne, of Seabourne & Malley in Thomaston of his clients. “Over the years, they grew to love the people and the town of Thomaston.”

According to Seabourne who handled their estate planning, Brown and Garrison wanted to leave something to help children in Thomaston as part of their legacy.

Through their estate, Garrison, who was a registered nurse at Hartford Hospital, and Brown, who worked at the State of Connecticut Judicial District of Hartford, recently gave a gift of $123,000 to CCF to establish the Brown-Garrison Memorial Scholarship Fund. Beginning in 2011, scholarships from this fund will be awarded to graduating seniors of Thomaston High School.

The region’s largest scholarship provider, CCF has awarded hundreds of scholarships to area students since 1989. First-time applicants must be entering their first year of college and live in CCF's 21-town service area.

Scholarship applications for the 2011 school year will be available beginning in January. Students can obtain applications online. The deadline to apply is March 15, 2011.

For more information, contact Josh Carey, program officer, 203-753-1315.