Connecticut

The Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut in New London has awarded a $12,000 grant for a youth leadership academy in Norwich that will discuss the historic significance of the schooner Amistad, The Day reports. The Amistad made history in 1839 when 53 African captives took over the ship and attempted to force the surviving crew to return to Africa. With support from New England abolitionists, the captives eventually won their freedom in 1841 in a U.S. Supreme Court ruling. A replica of the ship, built in 2000 and purchased by the nonprofit Discovering Amistad in 2015, is currently at the Marina at American Wharf at Norwich Harbor, and hundreds of visitors will be able to tour the ship.

New Hampshire

The New Hampshire Charitable Foundation has announced Greg Stott, who teaches earth science to eighth graders at Frances C. Richmond Middle School in Hanover, as the winner of the 2023 Christa McAuliffe Sabbatical. Created in honor of the Concord High School teacher who was killed in the 1986 explosion of the space shuttle Challenger, the sabbatical gives an exemplary New Hampshire teacher a year off with pay as well as a materials budget to bring a great educational idea to fruition. Stott plans to produce a documentary film about how the Ice Age affected the Connecticut River Valley and develop an Earth Science curriculum to help students from elementary to high school notice and better understand the geology of their own backyards.

New Jersey

The Northern New Jersey Community Foundation in Hackensack has announced that, in celebration of its 25th anniversary, it will screen the documentary film American River, a movie about the evolution of the troubled Passaic River, on Wednesday, June 7 at the Hackensack Performing Arts Center. The doors open at 5:45 p.m., and the movie will be screened from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

North Carolina

The Foundation For The Carolinas (FFTC) has announced that its Charlotte Mecklenburg Community Foundation, the primary discretionary grantmaking arm of FFTC, has awarded more than $1.2 million to local nonprofits through three grant programs benefitting children, youth, and young adults; family and child stability; and social capital. Recipients include GardHouse, Changed Choices, Theatre Gap Initiative, and Rebuilding Together.

Rhode Island

The Rhode Island Foundation has announced that it completed the awarding of $20 million in grants for hunger, housing, and behavioral health to 240 nonprofits across the state. State leaders tapped the foundation to distribute the funding from Rhode Island’s $1.1 billion share of the federal American Rescue Plan Act allocation for COVID-19 recovery. The latest recipients include Mt. Hope Community Center, the East Bay Community Action Program, the Galilee Mission, and Westbay Community Action.

Texas

The Dallas Foundation has announced the appointment of the new chair and vice chair of its board of governors. Lydia B. Addy, co-founder of the Addy Foundation, will serve as chair. Civic leader and legal executive Chris Luna will serve as vice chair.