Improving Manchester Rail Trail and Homes for People in Need Among 12 Projects Supported by Hartford Foundation

Improvements to a portion of the Cheney Rail Trail in north Manchester and building materials for the annual  are among 12 projects funded this month by $74,000 in grants from the H. Louise Ruddell Charitable Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.

A grant of $5,000 was awarded to the Manchester Land Conservation Trust to upgrade the base and widen a portion of the one and one-half mile Cheney Rail Trail it owns from West Middle Turnpike to 500 feet north of Hilliard Street. The tract was once part of the old South Manchester Railroad, which ran from the famous Cheney Mills to the main line of the New York New Haven and Hartford Railroad in the north end of Manchester.

“By enhancing this portion we will move closer to connecting the Cheney Rail Trail to the Charter Oak Trail and the Hop River Trail,” says Doug MacGillvary of the Land Trust. “There is much work to be done to meet the goal of a 15-mile loop trail through portions of Manchester, Vernon and Bolton.”

The Manchester Land Conservation Trust, a non-profit, publicly supported corporation dedicated to fostering the acquisition, preservation and maintenance of open space lands and water resources, owns 337 acres in Andover, Bolton, East Hartford, Manchester and Vernon. For more information, visit www.manchesterlandtrust.org.

Rebuilding Together of Manchester has received a $7,500 grant from the Hartford Foundation to help fund its annual town-wide spring project – to be held Saturday, April 28 – that improves the homes of low-income elderly and/or disabled individuals and families.

Last year, Rebuilding Together of Manchester, started locally in 1992 as part of a national program, rehabilitated 86 houses with the aid of 1,200 volunteers. The work ranges from plumbing, carpentry, painting and electrical repairs and landscaping to major projects such as roof and heating systems replacements. For more information, visit www.townofmanchester.org.

Other 2012 grants from the Ruddell Fund are:

Cheney Hall Foundation - $10,000 to study replacement of the HVAC system.

Connecticut Humane Society - $10,000 for emergency power generators for the shelter and the Fox Memorial Clinic.

Little Theatre of Manchester - $10,000 for interior renovations to performance areas at Cheney Hall.

Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation - $8,000 for services to clients and the Manchester Volunteer Puppy Raisers Program.

YWCA Hartford Region - $5,000 to support the Manchester Teen Parent Development Program.

Manchester Police Activities League - $5,000 for expansion of the Hilliard Mills Police Activities League Center.

New Hope Manor - $5,000 to improve staff-to-child ratio in programming.

Hartford Gay and Lesbian Health Collective - $3,500 for pet food, supplies and veterinary assistance for the pets of people with HIV/AIDS.

Lutz Children’s Museum - $2,500 for food and veterinary care for animals.

Manchester Bicentennial Band Shell Corp. - $2,500 for sound equipment.

The H. Louise Ruddell Charitable Fund is named in honor of a lifelong resident of Pearl Street in Manchester who died in 1983 at age 96. In her will, she set up a private foundation to aid organizations providing programs and services to the citizens of Manchester and institutions working for the prevention of cruelty to animals. The assets of that foundation came to the Hartford Foundation in 2001. Since then, the fund has awarded 130 grants totaling $812,412.

The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving is the community foundation for the 29-town Greater Hartford region, dedicated to improving the quality of life for area residents. The Hartford Foundation receives gifts from thousands of generous individuals and families and in 2011 awarded grants of more than $28 million to a broad range of area nonprofit organizations. For more information about the Hartford Foundation, and its strategic plan, Accelerate Success, visit www.hfpg.org or call 860-548-1888.