Cindy and Michael Seligmann of Ripton and the Addison County Parent/Child Center in Middlebury have been honored with the Vermont Community Foundation’s 2014 Community Impact Award.
The award was established in 2013 to recognize the relationship between a Foundation fundholder and a nonprofit organization they have supported through both giving and advocacy in the community, and the Community Foundation is thrilled to give this award to Michael and Cindy and the Parent/Child Center. The Seligmanns have passionately supported the Center and its programs for young parents, children, and teenagers in Addison County for many years.
“Thank you for honoring us in this way,” says Cindy Seligmann. “This award is a wonderful thing to receive, particularly because it benefits the Parent/Child Center. We are so proud of the work that they do, and that we’re able to help support them.”
Says Parent/Child Center Co-Director Donna Bailey, “Thanks to the Community Foundation for all it does for Vermont, to the Seligmanns for their generosity, and to the staff at the Center who work hard every day and change lives, one at a time. Most of all we thank the families we work with for showing up and trying something new each and every day to make their world, their children’s world, and our world a better place. It is with true gratitude that we accept this award on behalf of the Parent/Child Center community.”
As part of the award, the Community Foundation made a $2,000 grant to the Addison County Parent/Child Center and produced a video called Becky’s Story about their work.
The award was presented at the Foundation’s Annual Meeting on Wednesday, September 10 at the Basin Harbor Club in Vergennes. The event was attended by more than 340 people, and the Seligmann’s daughter Kim Walker and her husband David Sandler accepted the award on behalf of her parents, who were unable to attend.
The Vermont Community Foundation is a family of hundreds of funds and foundations established by Vermonters to serve their charitable goals. It provides the advice, investment vehicles, and back-office expertise to make giving easy and effective. The Foundation also provides leadership in giving by responding to community needs, mobilizing and connecting philanthropists to multiply their impact, and by keeping Vermont’s nonprofit sector vital with grants and other investments in the community.
Photo caption: Pictured from left to right: David Sandler, Parent/Child Center Program Coordinator Becky Bertrand, Community Foundation VP for Program and Grants Jen Peterson, Carson Bertrand, Kim Walker, Ashley Mattison-Fournier, Community Foundation Board Chair Jay Kenlan, Esq., Parent/Child Center Co-Director Donna Bailey, Community Foundation President & CEO Stuart Comstock-Gay, Parent/Child Center Co-Director Sue Bloomer, and incoming Community Foundation Board Chair Tim Volk.