Stamford, CT – The Mill River Collaborative has received a grant of $40,000 from the Fairfield County Community Foundation (FCCF) to support the expansion of its fundraising capacity.

This is the second grant from the Foundation to support the Collaborative’s work. To date the Foundation has provided $80,000 to the Collaborative.

The $40,000 grant will help the Collaborative hire an experienced development professional to build its local support base and help with the Capital Campaign for Mill River Park. The goal of the campaign is to raise $20 million.

“The Mill River Park will be an urban oasis in the heart of Stamford, providing space for children to play, wildlife to flourish and recreational opportunities for all residents,” said Susan Ross, President & CEO of the Fairfield County Community Foundation. “Projects such as these are vital to the quality of life in Fairfield County.”

Mill River Collaborative is leading the development of Mill River Park & Greenway, which are widely viewed as having a transformative effect on the quality of life in Stamford as the downtown residential population continues to grow. In addition to providing new amenities for people, the project is creating new habitat for fish and other aquatic species and improving environmental services such as stormwater infiltration, cooling the environment and reducing flooding.

“How often does a city the size of Stamford get the opportunity to create a major public park in the middle of its downtown,” said Arthur Selkowitz, Chairman of the Collaborative. “To succeed, we will need the support of a broad cross section of the Stamford community. Fairfield County Community Foundation’s support will help us to accomplish that.”

The Collaborative has a 10-year contract with the city to develop, operate and maintain the park and greenway. The contract is modeled after other public/private partnerships for the development and restoration of marquee downtown parks like Millenium Park in Chicago and New York’s Central Park. These agreements are designed to complement municipal resources with private contributions and services in order to achieve a greater outcome than the municipality could afford to fund alone.

“Supporting the Collaborative’s capacity to engage private donors is central to our core mission and responsibilities,” said Milton Puryear, the Collaborative’s Executive Director.

The Mill River Collaborative is a public/private partnership of government, corporate, and community interests whose mission is to provide leadership for the creation and maintenance of a successful Mill River Park and Greenway. Collaborative staff manage the design, and development of the park and maintain newly developed park facilities. The organization is a 501c3 non-profit corporation that works to secure private resources to complement city funding for construction and maintenance. To date it has raised over $3,250,000 from corporations, foundations and individuals, including over 400 Collaborative members.

The Fairfield County Community Foundation promotes the growth of community and regional philanthropy to improve the quality of life throughout Fairfield County. Individuals, families, corporations and organizations can establish charitable funds or contribute to existing funds. The Foundation also provides philanthropic advisory services, and develops and leads initiatives to tackle critical community issues. It is in compliance with the Council on Foundations’ national standards for community foundations. The Foundation has awarded over $110 million in grants to nonprofits in Fairfield County and beyond. For more information, visit www.fccfoundation.org.