Utica National Group Foundation Fund Awards $100,000 to Community Organizations

Utica National Insurance Group continues to invest locally through the Utica National Group Foundation Fund, a donor-advised fund of The Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties.

Since its inception, the Utica National Group Foundation Fund has awarded 10 grants totaling more than $500,000 to support a variety of programs and organizations throughout Herkimer and Oneida counties.

The fund’s 2018 grants include the following recipients:

Hope House
A $25,000 grant was awarded to Hope House to cover the cost of meal programs and provide necessary equipment improvements including intake tables to temporarily store donated food, a new washer and dryer to ensure cleanliness of aprons and mops, and an ice machine. For more than 25 years, Hope House has provided a safe haven for the hungry living in Utica’s Cornhill neighborhood, providing up to three meals a day, 363 days a year, to an increasing number of individuals living in poverty.

Johnson Park Center
Johnson Park Center received $50,000 in funding to support the Head, Hand and Heart: Family Enrichment Program. The program is designed to prepare children in the Johnson Park community for kindergarten. Children ages 3 to 5 are given the opportunity to learn and grow in a safe, supportive environment through individual tutoring, interactive workgroups and home visits. Focusing on early childhood development toward literacy, learning and school readiness, the program aims to provide children from low income households a chance at a brighter future.

Thea Bowman House
A $25,000 grant was awarded to Thea Bowman House to support child care programming and to provide new tables, chairs, cubbies and furniture for classrooms. Thea Bowman House provides child care for 170 children ages 18 months to 12 years and offers a universal pre-K program for more than 150 4-year-old children.

The Utica National Group Foundation Fund was created in 2013 with a $1 million gift in celebration of Utica National Insurance Group’s 100th anniversary in 2014. The fund awards $100,000 in grants annually to organizations that work to address the root causes of the community’s greatest needs.

“The Utica National Group Foundation is excited to support such great local organizations in our community as Johnson Park, Hope House and Thea Bowman House,” said Bernard J. Turi, Esq., general counsel/general auditor and chief risk officer senior vice president of Utica National Insurance Group. “These fine organizations have been providing important programs and services to those less fortunate in our area for decades. The goal of these most recent grants from the Utica National Group Foundation Fund is to help ensure these programs and services continue.”