Taking Care of the Valley: A Strong Tradition

The Valley Gives Back™ promotes a unified message on the importance of giving back locally to benefit the Valley community, both now and in the future. Photo iStock

Valley Gives Back™ Website Launched

Planned gifts are thoughtful and intentional charitable gifts that make an impact now and in the future. There is no one-size-fits-all planned giving solution because every donor has unique philanthropic goals and objectives. The Valley Community Foundation, partners with CFGNH, launched a community-wide planned giving initiative in May 2017 called the Valley Gives Back™.

The site offers tools to help inform how to make a commitment to your favorite nonprofits during your lifetime without jeopardizing your nest egg. The Valley has a rich history of its citizens taking care of their community long after they are gone. For decades, well-known figures like Katharine Matthies and Wilbur Fisk Osbourne and every-day citizens have expressed their love of the Valley by leaving bequests.

$1.2 Million Bequest to Benefit Valley Residents in Perpetuity

Raymond Mackowski gave decades of service and good works to his hometown of Ansonia and the larger Valley region until his death in 2016. His charitable spirit now lives on through the Raymond Mackowski Fund that he established by bequest with Attorney Christine Curtiss of Cohen and Thomas, Attorneys at Law. Of the 14 funds established at the Valley Community Foundation in 2016, the Mackowski Fund is the only unrestricted one and the largest.

"He was a private man, but he enjoyed life to the fullest," nephew Richard Mackowski said of Raymond. "He was just a good man, that's really the best way to put it."