They loved parks. So they gave. - The New York Community Trust

February 9, 2016 | By The New York Community Trust

They loved parks. So they gave.

GREEN SPACE: We help New York Restoration Project teach young residents while renovating parks and community gardens like Los Amigos in East Harlem, pictured here.

Sarah and Harry Rogers loved New York’s parks. At the end of her life, Sarah created a charitable remainder trust to take care of Harry. The remainder started a fund in The New York Community Trust to maintain parks.

Philip and Carol Bilotti grew up in the Bronx and loved it. When Philip died eight years ago, Carol honored him by starting a fund in The Trust to support parks and music in the Bronx.

We combined income from the Rogers Fund with the Bilottis’ and others to give $90,000 to New York Restoration Project, which is revitalizing neglected community gardens and parks such as St. Mary’s, a 35-acre rough gem in the South Bronx. This year, the nonprofit Restoration Project will organize volunteer gardening and tree-planting days, as well as outdoor concerts—thanks to our donors.

“I can’t tell you how thrilled I am,” Carol Bilotti wrote. “It does my heart good to find out what the monies are being used for.” She knows that a community foundation like ours combines money from funds with similar purposes; that way, we can do even more to support a donor’s passions.

What do you love?