Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics made a commitment toward the future of Granville with a $25,000 donation to the Granville Community Foundation on March 29.
Saint-Gobain’s human resources manager Carrie Armenio said she was proud to announce the contribution.
“We were able to get funding to support the Granville Community Foundation with $25,000. It really supported what our mission is from our own personal principles. From a Saint-Gobain standpoint, it was just an easy decision to make,” Armenio said.
An affiliate of the Glens Falls Foundation, the GCF is the brainchild of Granville natives Paula and Granville foundation chair Michael Freed, who wanted to give back to their home community in a productive, beneficial way.
“Each year, starting in January of 2022, civic groups will be invited to apply for projects that require assistance to make Granville an even better place, possibly for services for seniors or youths, recreation, arts and culture, health and education, economic vitality and community development,” a letter in the spring of 2021 from the advisory board of the Foundation read.
Saint-Gobain’s general manager for Tape Solutions Philip Guy and Granville plant manager Christopher McGlynn joined Armenio’s sentiments of supporting the community and the foundation’s mission.
“We’ve got a great team, both here and in Hoosick, these businesses have been here for a long time and it’s all about the community. If you look at the people who are working in our facilities, they are all from this community, small towns. The people are the community and the people are what makes our business,” Guy said.
“We really felt like we really wanted to give back to the community because they really are our people, our family, our employees and we want to do more for these communities, these small communities that might not have access to a lot of things a lot of times.”
With 80% of its employees from the town or village of Granville, McGlynn said it’s not only the current community members who will be affected by the foundation’s goals and efforts, it will be the future generations of those workers engrained in the community.
“Something I’m really proud of is that somebody can grow up in this town and stay in this town, support their family and still prosper achieving all the dreams they have,” McGlynn said.
Representing the foundation at Saint-Gobain were advisory board members Telescope CEO Kathy Juckett, Granville Area Chamber of Commerce representative Denise Davies, Granville village clerk Rick Roberts and Jenine Macura of Glens Falls National Bank.
“It’s just been really incredible, more than we would have ever thought. Even when we first got started, I don’t think we ever expected it to be like this,” Juckett said.
“We just got done with our first round of grant-review and we make our recommendation to the Glens Falls Community Foundation because they are our parents in the entire thing… we’re pretty excited because we have some great opportunities.”
The advisory board in attendance confirmed that the first batch of grant recipients will be revealed in April.
“It’s been a huge learning experience,” Macura said.
Juckett acknowledged Saint-Gobain’s generosity and presence being involved in multiple organizations within the community such as Granville Little League and Boys Scouts.
“I know you’re a multinational corporation and huge, and this is probably a really small part of all of what you do but it’s fantastic that you pay so much attention to this community and your presence is very positive,” Juckett said.
Freed provided an update via email of the total accumulation of donations made.
“Total donations received or ‘committed’ (to pay in 2022) are at $1,035,000. This includes St. Gobain,” Freed said. “All but $90,000 of this $1,035,000 has been received and the remaining $90,000 committed is all but certain to be received at various points during the year.”
Organizations seeking a grant were and are actively being invited to submit a letter providing information on the proposed use of the funds with an overview of their organization, purpose of application, current budget of finances and supporting documents in photo or video form in an application 12 pages or less and sent before Feb. 1 or Aug. 1.
The goal for the end of the decade is to raise $5 million for the foundation.
To donate, write a check to the Granville Community Foundation Fund and mail it to: Glens Falls Foundation, c/o Michael Niles, Foundation Business Administrator, 2 Progress Boulevard, Queensbury, New York 12804. Donations can also be made online at https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=E3N46AFWP7FUS.
For more information, contact the advisory board at
granvillefoundation@glensfallsfoundation.org or view the GCF’s website at https://www.glensfallsfoundation.org/granville.
