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New Haven, CT (July 26, 2012) –The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven’s Quinnipiac River Fund announces the launch of a new website  – www.TheQuinnipiacRiver.com – created to serve as a comprehensive source of advocacy and information about Connecticut’s Quinnipiac River. The Quinnipiac River Fund helps lead the efforts to restore the Quinnipiac’s water quality and overall ecological health. Each year the Fund distributes more than $100,000 to projects that conserve and protect the River and surrounding watersheds.

The Quinnipiac River Fund’s new website provides information about the Quinnipiac River’s history and health, as well as serves as the main site for communicating information related to the history of the Fund.  This means that former projects funded by the Quinnipiac River Fund will be included on this site so that people can see what has already been researched and what further projects are indicated to improve the health of the River.

The new website features a searchable database of nearly 200 projects made possible with funding from the Quinnipiac River Fund.  A small sample of those are: a survey of contaminants in the River; the creation of a River canoe guide; educational workshops for municipalities of how to protect the river, the creation of a GIS system database; and reducing pesticide uses in towns that abut the River.

The site will also have information about the Funds grant application process. “This new website is a rich database of information, created to increase collaboration around advocacy efforts,” says Nancy Alderman, the Advisory Committee Chair of the Quinnipiac River Fund and President of Environment and Human Health, Inc. “We hope this new resource will facilitate greater sharing and communication that furthers our efforts to protect and preserve one of Connecticut’s natural resources.”

The website also includes an integrated Google map to serve as a platform for mapping canoe launches, fishing access, photographs, walking trails; a community calendar to post and announce river-related activities and opportunities, including nature walks, cleanup days and public meetings/hearings; and a news/blog page.

The website was developed by New Haven-based creative agency Catalyst Collaborative and features photographs from the Consider the Quinnipiac photo-based advocacy campaign, created by Ian Christmann of Catalyst Photography and funded by the Quinnipiac River Fund. The web team included Ian and Carolyn Christmann, Daniel Carter, Will Cowen and Bahador Pazoki.

Earlier this year, the Quinnipiac River Fund awarded $111,000 to 11 organizations to improve the environmental quality of the Quinnipiac River and New Haven Harbor and the watersheds. Since inception, the Fund has awarded more than $1.7 million in grants.

The Quinnipiac River Fund was established in 1990 as a result of a court settlement between the National Resources Defense Council, the Connecticut Fund for the Environment and the Upjohn Corporation concerning wastewater discharges by the Upjohn Chemical Company of North Haven CT into the Quinnipiac River. A fine of $1,225,000 was levied on Upjohn for continually exceeding its permitted industrial releases into the Quinnipiac River and was used to create the Quinnipiac River Fund, administered by The Community Foundation. The Fund is advised by a committee that meets once a year to make funding recommendations to The Community Foundation. Committee members include:  Nancy Alderman, President of Environment and Human Health, Inc., Gordon Geballe, the Assistant Dean of theYale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, and Margaret Miner, Director of Rivers Alliance.

Since 1928, donors to The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven have built the community’s endowment currently valued at over $350 million. In 2011, The Community Foundation distributed more than $19.5 million in grants, including grants from its affiliate The Valley Community Foundation, from over 800 different named charitable funds that support a wide range of programs and organizations. For more information about The Community Foundation visit www.cfgnh.org, find us on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/cfgnh, or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/cfgnh.

Contact:

Tricia Caldwell
Communications Manager
203-777-7090
tcaldwell@cfgnh.org