Fairfield County celebrated its final Giving Day yesterday, as donors came together to raise more than $1.7 million for local nonprofits.
Fairfield County’s Community Foundation‘s 24-hour online fundraising drive, held on Thursday, Feb. 23, included nearly 14,600 individual donations supporting 361 Fairfield County nonprofits.
This year’s total rounds out a decade of giving, raising $15.46 million for Fairfield County charities since its inception in 2014.
One Wilton organization came close to cracking the top-10 organizations in donation amounts: Music on the Hill raised $24,815 from 79 donors, putting it at 12th out of 375 participating nonprofits.
In all, 21 Wilton-based nonprofits officially took part in Giving Day, raising a combined $58,039. Their totals raised are listed below, but residents can remember that giving extends to the other 364 days of the year for them all, and they also are in ongoing need for volunteers. We have linked donation pages for each organization:
| Nonprofit | Amount Raised | Number of Donors |
| A Better Chance of Wilton | $580 | 11 |
| Ambler Farm | $925 | 12 |
| Animals in Distress, Inc. | $6,330 | 55 |
| Apple Blossom Waldorf School and Family Center | – | – |
| Berni & Murcer — Friends for Life | $1,835 | 11 |
| Circle of Care for Families with Cancer | $120 | 2 |
| Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation | $558 | 11 |
| Georgetown Volunteer Fire Company | $775 | 10 |
| Music on the Hill | $24,815 | 79 |
| Norwalk River Watershed Association | $555 | 8 |
| Polliator Pathway | $1,550 | 10 |
| Rising Starr Horse Rescue | $860 | 9 |
| Riverbrook Regional/Wilton Family YMCA | $1,095 | 14 |
| Wilton Children’s Theater | $315 | 5 |
| Wilton High School Theater Arts Association Inc. | $3,531 | 61 |
| Wilton Historical Society | $455 | 7 |
| Wilton Library Association | $4,585 | 40 |
| Wilton Playshop | $3,525 | 50 |
| Wilton Singers | $3,035 | 35 |
| Wilton Volunteer Ambulance Corps, Inc. | $35 | 2 |
| Woodcock Nature Center | $2,560 | 42 |
“Fairfield County is a community that cares, and on Fairfield County’s Giving Day, we were reminded once again of the depth and breadth of our county’s generosity,” Mendi Blue Paca, president and CEO of Fairfield County’s Community Foundation, said. “For the past 10 years, Fairfield County residents and local businesses have not only raised millions of dollars to support the critical causes and needs of our community, but have demonstrated that through solidarity and togetherness, the positive impact of generosity can only be amplified.”
Participating nonprofits included both returning and new local charities, spanning a variety of causes and needs from education and youth development to housing needs and hunger.