Call us — Learn about our gift opportunities which help people in CT with disabilities.
UCP has many gift opportunities that help you plan your estate. These gifts help us reach our short and long term goals to help individuals with disabilities live lives without limits. We offer several ways to make your investment as easy and efficient as possible and we need your help.
With your donation to United Cerebral Palsy of Eastern Connecticut, we can expand the quality programs and services desperately needed for individuals with disabilities in Connecticut and their families facing the everyday challenges of living with a physical or developmental disability.
Just like the individuals we serve, we’ve faced and overcome many funding obstacles these last few years in CT. A $10 weekly gift will allow us to increase the solutions and options for the people we serve in our community.
Individuals with disabilities need life-long support. Your contribution will be used for people with disabilities in CT and families with crucial needs. There are many ways to help us. Please consider these options or donate online.
MONTHLY SUSTAINER
This giving option allows you to set up monthly gifts, which enable us to consistently increase our program and resources to better serve people in CT with disabilities and their families. When a donor sets up a recurring donation, they choose to give a pre-determined amount of money on a regular basis. Many people like to give monthly, bi-monthly, or yearly, but they can give as frequently as they’d like. Monthly giving is probably the most frequent form of recurring giving
GIFT IN TRIBUTE
A tribute gift is the perfect way to celebrate special occasions or to memorialize a loved one. Your donation will send a handwritten card to the person/people you want us to notify, informing them of your special tribute (the amount of the gift is not necessarily mentioned). Many donors are moved to give in honor or in memory of a loved one.
BEQUESTS
By making bequests and other “planned gifts,” you continue to help make an important difference in your community. What better way to thank the people or organizations that have had an impact on your life, than to make a contribution from your estate through a bequest?
If you choose to include UCP of Eastern CT in your will, you can feel good about leaving a gift that strengthens individuals with disabilities, their families and our community. Please contact Jennifer Keatley for further information.
A charitable bequest is simply a distribution from your estate to a charitable organization through your last will and testament. You should consult with your attorney who can help you include UCP of Eastern Connecticut in your estate planning.
General bequest language: “I give, devise, and bequeath to United Cerebral Palsy of Eastern Connecticut, the sum of $________(or a description of the specific asset), for the benefit of United Cerebral Palsy of Eastern Connecticut and its general purposes.”
United Cerebral Palsy of Eastern CT. 42 Norwich Road. Quaker Hill, CT 06375. Federal ID: 06-0792820
Specific Bequests are made when a particular item or property is bequeathed for a designated purpose.
Specific bequest language: “I give, devise, and bequeath to United Cerebral Palsy of Eastern Connecticut, the sum of $_______ (or a description of a specific asset), for the benefit of United Cerebral Palsy of Eastern Connecticut to be used for the following purpose: (state the purpose). If at any time in the judgment of the trustees of United Cerebral Palsy of Eastern Connecticut it is impossible or impracticable to carry out exactly the designated purpose, they shall determine an alternative purpose closest to the designated purpose.”
Marie Granucci: From a life of existence to acceptance and full inclusion.
Marie’s Story
When Marie was growing up in North Branford, CT, she was the only known person in town with Cerebral Palsy (CP). She attended a completely non-accessible public school system, since The ADA Act was yet enforced. When she attended community college, that journey took 10 years to complete and the support of her mom, to get a degree in Human Services. When she was in her 20s and 30s, she found it painful to handle watching her friends and siblings find relationships, get married and land jobs. Feeling isolated and without hope, Marie sought local support for her condition from UCP of Eastern CT. That was about 5 years ago.
UCP of Eastern CT had the program Marie was looking for — a robust Mentor Program that helped her understand CP through education and sharing experiences with others. “One of the first people I met was a woman with CP who was 90 years old,” Marie reminisced. “Listening to her tell stories about her life gave me hope that I too could have relationships, get married and live for a long time.” Today, Marie not only participates in the Mentor Program at UCP, she helps lead it. She plans relevant topics from safety and social security issues to sign language know-how. She recruits others to join, she volunteers her time and advocates tirelessly for young adults with disabilities to enhance independence in the workforce and their communities. In fact, that has become her life mission as she seeks a wider audience online, as a national blogger.
Marie has created several social media sites, under the umbrella name: WOWCP which stands for: Working Out With CP. The way she explains it, “that could include anything from learning how to put on your shoes and socks to getting a job and starting a family.”
She has become a subject matter expert in the Cerebral Palsy field with more than 1000 followers and over a half dozen social media sites that include meaningful content ranging from government and politics to issues “for women only” — as well as healthy eating and physical education.
“I’m a watcher,” Marie says. “That’s how I learn, by watching and listening.” With her ever-expanding online community, she continues to gain knowledge and give back by hearing what others have to say and sharing her stories of hope — to an audience that is now limitless.
“My parents learned from UCP of Eastern Connecticut that education was the answer,” Marie added. When I was very young, they encouraged me to stand before my classmates in public school to teach them about living with Cerebral Palsy. Some kids made fun of me at first, but once they understood my condition, then they knew me as Marie, and they knew my disability was not going to hurt them…or me. That was a significant lesson for me to learn — that knowledge is understanding.”
“UCP has helped me blossom into the person I didn’t know was there. The door was locked. I was afraid to understand. Now I’m aware and I live a full life. UCP taught me acceptance — they have an open door policy — if you have a disability, not just CP, they help you out.
Your gift to United Cerebral Palsy of Eastern CT can help people like Marie get the services and supports they need; right here in our community; today, tomorrow and for a lifetime.