The Bedford family is the gift that keeps on giving.
In 1923, Edward T. Bedford endowed and built the YMCA downtown.
In 1944 his son, Frederick T. Bedford, provided the funding to buy Camp Mahackeno, on Wilton Road.
Camp Mahackeno, shortly after the name was changed from Camp Bedford.
In 2015 — 92 years after the Y opened, and soon after it moved to the Mahackeno campus — the organization received $40 million from the estate of Ruth T. Bedford: Edward’s granddaughter, and Frederick’s daughter. She died the previous year, at 99.
She gave similar amounts to Norwalk Hospital (where she volunteered for decades), and Foxcroft, the private girls’ school she had attended in Virginia.
Ruth — a trustee emeritus of what is now known as the Westport Weston Family Y — wanted the Y to change lives for the next 100 years.
In 2015, the YMCA board of trustees established the Bedford Family Social Responsibility Fund. Earnings from the endowment support organizations that provide direct or supplemental educational opportunities. As a result the Fund supports a wide range of programs.
Ruth Bedford, with longtime YMCA supporters Lester Giegerich and Dr. Malcolm Beinfield.
Last week, the Y honored the 2023 grant recipients of the Bedford Family Social Responsibility Fund. 31 organizations local non-profits received over $315,000
At the ceremony, Westport Y CEO Anjali McCormick said, “Ruth had no patience for ostentatious displays of wealth and shunned attention for her philanthropic contributions. She is the embodiment of the Y’s social responsibility pillar standing firmly by the idea that you don’t need more money than you need to live on, and that you have a responsibility to give back.
“Ruth’s legacy is enduring. Though she had no children, she continues to touch the lives of hundreds and thousands of children and youth each year, through and because of your organizations. The breadth and depth of creativity and innovation in your programming is inspiring. We love that you are forward thinking, we love that you are solution oriented, we love that you are preparing future generations and the world to be a better place.”
Recipients include:
- A Better Chance of Westport
- Achievement First Bridgeport Academy
- Adam J Lewis Academy
- Bridgeport Caribe Youth Leaders
- The Carver
- CT Institute: Refugees & Immigrants
- Family & Children’s Agency
- First Serve Bridgeport
- Greater Connecticut Youth Orchestra
- Hall Neighborhood House
- Horizons: CT State Norwalk, Greens Farms Academy, Notre Dame Catholic High School
Middle school students in Greens Farms Academy’s Horizons program.
- Housatonic Community College Foundation
- Kids Empowered by Your Support
- The Klein Memorial Auditorium Foundation
- Mercy Learning Center of Bridgeport
- Neighborhood Studios of Fairfield County
- New Beginnings Family Academy
- Norwalk Community College Foundation
- Norwalk Housing Authority
- Norwalk Symphony Orchestra
- Person to Person
- Project Morry
- Shepherds Mentors
- Silvermine Arts Center, Art Partners Program
- Smart Kids with LD
- Staples Tuition Grants
- University of Bridgeport, STEM on Wheels
- Suzuki Music School
- Wakeman Memorial Association
Edward T. and Frederick T. Bedford would be very proud.
In 1959 I had the honor of beginning six summers working on the Bedford Estate. As thebyesrs went on I had the opportunity to get to know “Miss Ruth” as I always referred to her. She loved her dogs and had a special kennel built near her home on the property. When FT died she had the huge garage converted to her living quarters. I remember getting a terrible case of poison Ivy and when I went to explain why I had missed work to Mr Gordon ( still swollen faced and blistered out) she walked in and took one look and paid me for the week I missed. I went back to see her after I graduated from college and she seemed delighted that I would pay her a visit. I thanked her for all the summers she had allowed me to work on the estate. She was a true woman with out peer. A Philanthropist in the truest sence of the word. God Bless you Miss Ruth!
What an extraordinary family – there have been many in Westport and they have added so much to the diversity and strength of this beautiful community – proud to call Westport my home town – even though I haven’t been there in over 60 years !
The Bedfords also donated the original Bedford Elementary School (now the town hall), the original Bedford Junior High (now Kings Highway elementary) and Greens Farms School.