The Inner-City Foundation of Charity & Education will honor Greenwich’s State Senator Scott Frantz and his wife Icy Frantz at its 27th annual benefit gala for their remarkable efforts to improve the lives of others.
The benefit, to be held on the evening of Saturday, Oct. 27 at the Hyatt Regency Greenwich, will also honor Terry O’Connor, the Executive Director of The Cardinal Shehan Center, in Bridgeport.
“We’re delighted to be honoring the Scott and Icy, as well as Terry O’Connor,” says Richard T. Stone, of The Inner-City Foundation for Charity & Education. “Their philanthropic work aligns with ours, which is to help the neediest among us right here in Fairfield County.”
Scott and Icy Frantz embody the spirit of the Inner-City Foundation and this is seen in the many ways in which they try to better the lives of those around them. For the past 10 years Scott Frantz has committed himself to the people of our state by representing the 36th district in the senate in Hartford. He is a strong believer in the economic recovery of our state and the opportunity it will provide as well as the safety of our families and children.
In addition, Scott Frantz was a founding member of Greenwich’s Arch Street Teen Center and has been involved in various ways with Greenwich Hospital, local veteran’s appreciation organizations, and local school boards. Scott Frantz has also served as the president of the Board of Bradley International Airport and the Connecticut Development Authority.
Together, Scott and Icy Frantz have been involved with Liberation Programs, a nonprofit specializing in the prevention and treatment of addiction and Family Reentry, a program that works with inmates preparing to reenter society. Together with their children, they wrote a book that helps children process loss.
Outside of our state, Scott and Icy Frantz planned and built a playground at an orphanage overseas and organized groups to help rebuild homes through Habitat for Humanity and have been a part of a few inspiring Americares trips to provide pharmaceuticals to people in need. Scott Frantz supported the members of Newtown after the devastating school shooting and spent many years flying children with cancer to their doctor’s appointments. In addition to his elected position, Scott Frantz is a business entrepreneur.
Icy Frantz is a regular contributor to the Greenwich Sentinel. Scott and Icy Frantz live in Riverside and have four children, three college age boys and a girl in the seventh grade, as well as a dog and two cats.
Terry O’Connor, a former college basketball coach and on-air sports personality, has had a long career of service in Fairfield County. For the past quarter century, O’Connor has been the Executive Director of the Cardinal Shehan Center in Bridgeport, a nonprofit organization that serves the recreational, educational, and social needs of moderate and low-income families and young people of lower Fairfield County, particularly inner-city Bridgeport. In 2012, O’Connor took on added duties as Executive Director of the McGivney Community Center, on the east side of Bridgeport.
In his 26-year tenure, he has been at the helm for a remarkable run of achievements, including a re-shaping of the mission to include many new learning and after-school programs, and the creation of a $1.9 million endowment fund to provide academic scholarships to Shehan Center members who wish to attend Catholic schools in the greater Bridgeport area.
Former McGivney Center board chair Paul Gleason also credits O’Connor with turning around the finances at the McGivney, which had financial challenges when he agreed to take on the role of executive director in 2012.
“Terry’s coming to the McGivney Center was the turning point for the organization and ensured the center would be there for the more than 450 children and families it serves in the East Side. His leadership has expanded resources and given us a plan going forward,” Gleason said.
Today, more than 4,500 young people are registered Shehan Center members, where they participate in a wide range of activities and classes including dance, swimming, photography, computers, science and cooking.
“And we have more sports programs than ever,” says O’Connor of the wide range of offerings including basketball teams, aquatics, golf, physical education classes, and a fitness center.
O’Connor says the sports and learning programs come together in a seamless way to engage kids and help them to be lifetime learners. In many cases they’re introduced to activities that would be otherwise absent from their lives.
“Without us exposing the members to all of these opportunities, who will?” he says.
A master fundraiser, he now presides over 23 fundraising events a year at the Shehan Center. His roster includes something for everyone—the Celebrity Breakfast, two golf classics, a Dodge Ball tournament, Casino Night, and the Great Shehan Trivia Classic, as well as the McGivney Mini-Golf event.
Former Shehan board chair Anne McCrory, who now serves as chief legal and real estate officer of the diocese, says that O’Connor has brought a unique skill set to the job.
“Terry represents a great combination of fundraising skills that have expanded resources, while also having the ability to connect closely with the mission, the staff, volunteers and young people served by both Shehan and McGivney.”
Terry O’Connor and his wife, Mary Ann, a retired health care executive, live in Trumbull and are members of Christ the King parish. They are the parents of two grown sons.
The Inner-City Foundation was founded in 1992 and since then has granted $30 million to at least 200 programs and organizations in Fairfield County that are helping the neediest among us. The Inner-City Foundation is focused on the educational and basic human needs of children, adults and families, giving support to programs that provide educational opportunities, food, shelter, help for addiction and recovery, safety from domestic violence, and more. With state funding cut backs, the needs have never been greater.
The Inner-City Foundation’s annual gala is the charity’s largest fundraiser, and it allows them to continue their charitable mission. This year, the gala will have a dinner-dance theme and will feature the music of the wildly popular band The Sultans.
The band has grown over the last 20 years to become a collection of some of the finest musicians in the country, a revolving family of players whose resumes are staggering. The horn section has jammed with Dave Matthews, the lead singers have recorded with Beyonce, Billy Joel, Sting, Steely Dan and James Taylor, and while some have performed with the Boston Pops, others have shared the bill with Maroon 5, the Foo Fighters, Busta Rhymes and Kid Rock. The band has included finalists from American Idol, The Voice and the X Factor. Having played inaugural balls and family parties for the likes of Obama, Clinton, Kennedy, Bush and Biden, The Sultans have dazzled crowds in every corner of the globe.
For tickets and tables, or to donate and help The Inner-City Foundation, visit innercityfoundation.org, call 203-416-1363, or email info@innercityfoundation.org
