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Greenwich Library announced a challenge gift from The Ashforth Company matching new gifts to the ReImagine ReNew RePurpose Capital Campaign up to $100,000. Friends and supporters of the Library can now double the impact of their donation by participating in this special fundraising effort.
The Ashforth challenge comes at an exciting moment; the campaign is close to meeting its fundraising goal for the $17 million transformation of Greenwich Library’s Main Building. Construction is scheduled to begin in July. Within approximately 16 months, Greenwich residents will enjoy a new Center for Education and Culture on the lower level, a grand new Main Reading Room, a special space for teens, an Innovation Lab and new café, and a number of additional program and meeting rooms.
The Ashforth Company and the Ashforth family have a deep and storied history with the Library. In 1895, Elizabeth Milbank Anderson, the great-great-grandmother of the current owners of the company, started the first Greenwich Library by giving the Town of Greenwich a new building for the Library in memory of her parents, Jeremiah and Elizabeth Lake Milbank. That earlier building stood on Greenwich Avenue, replaced by a department store when the Library moved to its current location.
Nearly a century later, Mrs. Milbank’s great-grandson, Henry Ashforth, Jr., was serving as the President of the Library’s Board of Trustees and Chairman of The Ashforth Company when the Library received the largest gift in its history through the bequest of Mrs. Clementine Peterson. His leadership during that remarkable time was critical to the Library’s future. The Ashforth Company and Ashforth family also made significant contributions towards the modernization and expansion of the Main Building and the new Peterson Wing.
Henry and his wife Georgia were deeply devoted to the Library. Today, children in town continue to enjoy the Ashforth Children’s Concert Series made possible by their generosity.
“We are incredibly thankful for the generosity of The Ashforth Company and the Ashforth family for providing this challenge match,” said Rob Marks, President of the Greenwich Library Board of Trustees. “On our current board, we are most fortunate to have the wise counsel and construction expertise of Hank Ashforth, Executive Vice President of The Ashforth Company and a sixth-generation member of the family. His wisdom has helped shape this major project.”
Donors to the campaign can choose among several attractive naming opportunities including receiving a personal inscription on a chair in the Theater, having their name included on the plaque in the Children’s Room that honors champions of children’s literacy, or joining the patrons of the handsome Main Reading Room. All gifts will have double the impact!
“Supporting the Greenwich Library is a 124-year tradition in our family. Our great-great-grandmother was a strong leader, advocate and supporter of education, particularly women’s education. In addition to the Library, she was an initial supporter of all-girls schools including the Spence School in New York City, Greenwich Academy here in Greenwich, CT, and Barnard College, where she was a major donor and vice-chair of the board of trustees from 1899-1921. We are proud to be part of this tradition and to continue the growth of the Library as an educational resource for our community,” said Darrell Harvey, Co-CEO of The Ashforth Company.
