June 5, 2025 • 8 mins
We spoke with Board Chairman Matt Heller about Friends of Feeney being committed to supporting children and families facing hardship after heartbreak and tragedy. Founded by local teacher Eric Feeney, the organization provides direct financial assistance and connects families with community resources to foster hope and healing during life’s most challenging moments.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, Thank you for listening to Community Access. My
guest this morning is board chairman Matt Heller from Friends
of feene Good.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Morning, welling Alison. How are you.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
I'm well, thanks, how are you.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Doing very well? Excited to talk to you today.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
So for those who don't know about Friends of Feenie,
how did it all come about?
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Sure? So you know, it's kind of in the name.
You're probably wondering who is seene And that's the question
we get a lot. So. Eric Feeney is a longtime
school teacher in West Hartford, Connecticut, and about ten years
ago he was teaching one of his elementary school classes
and one of his students unexpectedly lost their father to
(00:41):
a medical illness, and shortly after that, another student lost
their father to gun violence in Hartford. So Eric decided
that he needed to do something not only to help
these families, but other families that would experience heartbreaking tragedy
in the future. And he also so recognize that there
was a great community in West Hartford, in the Greater
(01:04):
Hertford area, and in the state of Connecticut that would
be willing to support and give back to those in need.
So from that friends that he need was born. Our
mission is to support children and families who need assistance
following heartbreaker tragedy, and through a network of community partners
and supporters, we raise funds to give back to those
(01:24):
in need across Connecticut. We are now entering our seventh
year as an official five ALE one C three nonprofit
organization and since then we have provided over two hundred
and twenty five thousand dollars to more than one hundred
families across Connecticut.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
And how do you provide the support to the families
through these organizations?
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Sure? So, typically we are presented with families in need
through our community network. We're a relatively small organization made
up of a boardive directors of six people one hundred
percent volunteer, so we all have full time day jobs
in addition to Friends of Feenie. But through all of
(02:05):
our community connections, whether it's through our local Chamber of Commerce,
through the school network, we are presented with local families
who might be in need of financial support following an
instance of heartbreaker tragedy. So we meet as a board
to make a decision and provide funding to those families
whose situation fall with under our umbrella support.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
What kind of support do you provide to them?
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Yeah, So mainly it's financial support, so we host community
fundraisers and events and we raise the money and then
we turn that rate back around to those in need. However,
we are also to provide some support on the resource side.
We have partnerships with other organizations across the state, Amazon
(02:53):
for example, in which we are able to pick up
donations of personal items, personal care items, household items, food
and drinks. So alongside the direct financial support that we're
giving to these families, we're also able to provide some
of that resource support. So, say a family experiences a
(03:14):
house fire in which they lose everything, we're able to
not only provide them some financial support to help them
get back on their feet, but we're also able to
provide some of those essential resources that they need just
to get through the day.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Wow, what a blessing that must be. What kind of
response have you received from the families that you've helped.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Yeah, you know, it's really nice to hear back from
the families after we support them, and in many cases,
you know, once they're back on their feet, once they've
got their life together again, after some of these tragic
and heartbreaking instances, they are so willing to give back
their time to us and help us help others. You know,
(03:54):
I'll give one story of a family We supported, the
Parente family in Bristol a couple of years ago. They
unexpectedly lost their son, Nicholas, after a very short battle
with brain cancer. It was truly a tragic event. We
had hosted a event at the Hartford Yard Gooats to
(04:15):
raise money for his medical costs during that time, and
that Yardgoats game ended up being the last time that
he was together with his friends in the community. Unfortunately,
he passed away a few weeks after that, but you know,
shortly following that, his father, Rob really got to know
us in what we do, and now Rob serves on
(04:36):
our board of directors and an initiative to bring our
services into other parts of the state, including the Bristol,
Plainville and Waterbury areas. So it just speaks to how
those who we support, you know, recognize the strong network
of community resources out there and then are willing to
give back their time as well.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
Beautiful, so you have to rely on donations. Is that
why you decided to be a part of Birdie's for Charity?
Is this your first year.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
So this is our second year with Birdie's for Charity.
Last year was phenomenal. We heard about it just through
other partner organizations who told us how amazing of a
program it was and how easy it was to participate.
But yes, as a small organization, we receive almost no
federal funding and a very limited grant support, so we
(05:27):
rely almost entirely on the generosity of local individuals and
businesses and programs like this to raise the money that
we need to give back. So this couldn't have been
a better opportunity for us. It's been a pleasure to
meet everybody through Burdy's for Charity attends not only the tournament,
(05:47):
but some of the kickoffs and the celebratory events. Last
year we raised close to seventy five hundred dollars. This
year we have a goal of over ten thousand dollars.
But that fifteen percent match thanks to Travelers and Webster Bank,
really means the world to us. It's so helpful.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Absolutely So for every dollar, you're going to get fifteen
cents from Webster Bank, so instead of just a dollar,
you're going to make a dollar fifteen. For those listening,
please go to friendsoffeenie dot com. I just want to
spell feene fee n e y friendsofhoenie dot com and
you can donate right there. Do it right now, don't
wait because you may forget. And this is an amazing cause. Plus,
(06:28):
if you'd like to get involved, if you'd like to volunteer,
find out about all of their events that they're having,
go to friendsofeenie dot com. So you do have some
events that are coming.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Up, yes, we do so. Our signature event is our
golf tournament. It's held at Tungksust Country Club in Farmington.
That's going to be coming up on Saturday, September thirteenth.
We're going to have a full slate of thirty sixteens,
one hundred and forty four golfers. It's a fantastic event. Breakfast, lunch,
and dinner is included. Eighteen holes on Tunks' is beautiful
(07:01):
green course, prizes, contest holes, It's just an amazing event.
Once again, it's our largest annual fundraiser. So you can
learn more about that. Sign up to either be a
golfer or a sponsor through our website at Franscini dot
com and then also on our website. We've got an
event page that highlights some of the other community events
(07:22):
that we have going on throughout the summer, just to
give you a little preview of what we've got. We
have a fundraiser with the Bristol Blues Collegiate baseball team
on Saturday, July twelfth. We have a fundraiser with the
Hertford Athletic on Friday, June sixth, and we have our
annual fundraiser and memory of our friend Nick with the
Hartford Yargos on Friday, August fifteenth.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
Wonderful.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Thanks again to travelers, iHeartMedia, Webster Bank, everyone who's involved
in this program. It really means the world to us,
and these donations and the support and the connections that
we're able to make through this program make what we
do possible. So thank you all, and we're looking forward
to another great campaign this year.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
I'm speaking with board Chairman Matt Heller from Friends of
Feenie again. That web address is Friendsoffeenie dot com. Thank
you so much for being here and for serving the community.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Thank you so much.
Good morning, Thank you for listening to Community Access. My
guest this morning is board chairman Matt Heller from Friends
of feene Good.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Morning, welling Alison. How are you.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
I'm well, thanks, how are you.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Doing very well? Excited to talk to you today.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
So for those who don't know about Friends of Feenie,
how did it all come about?
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Sure? So you know, it's kind of in the name.
You're probably wondering who is seene And that's the question
we get a lot. So. Eric Feeney is a longtime
school teacher in West Hartford, Connecticut, and about ten years
ago he was teaching one of his elementary school classes
and one of his students unexpectedly lost their father to
(00:41):
a medical illness, and shortly after that, another student lost
their father to gun violence in Hartford. So Eric decided
that he needed to do something not only to help
these families, but other families that would experience heartbreaking tragedy
in the future. And he also so recognize that there
was a great community in West Hartford, in the Greater
(01:04):
Hertford area, and in the state of Connecticut that would
be willing to support and give back to those in need.
So from that friends that he need was born. Our
mission is to support children and families who need assistance
following heartbreaker tragedy, and through a network of community partners
and supporters, we raise funds to give back to those
(01:24):
in need across Connecticut. We are now entering our seventh
year as an official five ALE one C three nonprofit
organization and since then we have provided over two hundred
and twenty five thousand dollars to more than one hundred
families across Connecticut.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
And how do you provide the support to the families
through these organizations?
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Sure? So, typically we are presented with families in need
through our community network. We're a relatively small organization made
up of a boardive directors of six people one hundred
percent volunteer, so we all have full time day jobs
in addition to Friends of Feenie. But through all of
(02:05):
our community connections, whether it's through our local Chamber of Commerce,
through the school network, we are presented with local families
who might be in need of financial support following an
instance of heartbreaker tragedy. So we meet as a board
to make a decision and provide funding to those families
whose situation fall with under our umbrella support.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
What kind of support do you provide to them?
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Yeah, So mainly it's financial support, so we host community
fundraisers and events and we raise the money and then
we turn that rate back around to those in need. However,
we are also to provide some support on the resource side.
We have partnerships with other organizations across the state, Amazon
(02:53):
for example, in which we are able to pick up
donations of personal items, personal care items, household items, food
and drinks. So alongside the direct financial support that we're
giving to these families, we're also able to provide some
of that resource support. So, say a family experiences a
(03:14):
house fire in which they lose everything, we're able to
not only provide them some financial support to help them
get back on their feet, but we're also able to
provide some of those essential resources that they need just
to get through the day.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Wow, what a blessing that must be. What kind of
response have you received from the families that you've helped.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Yeah, you know, it's really nice to hear back from
the families after we support them, and in many cases,
you know, once they're back on their feet, once they've
got their life together again, after some of these tragic
and heartbreaking instances, they are so willing to give back
their time to us and help us help others. You know,
(03:54):
I'll give one story of a family We supported, the
Parente family in Bristol a couple of years ago. They
unexpectedly lost their son, Nicholas, after a very short battle
with brain cancer. It was truly a tragic event. We
had hosted a event at the Hartford Yard Gooats to
(04:15):
raise money for his medical costs during that time, and
that Yardgoats game ended up being the last time that
he was together with his friends in the community. Unfortunately,
he passed away a few weeks after that, but you know,
shortly following that, his father, Rob really got to know
us in what we do, and now Rob serves on
(04:36):
our board of directors and an initiative to bring our
services into other parts of the state, including the Bristol,
Plainville and Waterbury areas. So it just speaks to how
those who we support, you know, recognize the strong network
of community resources out there and then are willing to
give back their time as well.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
Beautiful, so you have to rely on donations. Is that
why you decided to be a part of Birdie's for Charity?
Is this your first year.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
So this is our second year with Birdie's for Charity.
Last year was phenomenal. We heard about it just through
other partner organizations who told us how amazing of a
program it was and how easy it was to participate.
But yes, as a small organization, we receive almost no
federal funding and a very limited grant support, so we
(05:27):
rely almost entirely on the generosity of local individuals and
businesses and programs like this to raise the money that
we need to give back. So this couldn't have been
a better opportunity for us. It's been a pleasure to
meet everybody through Burdy's for Charity attends not only the tournament,
(05:47):
but some of the kickoffs and the celebratory events. Last
year we raised close to seventy five hundred dollars. This
year we have a goal of over ten thousand dollars.
But that fifteen percent match thanks to Travelers and Webster Bank,
really means the world to us. It's so helpful.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Absolutely So for every dollar, you're going to get fifteen
cents from Webster Bank, so instead of just a dollar,
you're going to make a dollar fifteen. For those listening,
please go to friendsoffeenie dot com. I just want to
spell feene fee n e y friendsofhoenie dot com and
you can donate right there. Do it right now, don't
wait because you may forget. And this is an amazing cause. Plus,
(06:28):
if you'd like to get involved, if you'd like to volunteer,
find out about all of their events that they're having,
go to friendsofeenie dot com. So you do have some
events that are coming.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Up, yes, we do so. Our signature event is our
golf tournament. It's held at Tungksust Country Club in Farmington.
That's going to be coming up on Saturday, September thirteenth.
We're going to have a full slate of thirty sixteens,
one hundred and forty four golfers. It's a fantastic event. Breakfast, lunch,
and dinner is included. Eighteen holes on Tunks' is beautiful
(07:01):
green course, prizes, contest holes, It's just an amazing event.
Once again, it's our largest annual fundraiser. So you can
learn more about that. Sign up to either be a
golfer or a sponsor through our website at Franscini dot
com and then also on our website. We've got an
event page that highlights some of the other community events
(07:22):
that we have going on throughout the summer, just to
give you a little preview of what we've got. We
have a fundraiser with the Bristol Blues Collegiate baseball team
on Saturday, July twelfth. We have a fundraiser with the
Hertford Athletic on Friday, June sixth, and we have our
annual fundraiser and memory of our friend Nick with the
Hartford Yargos on Friday, August fifteenth.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
Wonderful.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Thanks again to travelers, iHeartMedia, Webster Bank, everyone who's involved
in this program. It really means the world to us,
and these donations and the support and the connections that
we're able to make through this program make what we
do possible. So thank you all, and we're looking forward
to another great campaign this year.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
I'm speaking with board Chairman Matt Heller from Friends of
Feenie again. That web address is Friendsoffeenie dot com. Thank
you so much for being here and for serving the community.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Thank you so much.
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