About Us

The Bennett Family Foundation, also known as the Eleanore Bennett Charitable Trust #1 [EIN 30-6016982], is one of two charitable trusts established in 2004 by the bequest of Mabel Eleanore Newbold Bennett.

Eleanore Newbold and her brother were partners in Continental Felt, the family business headquartered in Manhattan.  In mid-life, she married Thomas Bennett, the widower next door. He was the son of Scottish immigrants and another life-long New Yorker, who rose from middle-school dropout to a successful career in the city.

In funding the Trusts, Eleanore left it up to the Trustees to chart a specific direction. The current Trustees, her grandchildren, honor her in spirit for the many ways she taught the importance of family.

Both Trusts are private family foundations run solely by the Trustees, with input from their families. There is no full-time staff.

Eleanore Bennett Charitable Trust #2

EIN 30-0088372

Our "sister trust," managed by a cousin and their family, is based in Waltham, MA. Their grants go to organizations often, but not exclusively, in the Greater Boston area.

Other Foundations

Bennett is not an uncommon name, and there are other similarly-named foundations that are unrelated to ours. The most commonly-confused with us are in Las Vegas and Toronto (no website).