Seven non-profit organizations with programs in Kent County will receive checks totaling $16,300 at the Women & Girls Fund’s 12th Annual Spring Luncheon on April 28. In all, the Fund will distribute grants worth nearly $40,000 to 16 non-profits in one or more of the five Mid-Shore counties.
That will bring the Women & Girls Fund’s 12-year grant total to nearly $380,000, money that has gone to 62 different organizations in Kent, Queen Anne’s, Caroline, Talbot, and Dorchester counties—programs that benefit the needs of women, girls and families.
“Our spring luncheon is when we thank our donors for making the grants possible, and it’s when our donors meet the program directors—amazing people who have found creative ways to remove barriers so women and girls can succeed,” said Paige Evans, president of the Women & Girls Fund.
This year’s recipient organizations with programs in Kent County are Chestertown RiverArts, Healthy Families Mid-Shore, Community Mediation Upper Shore, Mid-Shore Pro Bono, Echo Hill Outdoor School, For All Seasons, and Rebuilding Together Kent County. The grant dollars will support programs that focus on elementary education, leadership training, infant welfare, access to justice, and safe, weatherproof housing.
Chestertown RiverArts will use its grant dollars to support an arts and history program involving Garnett Elementary School students and teachers in grades 3 to 5. Working with local visual and performing artists in spaces throughout Chestertown, children will write, design and present their creations—books, poems, YouTube videos or PowerPoint presentations.
The Healthy Families Mid-Shore grant will help pay for a Spanish interpreter who assists with a program designed to reduce the risk of child abuse and neglect, and to build the capacity of first-time parents.
Mid-Shore Pro Bono, which offers free legal services in the five Mid-Shore counties, will use its grant on a new program called “Community Conferencing,” which brings together everyone involved in—and affected by—crime. A trained facilitator leads victims, offenders and their respective supporters in a discussion of what happened, how everyone has been affected, how to resolve the matter and prevent it from happening again. If an agreement is reached, the case is closed; if not, the case is processed in the usual manner.
Community Mediation Upper Shore will provide free mediation services to no- and low-income parents who are estranged, and who need to agree on plans about their children.
The Fund’s 2014 “Women & Girls Fund Award” will go to Mary Lou McAllister, who has long dedicated herself to enriching the lives of the residents—especially children—of St. Michaels. Years ago, she attracted Easton Day Care (now Critchlow Adkins Children’s Centers) to St. Michaels, and—at 85—she’s still volunteering for (among others) CASA of Dorchester and Talbot Counties, the Children’s Home Foundation, and St. Michaels Elementary SMASH (St. Michaels After School Help) program, which provides structured after-school tutoring for students in grades 1 through 4 who are reading below grade level.
“The real heroes here are the staff and volunteers of the agencies the Fund supports,” said Beth Spurry, past-president of the Women & Girls Fund, who co-chairs the Fund’s Grants Committee. “These people give their time and talent to help meet the growing and changing needs in our community. Every year at grant reading time we marvel at the amazing work being done by these extraordinary people. Our only regret is that we don’t have more to give away!”
The Women & Girls Fund Spring Luncheon will be held, on Monday, April 28, 11:30am, at the River House at Easton Club, in Easton. The luncheon is being underwritten through the generous donation of the Fund’s lead corporate sponsor, River House at Easton, LLC. Ticket price is $45 and the event is open to the public. For further information about the luncheon and about the Women & Girls Fund, call 410-770-8347, email [email protected] or visit womenandgirlsfund.org.
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