The Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore has awarded a number of Community Needs grants totaling $74,532 which were distributed recently to seventeen nonprofit organizations on the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland.
The grants will benefit, either directly or indirectly, the residents of the region and are being awarded this fall from the Foundation’s Community Needs Funds. The next deadline for qualified nonprofit organizations to apply for community needs grants is February 1, 2014.
“Nonprofits on the Lower Eastern Shore have unique and complex needs,” said Doug Wilson, the Foundation’s President & CEO. “The Community Foundation is delighted to provide resources that help enhance the valuable programs and services these organizations provide.”
Grants in the current cycle were awarded to the following nonprofits.
Animal Care and Rescue:
Humane Society of Somerset County, Inc. to cover emergency veterinarian costs for the feral spay/neuter programs administered in Somerset County.
Education and Youth:
Advocates for Children and Youth to support the “Graduate Maryland” campaign, which identifies best practices that will increase graduation rates across the Lower Eastern Shore and Maryland.
Delmarva Education Foundation, Inc. to fund a complete overhaul of the ten year old scholarship database to make it more functional for students, counselors and schools in the Tri-County area.
Fruitland Community Center to support program and staff related expenses for at risk Wicomico County school children that includes tutoring, S.T.E.M. activities and cultural enhancement programs.
Kids of Honor, Inc. to provide support for the pilot program titled Heritage Highlights – Exploring Our Past, Learning Today and Opportunities for Tomorrow in Wicomico County.
Horizons at the Salisbury School to purchase iPads for classroom use with the goal of improving math skills in low performing students in Wicomico County.
University of Maryland Eastern Shore to purchase a book edge scanner for the Univesity’s Frederick Douglas Library located in Somerset County.
Wor-Wic Community College to fund a collaborative partnership titled SWEET, as it provides training education and employment readiness for Tri-County students aged 18-21 years, with significant cognitive disabilities.
Arts and Culture:
Salisbury University Office of Graduate Studies & Research (Art Galleries) to support the launch of a series of community center events at the newly opened downtown Salisbury Art Gallery campus.
Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art to support the creation of a new film highlighting the Ward Brothers for viewing at both the Ward Museum and Crisfield Heritage Foundation’s Ward Brothers Homeplace Tawes Museum.
Environment:
Assateague Coastal Trust, Inc. to purchase bacterial testing and analysis supplies to fulfill in house water quality testing needs for the Tri-County coastal bays watershed.
Maryland Coastal Bays Foundation, Inc. to provide gap funding for the marine debris program that targets removal of ghost crab pots that endanger the Maryland Terrapin across the Tri-County area.
Health/Human Services:
4STEPS Therapeutic Riding Program to support an equine therapy program titled “Horse Power” that provides behavioral skill training to high risk adolescents from the Tri-County area.
Coastal Hospice to support the second phase of three part program to study and improve end of life outcomes on the Lower Eastern Shore.
Eleven 21 Inc. to support a feeding program for underserved children four times a week at the Epoch Dream’s Center in Hebron, MD.
New Life Seventh Day Adventist Church to support a thirteen week program titled “ single and Parenting” that targets single parents and provides them with techniques to deal with financial, mental and other aspects of parenting.
Women Supporting Women, Inc. to support two conferences that will provide information and encourage the sharing of experiences by Tri-County area breast cancer survivors.