Women’s Giving Circle of Harford County Celebrates Five Years of Philanthropy

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Kim Malat, chair, Grants Committee, Women’s Giving Circle of Harford County; Nicole Merrill, transitional living therapist, Arrow Crossroads Community; Melody Baker, program director, Arrow Crossroads Community; Arlene Gomez, associate vice president, Arrow Child & Family Ministries; and Jodi Davis, chair, Women's Giving Circle of Harford County, gather at a recent grant presentation to Arrow Child & Family Ministries. (Photo Courtesy of Community Foundation of Harford County)
Kim Malat, chair, Grants Committee, Women’s Giving Circle of Harford County; Nicole Merrill, transitional living therapist, Arrow Crossroads Community; Melody Baker, program director, Arrow Crossroads Community; Arlene Gomez, associate vice president, Arrow Child & Family Ministries; and Jodi Davis, chair, Women’s Giving Circle of Harford County, gather at a recent grant presentation to Arrow Child & Family Ministries. (Photo Courtesy of Community Foundation of Harford County)

 

More than $150,000 donated to nonprofits serving women, children

 

The Women’s Giving Circle of Harford County, celebrating its fifth anniversary in September, has awarded more than $150,000 to nonprofits serving women and children in Harford County.

 

Founded by Jayne Klein and Marlene Lieb in 2010, the Women’s Giving Circle of Harford County is dedicated to engaging women of all generations in the power of community philanthropy to address the needs of women and families.

 

The Women’s Giving Circle of Harford County began with 16 founding members and has grown to 132 members. To date, 24 nonprofits in Harford County have received grants.

 

“The Women’s Giving Circle of Harford County is a powerful example of an organization that is truly inclusive and meaningful and a positive movement of change for nonprofits serving women,” said Jodi Davis, president. “In five years we have been able to launch a successful women’s donor fund that supports nonprofits today and also promises future support through a legacy endowment fund.”

 

“We take pride in our commonalities, our goals, concerns and beliefs, and we also delight in our differences. A fifth anniversary is a significant milestone for any organization, and we look forward to celebrating and thanking the gracious and giving women who are members of the Women’s Giving Circle of Harford County,” Davis added.

 

A fifth anniversary celebration, “A Tribute to Women Who Give,” takes place on Thursday, September 17, at Maryland Golf & Country Clubs. After a keynote address by Buffy Beaudoin-Schwartz, co-author of “Women & Philanthropy: Boldly Shaping a Better World,” the Women’s Giving Circle will present its 2015 grants to 11 nonprofits in Harford County, totaling more than $43,000.

 

The recipients are: Arrow Child & Family Ministries, $4,000, for support of the Arrow Crossroads Community Equine Assisted Therapy Program; Boys & Girls Clubs of Harford County, $4,000, for support of the SMART Girls program; CASA of Harford County, $5,000, for support of the Transition Aged Youth Initiative; Habitat for Humanity Susquehanna, $5,000, for support of the Homeownership Program – Women Rebuild; Harford Community Action Agency, $4,800, for support of the Getting Ahead in a Just-Gettin’-By-World Program; Harford Community College Foundation,       $2,960.78, for support of the Get Your Mind Moving Program; Harford Family House, $4,200, for support of the Wheels for Work Program; Inner County Outreach, $4,000,

 

for support of the Trinise Jones Summer Day Camp; LASOS, $3,250, for support of the Enrich Program; Mason-Dixon Community Services, $3,500, for support of the Highland Summer Backpack Lunch Program; and Tabitha’s House, $2,371, for support of the Sweet Dreams Program.

 

Nicole Merrill, transitional living therapist at Arrow Crossroads Community, shares how a grant awarded by the Women’s Giving Circle of Harford County impacts the lives of children at her nonprofit.

 

“When Arrow Crossroads Community’s young women started equine assisted therapy, I witnessed timid and nervous young girls entering the arena with their five horses. Over the course of just three sessions, I soon saw confident, patient, willing and compassionate young women emerge,” she said. “The leadership traits the young ladies have developed over such a short amount of time have transpired outside the arena, not only into their day-to-day lives but into their personal sense of self-appreciation.”

 

The Women’s Giving Circle funds are held and managed by Community Foundation of Harford County as a group donor-advised fund. Community Foundation of Harford County–accredited by the Community Foundations National Standards Board, the nation’s highest honor for philanthropic excellence–is a nonprofit supported by the community through donations, enabling individuals, families and businesses to leave a legacy to benefit the causes that matter on a local level. It is one of 14 community foundations in Maryland and one of 700 across the country.

 

More information about the Women’s Giving Circle of Harford County may be found at cfharfordcounty.org/womens-giving-circle.

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