Dear friends of The Community Foundation,
I hope this finds you enjoying a happy and healthy start to your new year. Thanks to the continued care for our community, last quarter our community of givers awarded more than $23+ million in grants to organizations serving our region and beyond.
The Community Foundation remains focused on meeting our community’s evolving needs through leading critical community impact initiatives. Last quarter, our activities included:
Issuing an additional $2 million in grants from the COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund, for a total of $10 million to address the public health and economic crisis.
Funding equity hub scholarships through the Children’s Opportunity Fund for low-income families in Montgomery County to receive childcare and remote learning support in a safe environment.
In partnership with FSC First, distributing more than $1 million in emergency relief to support 173 small businesses in Prince George’s County through the Legacy Fund.
Celebrating the Power of Our Community with virtual convenings reflecting on the heart and spirit of our communities in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties.
Welcoming experts on racial equity and community building to our board and staff, including new Trustee Dr. Rashawn Ray and new Managing Director of Community Investment Ronnie Galvin.
Our collective efforts have been recognized with several notable awards. I was proud to represent all of you when accepting the Washington Business Journal’s Nonprofit Leader of the Year award and I was humbled to be named a Hero of the Crisis by Washingtonian Magazine. And, our partnership with CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield received the Washington Business Journal's 2020 Citizenship Award for our efforts to distribute thousands of PPE units to frontline workers at qualified health clinics across the region.
As our community continues to recover from this crisis, we are working to build a more equitable and resilient future for our region. With this in mind, we have embarked on a strategic planning process to identify ways to develop a fresh roadmap for the organization and how we serve this community.
Over the next several months, we will examine and fine-tune our organizational processes to serve our fundholders and our community with strengthened excellence and efficiency. We will also get crystal clear about our strategy, how to best center racial equity, and what it means to be a regional organization with the need for local, jurisdictional, and community nuance. And we will look at how we partner with our donors and fundholders so that we can fully and thoughtfully leverage your philanthropic passions into lasting community impact.
I look forward to sharing an update with you soon. Thank you for being our partner in strengthening our communities now and for the future.
Sincerely,
Tonia Wellons
President and CEO