“Knowing that cents make dollars and that small coins, if used properly, accomplish great ends.”
This is an excerpt from an essay Marie Barth wrote in 1910. It’s the inspiration for our interest in nonprofits for which small grants can “accomplish great ends.” Marie Barth was the mother of Howard W. Phillips Jr., benefactor of Phillips Charitable Foundation (PCF). With Marie as our inspiration, we’re pleased to announce four recent grant awards. We’re confident that each of these nonprofits are solving problems and that the funding will accomplish great ends.
You can read more about Marie Barth’s essay on our website here.
Charleston Area Therapeutic Riding
John's Island, South Carolina
Charleston Area Therapeutic Riding empowers children and adults with disabilities to enjoy more active and fulfilling lives through therapeutic horsemanship. A $5,320 grant was awarded to provide therapeutic riding for a twelve-week session to four children with a disability. These children would not otherwise have the opportunity due to financial need. The grant from PCF helps solve that problem for these four deserving children.
Each of the children will participate once per week for 12 weeks. They will spend time caring for a therapy horse and will also ride the horse. The goals include improving muscle strength and coordination and to make progress towards specific communication goals.
This beautiful video, Walk On, highlights the mission and accomplishments of Charleston Area Therapeutic Riding. Their efforts are improving the health and well-being of children and we are pleased to partner in this endeavor.
Best Buddies of Maryland
Baltimore, Maryland
Best Buddies International is dedicated to establishing a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment, leadership development, and inclusive living for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Best Buddies is active in each of the 50 United States and in 47 countries and territories worldwide.
Phillips Charitable Foundation awarded a $5,000 grant to Best Buddies of Maryland, a statewide division of this international program. The grant is for the Anne Arundel County School Friendship and Leadership Development programs. This is a program focused on building mutually enriching friendships between students with IDD and students without IDD. Their Leadership Development programs help students with and without IDD focus on speech writing, advocacy, and public speaking.
The $5,000 grant will help support 12 existing chapters in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, along with opening two new elementary school chapters throughout the 2022-2023 academic year. It’s often challenging for students with IDD to make friends. This program solves that problem while also adding a little joy into the days of so many students.
Farming 4 Hunger
Hughesville, Maryland
Farming 4 Hunger was founded in 2012 to serve those in need of fresh food in Southern Maryland. The organization grows and distributes over a million pounds of locally grown, fresh food each year. They’ve partnered with local farms, churches, local businesses and schools, the Maryland Food Bank, the Department of Corrections, and many volunteers. It is their many creative partnerships that caught our attention.
An $8,050 grant was provided to Farming 4 Hunger to purchase farm equipment. The equipment will be helpful in many ways including for the 2nd Chances program. Partnering with the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services and with The Calvert County Drug court, they help incarcerated men gain a skillset in the farming industry. This provides the men with the confidence and training they need to get a job and start a new life once they’re released. Without employment opportunities and the funds to purchase bare necessities such as housing, food, or clothing, successful reentry into society seems nearly impossible for former prisoners. Farming 4 Hunger is doing their part to solve this problem for the men they serve.
Hope to Home
Isle of Palms, South Carolina
Hope to Home provides basic home furnishings to individuals and families in their community who are coming out of distressed situations and striving towards a new life on purpose. Recently displaced families and women and children escaping domestic violence are typical recipients. New and gently used furniture and other home furnishing needs are collected from individuals, hotels, corporations, and other sources. These items are then kept in a warehouse until a community social service partner identifies and refers individuals and families in need. Needed furnishings are then delivered.
At this point in time, Hope to Home is an all-volunteer organization. On their website they describe themselves as a community of volunteers answering the simple call to help those in need. It’s clear that they are having a significant impact on many lives.
A $10,000 grant was awarded to Hope to Home for general operating costs. An empty house doesn’t feel much like a home. Hope to Home solves this problem through their all-volunteer efforts. Items that are no longer needed by one family or business are often exactly what another family in need desires. We enjoyed learning about their operations and are delighted to have them join our grantee family.
We’re continually inspired by the life changing difference that so many nonprofits are making each and every day. We’re especially proud of these four new grantees, each playing an important role in solving problems and building healthy communities.
