Helping Greenbelt Have A Strong Foundation
Grants Aim to Support 'Quality of Life'
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Thursday, June 4, 2009
Last year, the Greenbelt Community Foundation contributed $4,000 to help open a farmers market in the city's Roosevelt Center.
After a successful first year, the Greenbelt Farmers Market has received an additional $2,500 from the foundation to help pay for educational outreach, including a coordinator to design informative and educational programs for customers.
For the farmers market and other community-based groups, the Greenbelt Community Foundation has provided a strong base of support, particularly in today's weak economy.
Since it was launched in 2006, the foundation has awarded nearly $43,000 to organizations and cooperatives in Greenbelt, giving half of its donated funds as grants and investing the other half for the future.
"It's really a grass-roots kind of thing," said Emmett Jordan, the foundation's co-chairman. "We work with community organizations that may not be as sophisticated but have merit."
The Greenbelt foundation is part of the Prince George's Community Foundation, which are both under the umbrella of the Community Foundation of the National Capital Area. By affiliating with larger foundations, the Greenbelt group's funds are combined and invested with about 500 other community foundations' funds, totaling almost one-third of a billion dollars.
Over the past three years, the Greenbelt foundation has raised $125,000 from Greenbelt residents, business owners and government organizations, although the majority has come from Greenbelt residents who "want Greenbelt to succeed and want to get involved," Jordan said.
The foundation distributes awards twice a year -- about seven grants each period -- to nonprofit corporations, not-for-profit cooperative organizations, associations or groups that identify with a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Its mission is to "maintain, improve and enrich the quality of life in Greenbelt by promoting things like cooperation, citizen involvement, collaborative self-sufficiency and community participation," Jordan said.
"One of the things we feel strongly about is our mission statement and that we want to encourage new community initiatives," said foundation member Barbara Simon.
In addition to the farmers market, the foundation has awarded grants to help initiate free Wi-Fi at the New Deal Cafe, create the Greenbelt Museum's outreach video, send the Eleanor Roosevelt High School concert band to China and promote Springhill Lake Elementary School's after-school program, Camp Fire USA.
Rosemary Pezzuto, chief executive of Camp Fire USA Patuxent Area, said the $4,000 grant her organization received last year helped leverage other funding and pay for supplies, field trips, awards and staff stipends.
"Without the funds from the Greenbelt foundation, Camp Fire USA would not have had the resources to build and expand the program in Greenbelt," Pezzuto said. "The funds enabled us to be where we are today, ready to launch a full program that serves children, youths and families in West Greenbelt."
