United Way Awards $244K in Grants to Montgomery County Nonprofits

Interfaith Works, Community Ministries of Rockville and 21 others received grants.

Giving Tuesday: A Chance to Give Back During the Holiday Season

Several Rockville-area nonprofits are among the partners encouraging Americans to find a way to help others.

Will donating to charity ever be as popular as shopping during the holiday season? A partnership of nonprofits hopes so. Coming on the heels of Black Friday and Cyber Monday—days devoted to consumerism—Giving Tuesday, observed Nov. 27, hopes "to create a national day of giving at the start of the annual holiday season," according to the campaign's website. "It celebrates and encourages charitable activities that support nonprofit organizations." See the bottom of this page for links to Rockville-area nonprofits partnering in the effort, including: The effort includes the Twitter hashtag #GivingTuesday, designed to help spread the word. What do you think? Can a social media push get people giving more of their money and time to charities …

• Photos (1)
• Videos (1)

Rockville Rotary Awards $78K in Grants to 13 Nonprofits

The club supports the city's recreation fund and 12 charities with its annual 8K run.

  The Rotary Club of Rockville awarded more than $78,000 in grants to 13 nonprofit organizations on Thursday as part of the club’s annual Charter Night. Rotarians raised $78,645 through the 2012 DARCARS Rockville Rotary Twilight Runfest in July. More than 2,000 runners participated in the 27th Twilight Runfest, which includes an 8K and a 1K “fun run” through Rockville Town Center. Co-sponsored by the City of Rockville and the Montgomery County Roadrunners Club, a total of $41,822 of the Runfest proceeds went to the City of Rockville Recreation Fund. The Rockville Rotary Club Foundation awarded the rest of the proceeds through grants to local and international nonprofits that provide for human needs, youth activities and cultural enrichment…

• Photos (1)

Waste Not, Want Not: Montgomery 'Food Recovery' Program May Be Next

Montgomery County Council member Valerie Ervin said she was inspired by students at the University of Maryland who redistributed food that would be thrown away from sports events.

How many hungry people could government and community programs feed if food that would otherwise be thrown away was redistributed to those who needed it? Montgomery County Councilwoman Valerie Ervin (D-Dist 5) of Silver Spring is hoping to find out. Ervin announced Friday that she wants to start a food recovery program in Montgomery County based on a model created by students at the University of Maryland, College Park. Ervin is scheduled to outline the county program at a news conference on Tuesday in Rockville. At Maryland, the Food Recovery Network collects unused food from special events, such as football games and alumni parties, and redistributes the food to hungry people. The group has donated more than 30,000 meals, according to a …

•  2 Comments
• Videos (1)

Rockville City Council Agenda: Signs, Fireside Park and Hearings on Ethics and Housing Aid

The quarterly finance report and votes on contracts for water dechlorination tablets and auto parts also are on deck.

  Public hearings on the city’s ethics ordinance and on city aid to nonprofits, the introduction of changes to the city’s sign ordinance and a discussion of a Rockville Housing Enterprises proposal to purchase Fireside Park Apartments are on the Rockville City Council's agenda for Monday.  The Council meets at 7 p.m. at City Hall. The meeting will be broadcast live on Rockville 11. Ethics ordinance hearing  The Council is scheduled to hold a public hearing on proposed changes that would bring the city’s ethics ordinance in compliance with a new state law. The proposed changes include: The public record will remain open through Oct. 5. Send testimony to mayorcouncil@rockvillemd.gov or to Rockville City Hall, Office of the City Clerk, 111 …

• Photos (1)

Interfaith Works to Celebrate 40 Years with 'Fables & Tables'

Nonprofit's gala to include celebrity servers, commemorative soup bowl and a play.

  Interfaith Works will celebrate 40 years of serving the community next month with a “Fables & Tables” anniversary gala that will raise money for the Rockville-based nonprofit while reminding attendees of the needy in Montgomery County.  The gala will be held Oct. 11 at the Washington Hebrew Congregation’s Julia Bindeman Suburban Center, in Potomac. The low-key gathering “will be unique, family-oriented and promote community engagement,” according to a description on the event’s website. The “empty bowl”-style dinner will feature VIPs serving soups donated by local restaurants. Each attendee will receive a commemorative decorative bowl by a local artisan “to memorialize the many empty bowls that are in our community every night,” …

• Photos (2)

Maryland Comptroller to Volunteer at Manna Food Center on September 11

Comptroller Peter Franchot will volunteer at Gaithersburg's Manna Food Center to mark Sept. 11 and launch his "Economic Listening Tour."

Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot will make a special appearance as a volunteer at Gaithersburg's Manna Food Center on Tuesday to honor the memory of those who lost their lives in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Franchot's visit also kicks off his "Economic Listening Tour," according to a news release. As part of the tour, the comptroller will hear from Manna's staff and discuss the impact of the economic downturn on the services they provide. He will be joined Tuesday by Minerva Delgado, executive director of Manna Food Center, along with state and local elected officials. Franchot (D) will tour the state to hear directly from businesses, organizations and individuals about economic conditions.

• Photos (2)

Rockville Rewards Refocuses on Building Community

Sales of discount cards that help nonprofits will be discounted on Tuesday.

  Rockville Rewards is ready for its relaunch.  Hatched as part of a “buy local” campaign by Rockville Economic Development Inc. and honed by the Rockville Chamber of Commerce, the discount card program now offers more discounts with more nonprofit partners benefitting from the cards’ sales than ever before. It’s also renewing its emphasis on its benefits to both the business and nonprofit community by promoting this year’s cards with a kickoff promotion on Tuesday. “I always wanted to develop a community around the card,” said Andrea Jolly, the chamber’s executive director. Twenty-three businesses will be selling the cards for the discounted price of $15 at Rockville businesses from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Tuesday. Click here and here for …

• Photos (1)

County Seniors Program Seeks Grocery-Getters

Advocates: Demand for shoppers is big, but time commitment for volunteers is minimal.

  Homebound and on fixed incomes, facing a seemingly simple daily task like a trip to the grocery store can be a burden for senior citizens.  A county program that eases that burden and aims to allow seniors to live independently is in need of volunteers.  The Senior Connection’s volunteer grocery shoppers program matches individuals with senior citizens in their community who need a ride to the grocery store or need someone to shop for them, sometimes delivering and helping to put away groceries at the client's home.  A waiting list for the service had 43 potential clients at the begnning of August “and [is] growing every day,” Marcia Custer, community development director for the Wheaton-based Senior Connection, said in an email. Of the …

•  3 Comments
• Photos (1)

Sean R. Sedam

12:48 pm on Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Clarissa: Did you mean to post this here or below another article?   more ›

Maryland Ranks High in Charitable Giving

But other states rank higher. Does being a "blue state" have something to do with it?

  Maryland ranks 11th in the nation in terms of how much its residents donate of their discretionary income to charity, according to an analysis released Monday by the Chronicle of Philanthropy. Utah was listed as the top state, with residents on average giving 10.6 percent of their discretionary income to charity. In Maryland, people give on average 5.7 percent of discretionary income, according to the analysis, based on IRS records. The top five jurisdictions in the study for giving were: Utah; Washington, DC;  Mississippi; Alabama; and Tennessee. The Chronicle of Philanthropy also analyzed giving compared to a state’s political affiliation. Among its major findings: Those in predominantly conservative states that are known as deeply …

• Photos (1)