Endowment Grants Information


​St. Margaret’s Church is blessed to have an endowment that generates income for providing grants to local, regional and global programs for specific use compatible with the mission priorities of the congregation. Thanks to the vision and foresight of the vestry and parishioners upon receipt of a generous unrestricted bequest from Edwin and Zoe Hall in 1995, with the vestry’s approval, the St. Margaret’s Grants Committee, made up of dedicated parishioners, will issue new grants this program year for the 19th time.
 
Our mission priorities are:

• Endow the poor and hungry with the means to feed, shelter and clothe themselves

           - particular consideration for opportunities that help others sustain themselves

• Restore the ill to health and heal the broken

           - consideration includes prevention of human brokenness and healing the broken

• Promote, preserve and sustain environmental health and good practices

           - primary considerations are sanitation, human health, sustainability and reduction of destructive and dangerous environments

• Improve access to educational opportunities;

          - consideration includes efforts that empower the powerless and enfranchise the disenfranchised                                                       
Past grants have ranged from $1,000 to $40,000 but the maximum award given is capped at $25,000 for a one year grant and $30,000 for a two year grant. The amount of funding awarded is determined by the Missions Commission. Each year the total amount of giving varies but has been as high as $145,000 and as low as $83,000. Applicants do not need to be faith-based or church-affiliated.

Guidelines including the timetable for the application process and the Grant Application will be available for downloading soon. 

Grants Committee Members 2018-2019 
Caroline Bontempo (2019) 
Karen Engelke (2019) 
Barbara Freidmann (2020) 
Charlie Grayston (2021) 
James Hanrahan (2021) 
Catherine Kelly (2020) 
Katie Leavy (2021) 
Casey Pingle (2019)-Chair 
Jim Reising (2021) 
Hutch Robbins (2020) 
Richard Schwappach (2021) 
Lyn Sloan (2020) 

New Grants Coordinator for 2019-20 is Christine Duray Feldmann.

2019 Grant Awardees: 
​
The St. Margaret's Vestry has unanimously accepted the recommendations of the St. Margaret’s Grants Committee for 2019 grants. 

Kenya Connect, Elkridge MD—$9,700 for extending the library program “The Village that Reads!” in rural Wamunyu, Kenya to 10 additional schools (increasing from the current 55 schools), adding 1,200 books to the existing 6,000 volume library and allowing 1,500 students and teachers to enroll in the program.

Charlie’s Place at St. Margaret’s Church, Washington DC—$7,600 supporting the breakfast program for homeless, and formerly homeless, incorporating health care, art therapy, bible study, and other programs for more than 450 people annually.

Siempre Unidos, Honduras—$10,200 funding for HIV education and testing for 2,000 more people and treatment for 80 newly identified patients.

Green-Valley—Sahuarita Samatarians, Arizona—$7,500 towards purchase of a replacement van for delivering humanitarian assistance to migrants in the ArizonaSonora borderlands.

Acts 4 Youth, Baltimore—$5,000 for the “Foundations” in-school resource program addressing healthy relationships, character, and emotional development of at risk 4th – 8th grade Baltimore City students.

Center of Help, Annapolis—$12,000 to hire a STEM teacher for middle and high school students in the after-school tutoring and enrichment program.

Strong City Baltimore, The Club at Collington Square—$10,000 to the inner city “Scholars” middle-school tutoring/mentoring program where 112 students safely study and get a hot meal 7 days a week.

Civic Works/ Real Food Farm, Baltimore—$2,000 for urban and educational farming that provides locally grown food, job training, nutritional education, and sustainable community-focused agriculture in low-income communities.

El Ayudante Missions, Honduras—$7,500 to refurbish donated computers for the use of the students in the EA Scholars Lab serving schools in 12 impoverished rural communities.

Annapolis Immigration Justice Network—$7,500 to the Legal Assistance Fund for immigrant families.

Connect Rwanda, Annapolis MD—$7,000 for technology and teacher training, including a teacher exchange program with teachers in Anne Arundel County, MD and the APACOPE comprehensive school (1,300 students) in Kigali, Rwanda.

Carpenter’s Shelter, Alexandria, VA—$5,000 for the immediate needs of approximately 650 homeless people a year with residential, day and winter shelter, education and employment services, health and mental health services and transition support for sustainable independence.