WASHINGTON, March 16, 2009 — The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region announced today that its Neighbors in Need Fund is awarding $455,000 in grants to 27 charities that provide essential services such as food, clothing, emergency financial assistance, and shelter to needy residents in Northern Virginia, Montgomery County, Prince George's County, MD, and the District of Columbia. Two additional grants totaling $40,000 will help community-based nonprofit organizations work more efficiently during and beyond these difficult economic times. The Neighbors in Need Fund is the only regionwide grantmaking program of its kind.
These grants are the first awarded since The Community Foundation established the Neighbors in Need Fund in late 2008. The Fund is a response to the economic crisis, the increasing numbers of area residents needing emergency assistance, and the inability of area nonprofits to meet the demand for their services.
“In times of crisis, we have to come together. The Neighbors in Need Fund is a demonstration of the caring and compassion in our community,” said Terri L. Freeman, President of The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region. “And we must continue to reach out and help those who have been hardest hit. The Neighbors in Need Fund is here to help.”
The World Bank provided a founding gift of $150,000, and additional contributions have been made by area individuals, families and foundations. Prior to these new grants, the Fund totaled more than $800,000, with a fundraising goal of at least $1 million. The Community Foundation will continue to fundraise in order to replenish and grow the Neighbors in Need Fund.
Neighbors in Need Fund grantees are selected through a competitive review process that is efficient, streamlined and rigorous. Applicants are selected by a diverse “giving committee” comprising representatives from the Washington region's philanthropic and nonprofit sectors. Final decisions are made by The Community Foundation's board of trustees.
With experts predicting a recession both long and deep, the Fund will support immediate and long-term needs. Some grants will continue to help food banks stock their shelves and shelters house more homeless people, and other grants will help strengthen the internal operations of nonprofit agencies throughout the Washington, DC region. “Almost by definition, nonprofits are fragile organizations,” Freeman continues, “and it's no more ‘business as usual.’ The Neighbors in Need Fund will help our nonprofits become stronger, smarter, more efficient, and open to greater collaboration so that they can weather this storm -- and future ones, too.”
