I am delighted to announce that Heather Moore has joined the MSCF family as our new Chief Financial Officer. The Board approved this new position at the Foundation to expand our services to our nonprofit partners and to our donor community. Heather comes to us from the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum where she served for 8 years of their chief financial officer. Her expertise and experience are a perfect fit for our needs at the Foundation and we look very forward to working with Heather in the years to come.

With Heather on our staff, our chief program officer, Robbin Hill, will be able to expand her support for our growing scholarship program and for our increasing number of funds at the Foundation. We are truly fortunate to have two experienced and committed individuals providing leadership and vision for our next generation of services at MSCF.

Stuart

CCM was established in 1985 by a group of chamber music lovers headed by the late Ralph Bloom to host the Eastern Shore Chamber Music Festival. The Festival began with a single concert and has grown to a two week event in early June, including eleven concerts in venues ranging from concert halls to waterside estates to churches and the Aspen Institute. Satellite concerts are now held in Chestertown and Queenstown. In addition, CCM also sponsors the Chesapeake Chamber Music Competition for young chamber ensembles from around the world in addition to other concerts and events throughout the year.

Chesapeake Chamber Music joins a growing list of nonprofits that have established an endowment fund at the Foundation. If your nonprofit is interested in establishing an endowment at MSCF, just give me a call or send me an email at sbounds@mscf.org.

Stuart

The shelter was established in 2008 and over the last two years 400 volunteers provided 690 bed nights and served 2,070 meals to 26 different individuals.

Talbot Interfaith Shelter has established both an endowment and an operating fund at the Foundation and we are delighted to have TIS as one of our nonprofit partners.

Stuart

You may not know that Lauren and Jon have made that space available at no cost to nonprofits for parties and fundraisers.  Lauren and Jon have been incredibly committed to this community and this is yet another example of that commitment.  For more information on the Gallery and use by nonprofits, contact Martha Ryan, Gallery Liaison, 410-819-0004.

Stuart

As we discussed this issue here at MSCF, we were looking for some way we could help address the needs of our veterans returning from combat.  Fortunately, Herbert Andrew helped connect us with two members of the Sons of the American Legion — Royce Ball and Marion Gannon  — who were already working to sponsor events for wounded veterans here on the Mid-Shore.

The Mid-Shore Wounded Veterans Fund has now been estabished at MSCF through the leadership of these three individuals.  A Committee has also been created to organize activities and raise funds in support of wounded veterans in the Mid-Shore region.  Yesterday, the Star Democrat featured the new fund and we have already had individuals indicate an interest in helping to support this important initiative.  You can find the full article in our pressroom on our home page.

We are very excited about this new fund.  We are  also hopeful that the community will support this fund and eventually establish an endowment to ensure ongoing support for our wounded veterans in the years to come.  These needs are going to grow significantly as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan wind down and veterans return to our community.  Let me know if you would like to learn more about this initiative or get involved in the program.

Stuart

CBMM is also going to take advantage of our flexible CGA program whereby MSCF will host CGA contracts designating CBMM as the beneficiary.    This service is available to any nonprofit with an organizational endowment at MSCF.

I am grateful to President Langley Shook and board chair Joe Peters for their commitment to the Mid-Shore Community Foundation.  We are confident that this new partnership will grow philanthropic support for CBMM and for the Mid-Shore community as a whole.

If you are not familiar with the work of CBMM, visit them on the web at www.cbmm.org , check out the Spring 2011 edition of The Chesapeake Log, and plan to visit the Museum to see a major retrospective exhibition highlighting the work of famed 19th -century marine artist James Edward Buttersworth which opens on Saturday, April 16, 2011.

Stuart

Brooke reviewed opportunities for subsidized health care coverage for nonprofits in Maryland.   That coverage is available for nonprofits with 2-9 tull-time employees earning an average yearly wage below $50,000 that have not offered health coverage to their employees in the previous 12 months.  For more information on the Health Insurance Partnership, contact http://mhcc.maryland.gov/partnership or call 410-764-3460.  In addition, Brooke explained the new Health Care Tax Credits if you cover at least 50% of your employees’ health insurance premiums, employ 25 or fewer full-time equivalent employees, and have employees that earn an average of $50,000 or less.  You can get these credits as a direct payment even if you are tax exempt.  For more information on the tax credits, visit the IRS website and search for “Form 8941″: www.irs.gov.

We also discussed the Calendar and Nonprofit Forum on the MSCF website.  There are regular entries on the Calendar but very little usage of the Nonprofit Forum.  It was the view of those present that a list of email addresses for nonprofit executive directors would be just as useful.  They also suggested that we eliminate the password control on the calendar.  We will look into both of these and let you know what we decide.  In the meantime, if you have any thoughts on these services, send me a note with your comments.

I announced that we expected to host one final workshop this year on May 19 at Chesapeake College.  The topic would be planned giving programs for nonprofits.   We will post more information on the website in the very near future. 

Lastly, Marcia Leach reviewed other training opportunities for nonprofits in the Chesapeake college non-credit course schedule.  The Foundation has established a fund to cover the fees for these couses for employees and volunteers of Mid-Shore nonprofits.  We will simply allocate funds on a first come, first serve basis to those nonprofits that request funding from the Foundation.   We will announce more detailed procedures shortly.

As you can see, there are a number of important, new opportunities for area nonprofits.  We will continue to explore ways to enhance our services and expand training opportunities.

Stuart

The program provides mentoring and scholarships for students  interested in careers in architecture, construction, and engineering beginning in the 9th grade.   Each year, teams from each of the high schools in Talbot County — Easton, St. Michaels, and Sts. Peter and Paul — make presentations on a project of their own choosing relecting all the components of the program (architecture, construction, and engineering).   The presentations were outstanding .  The keynote speaker for the breakfast, James Nemeth, principal of Sts. Peter and Paul High School, noted that the ACE program provides an  an added dimension to the classroom curriculum for these students.  Equally significant, students earn scholarships for their participation in the program.

Congratulations to the ACE Mentor Program for their work to foster interest in the critical fields of architecture, construction, and engineering.

Stuart Bounds

Susanne had previously interned with both the Mental Health Association of Talbot County and with CASA of Talbot County.   At MSCF, Susanne has worked on our new Pooled Scholarship Program and on a grant request to upgrade our technology infrastructure.    Susanne has taken the lead on both of these projects and has done a terrific job in her short time with us.

I have no doubt that Susanne will be a great asset to any nonprofit and we are fortunate and pleased to have her here at the Bullit House this spring.  Stop by and say hello to Susanne when you get a chance.

Stuart

Wayne recently retired from Choptank Community Health System after serving as its CEO for more than 30 years.  He oversaw the establishment of the first community health center in Goldsboro and then coordinated the merger with Fassett-Magee Community Health Center in 1998 to form Choptank Community Health System.

We are fortunate to have a respected citizen from Caroline join the board; he will be a great advocate for the needs of the county and his expertise in health care will also be a significant asset in our grantmaking.  MSCF will continue to expand representation on the board to reflect the five county community we serve.

Stuart