DCF AWARDS $55,344 IN SPECIFIC INTEREST GRANTS
This year the Delaware Community Foundation has awarded $55,344 in specific interest grants to 11 nonprofit organizations around the state.
Specific interest grants – created by donors to support issues they are particularly passionate about – focus on arts in Wilmington, long-term care, fulfillment of children’s wishes, and training and treatment of animals. This year’s recipients are:
Delaware Shakespeare – $2,500
To support free, high-quality Shakespeare performances to homeless shelters, prisons and community centers through Delaware Shakespeare’s Community Tour, which launched in 2016.
Market Street Music – $2,500
To fund artist fees for a series of free concerts that will increase the availability of music in Wilmington, for those for whom cost, transportation or access is prohibitive.
Urban Promise Wilmington – $2,000
To support Speak UP!, a contest that will encourage at-risk teens to practice their skills through writing and presenting an original speech to an audience of community leaders.
Grand Opera House, Inc. – $2,500
To support sensory-friendly performances that specifically cater to individuals with autism and other special needs.
Exceptional Care for Children – $6,943.69
To fund new bedside storage solutions to help prevent infection in the bedrooms of residents, who are medically fragile children 0-21 years old.
Arise Delaware – $10,000
To support the Embrace Program, which will provide respite services through monthly three-hour events with dinners, games and socialization for individuals and families affected by disabilities.
Colonial Chapter of the Paralyzed Veterans of America, Inc. – $3,000
To enable the Accessibility Needs Program to serve more disabled individuals in independent living with necessary aids such as ramps, wheelchairs and prosthetic devices.
Make-A-Wish Philadelphia, Delaware & Susquehanna Valley – $7,500
To enable more of Delaware’s critically ill children to receive wishes, which inspire and give hope to the children and their families.
Preston’s March for Energy – $7,000
To fund three adaptive bikes to children with developmental disabilities in need of fun, outdoor movement.
Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research – $5,000
To provide food, medicine and care for orphaned and oiled native birds, with the goal of returning them to their natural habitat after rehabilitation.
Faithful Friends Animal Society – $6,400
To support operation costs for the Free Pet Food & Supply crisis prevention program, which reduces pet relinquishment by providing owners with free pet food, supplies and education for preventative care.