For more than 30 years, The Community Foundation of Frederick County has partnered with hundreds of generous individuals and families to help them achieve their philanthropic goals. But we have also partnered with local nonprofit organizations to create funds that help them achieve their mission.
In 1996, leaders at The Arc of Frederick County had the foresight to create an endowment fund with the Community Foundation that would provide a stream of funding to help the organization in its mission of serving individuals with developmental disabilities for generations to come.
“This fund is critical in allowing The Arc to share resources and information as well as connecting with families to help them plan for the care of their loved one with a disability,” said The Arc’s Executive Director Shauna Mulcahy. The Arc of Frederick County Betty Ann Ramsburg Endowment Fund has distributed an average of about $75,000 per year for the last five years to support The Arc’s futures and estate planning services for families and individuals. Planning for the future is important for every family, particularly for families who must plan for individuals receiving support services. Mulcahy said that the endowment fund helps ensure that the organization has the funds to provide these valuable services.
“We created it because while everyone thought helping parents plan for when they would no longer be around to care for their adult child with a disability was very important, it never made it to the top of their funding priorities,” Mulcahy explained.
Working with the Community Foundation to create an endowment added layers of protection and convenience. Mulcahy said that it was important for donors to know that they were partnering with a well-respected organization with a long history of fund management.
“Not managing it ourselves meant we did not have to worry about how to invest the money,” Mulcahy said. “And having oversight of the Community Foundation gave an extra layer of protection for use of the monies.”Over the years, individuals have also partnered with the Community Foundation to support those with developmental disabilities in the Frederick County community.
Thelma Barnes Duvall and her husband H.B. Duvall moved to Frederick County in 1944 and eventually started a partnership known as H.B. Duvall which operated until they sold their interest in 1991. Founded through Mrs. Duvall’s estate provisions, The H.B. and Thelma B. Duvall Fund for The Arc on Market has distributed more than $200,000 to support center-based employment services to persons with developmental disabilities.
Whether it’s building an endowment to support an organization’s mission or creating a fund to help a family achieve their philanthropic goals, the Community Foundation is honored to play an important role in these stories of giving and creating impact for generations to come.
*Published in The Frederick News Post on Jan. 3, 2023