Martinsburg based Berkeley County Meals on Wheels will benefit from a newly established endowment fund within the Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation.  Created through the vision of the Board of Directors of Kings Daughters Housing, Inc., the Berkeley County Meals on Wheels Endowment Fund will provide annual support in perpetuity to this local nonprofit organization.

With an army of volunteer drivers, a small but dedicated staff, the support of several community churches, and the kitchen facilities of Kings Daughters Court, Berkeley County Meals on Wheels has prepared and delivered more than one million hot, nutritious, low-cost noon time meals since its inception in 1971. Drivers deliver a meal daily to the home of anyone in Berkeley County who is home bound or for any reason is unable to prepare at least one balanced meal per day, regardless of his or her age, infirmity, race, or gender.

“Establishing this endowment fund is a wonderful way to support this remarkable organization and give back to the community,” stated Montie Hicks, President of Kings Daughters Housing, Inc. “We’re honored to be able to provide meaningful support to another local nonprofit that serves senior citizens and has a mission quite similar to ours.”

In addition to the Meals on Wheels endowment, Kings Daughter Housing, Inc. has established two other endowed funds at the Community Foundation. The Kings Daughter Charitable Funds will award annual grants totaling more than $60,000 to nonprofit organizations serving senior citizens in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. The mission of Kings Daughters Housing is “to provide elderly persons with housing facilities and services specifically designed to meet their physical, social and psychological needs, and to promote their health, security, happiness and usefulness in longer living” and the new endowments will continue to serve this mission by providing much needed funding to community-based nonprofit organizations with similar missions.

The Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation was established in 1995 and awards nearly $1 million in grants and scholarships annually. With more than 225 endowed funds and assets of just over $25 million EWVCF is one of the largest grantmaking organizations serving the Eastern Panhandle.

The Foundation is located at the historic Caperton Train Station at 229 East Martin Street, Suite 4, Martinsburg, WV 25401. For more information, visit the website www.EWVCF.org  or contact EWVCF Executive Director Michael Whalton at [email protected] or call 304-264-0353.

Community foundations number more than 800 across America and attract gifts and bequests to benefit local communities through everlasting endowment.

Susan and I were Christmas shopping in Shepherdstown on Saturday afternoon when we popped into the Sweet Shop Bakery for a cup of coffee. A young lady behind the counter had just finished serving an older gentleman when she realized that he’d mistakenly given her a tip of two new five dollar bills that were stuck together. She ran out onto rainy German Street to find the man and return the second five-dollar bill.

Susan and I commended her for her honesty and kindness when she came back into the shop. I thought she looked familiar, and said to Susan, “I think she may have gotten one of our scholarships.”  Never one to be shy, Susan said to her. “My husband thinks he knows you. Did you receive a scholarship from the Community Foundation?” The young lady smiled and said, “Yes, and he looked familiar to me, too.”

She introduced herself as Carly Holben and we immediately connected all the dots. Carly was the recipient a Dr. T.K. Oates Nursing Scholarship that was awarded by the Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation this year and she is enrolled at Shepherd University, studying to become a nurse. Susan and I had met Carly during the scholarship interviews in April and she left a lasting impression because of her intelligence, composure, and fine sense of humor. On her way to a performance of the Martinsburg High Good Times Show Choir, she had been dressed in jeans and a red t-shirt.

Carly just finished her first semester at Shepherd and has done very well with her studies. It was delightful catching up with her, and hearing about her success in school. The future of the world is bright and in good hands, with young, honest people like Carly stepping up to lead us into better times.

The Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation was one of more than 800 community foundations across America that celebrated Community Foundation Week, November 12-18, 2018. For 29 years, the effort has raised awareness about the increasingly important role of these philanthropic organizations in fostering local collaboration and innovation to address persistent civic and economic challenges.

In late November, the Foundation will award more than $37,000 in Mini Grants to Teachers from Berkeley, Jefferson and Morgan counties. At the same time, EWVCF is accepting grant applications from 501(C)(3) nonprofit organizations for a wide variety of charitable programs, ranging from healthcare to education; human welfare to youth programs; and housing to historic cemeteries.

Through an innovative collaboration between schools, businesses and charitable organizations, in 2019 EWVCF will provide high school seniors in the Berkeley County Leadership Academy with the opportunity to recommend a grant to a nonprofit organization serving the Eastern Panhandle.

The Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation is a local, independent, public 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that directs tax-exempt gifts from donors to endowed funds to support favorite charitable causes in the region. Founded in 1995, EWVCF awards nearly $1 million in grants and scholarships annually, and provides financial stewardship for $25 million held in 230 endowment funds.

Community foundations represent one of the fastest-growing forms of philanthropy. Every state in the US is home to at least one community foundation—large and small, urban and rural—working to advance solutions on a wide range of social issues locally and globally.

Community Foundation Week, created in 1989 by former president George H.W. Bush, recognizes the work of community foundations throughout America, and their collaborative approach to working with the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to address community problems. West Virginia has over 25 Community Foundations, which support everything from social services to youth programs, historic preservation to the environment, and education to animal advocacy. For more information about the Eastern West Virginia Community contact Executive Director Michael Whalton at (304) 264-0353 or visit www.EWVCF.org.

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