Grants, book donations, and annual scholarship total more than $135,000 for organizations and individuals across the Washington, DC, area

May 30, 2019 (WASHINGTON, DC) – The Junior League of Washington (JLW) announced that it has awarded a total of $90,000 in major grant funding to Washington, DC, area nonprofit organizations, along with a number of other smaller denomination and short-term grants, to close out the League’s 2018-19 fiscal year. In addition, the League awarded its $10,000 Meg Graham…Celebrating Service and Scholarship award to Benjamin Banneker Academic High School Senior Erica Morse and announced 2019 poetry contest winners at its Annual Reception on Thursday, May 23.

“In our 106th year of service to Washington, DC, members of the Junior League of Washington focused our attention on living our values,” said JLW President Tycely Williams. “By strategically granting League funds, we are able to both provide organizations across DC the means to advance their own programming and to demonstrate our League’s continued and strong commitment to community and service. We are excited to see what grantees are able to achieve with these funds.”

Grant Recipients

To further JLW’s mission, while providing much needed services to some of the areas most underserved communities in the metro DC region, JLW announced two Targeted Grants of $30,000 each and two Community Partner Grants of $15,000 each.

Targeted Grants are awarded to organizations that address one of several literacy concerns or where JLW volunteers provide service. Community Partner Grants are designated specifically for the League’s Community Partners. Recipients are:

• A one-year Targeted Grant of $30,000 to 826DC to support costs of its STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math) Integration initiative;
• A one-year Targeted Grant of $30,000 to DC Scores to support DC Scores’ Literacy in Action programming;
• A Community Partner Grant of $15,000 to N Street Village to support costs to implement a financial counseling program and provide training to volunteers; and
• A Community Partner Grant of $15,000 to Bright Beginnings to support their Therapeutic Services Program in expanding to address trauma and social/emotional distress in advance of entering kindergarten.

In addition to these Targeted and Community Partner Grants, over the last year JLW provided five $1,000 Opportunity Grants, which are awarded to nonprofit organizations for short-term projects or smaller-denomination financial needs related to their respective missions and/or operations:

• Imagination Library to fund the purchase of books for distribution to low-income children to help them build a home library;
• Suited for Change (SFC) to support the purchase of a laptop and Microsoft Office software that clients will be able to access to edit their resumes and cover letters at SFC office with the assistance of highly skilled volunteers;
• Little Lights Urban Ministries to fund the purchase of supplies, particularly books and other learning material, for Summer Lights, which is a five-week summer day camp;
• New Futures to support scholar transportation vouchers so scholars can access their community college courses and New Futures programming, such as workshops and advising appointments; and
• The Child and Family Network Centers to fund the purchase of books for children to build their first home library.

JLW also provided $4,400 to current Community Partners to help them address short-term funding needs that arose during the last year. These Community Grants, or “Fridge Funds,” were granted to Community Family Life Services, New Endeavors for Women, Lee Fendall House, Carlyle House, and Mount Vernon.

These organizations join a long list of DC-area organizations that have received and benefited from JLW grant funding and volunteer support over the organization’s 106-year history.

Meg Graham…Celebrating Service and Scholarship

Each year, JLW awards one high school senior from the District of Columbia a $10,000 scholarship distributed over four years in the memory of the late Reverend Margaret M. Graham, former president of the Association of Junior Leagues International and former member of the JLW.

This year, Benjamin Banneker Academic High School Senior Erica Morse set herself apart, maintaining a near-perfect GPA and a strong commitment to voluntarism, all while participating in many extracurricular activities, including track and field, College Bound, and student government. While DCPS requires 100 hours of community service as a graduation requirement, Morse has completed more than 270 hours, volunteering with the Wealth Factory at 1776, Higher Achievement, the Sacred Heart Dinner Program, and the Center for Sickle Cell Disease at Howard University.

Resolution Read

Over the last year, JLW provided 20 local organizations with nearly 6,000 new books – approximately $26,000 worth of book grants – as part of its Resolution Read Initiative. JLW is making a lasting impact in the Washington, DC, community by fostering a passion for books and reading where it otherwise may not exist through Resolution Read, and has placed more than 130,000 books in the hands of DC children at home, in their schools, in libraries, and through other nonprofit organizations since 2012.

Poetry Contest

The League recognized the winners of its annual youth poetry contest, held for DC public and charter school students in grades four through eight. This year’s winners are: fourth grader Indya Edwards from Tyler Elementary; fifth grader CJ Dunlop from Washington Yu Ying PCS; sixth grader Morgan Hubbard from Alice Deal Middle School; seventh grader Ladawn Banks from Kramer Middle School; and eighth grader Nasir Prince from Charles Hart Middle School.

JLW grants and student opportunities like the poetry contest are supported by JLW’s annual fundraisers, JLW membership dues, and donations from corporate and individual donors. To learn more about supporting JLW, please visit www.jlw.org/supportjlw.