St. Michaels Community Center gains grant support

Helping neighbors in need throughout St. Michaels and surrounding communities just became less challenging for the St. Michaels Community Center through the financial support of several granting organizations and partners.
 
Supporting the St. Michaels Community Center’s food distribution services include recent grants from the Maryland Food Bank and the Easton Village Homeowners Association. Qlarant Foundation of Easton, Maryland provided its second grant to SMCC, this time in support of the Healthy Living Program. The Mid-Shore Community Foundation additionally provided a grant in support of the Community Center’s expanding programs. 

From left: Qlarant Foundation Board Vice Chair Amanda Neal, St. Michaels Community Center Executive Director Patrick Rofe, and Qlarant CEO Dr. Ron Forsythe, Jr. with a check for $10,000 supporting SMCC's Healthy Living program. 

​“Hunger remains a reality for many of our neighbors,” says SMCC Executive Director Patrick Rofe. “So, this support from the Maryland Food Bank and Easton Village’s HOA will help to lift our neighbors in need from a place of despair to a place of hope.” 

Rofe says SMCC’s Community Café & Pantry provides the equivalent of more than 2,200 nutritious meals to local individuals and families each week, with those served including many of the area’s aging and disabled, along with families in the workforce. The program receives limited support from St. Vincent de Paul of Easton and the Maryland Food Bank and is supplemented to meet the community’s needs through grants and private, tax-deductible donations.
 
Qlarant Foundation's award supports SMCC’S Healthy Living Program—a series of evidence-based, health education self-management classes covering chronic disease, diabetes, tobacco cessation, and healthy cooking. These classes strengthen underserved populations and improve health resiliency and outcomes.

“The St. Michaels Community Center conducted surveys in 2020 and 2022 to understand more about our community’s needs,” says Rofe. “Our programs are evolving in response to this feedback and give us more opportunities to build community partnerships like that with the Talbot County Health Department and the Healthy Living Program.
 
“We are working together to help address the root causes of hunger and healthy living, for example,” Rofe said. “Everything we do is in response to the needs of our community.”

The Mid-Shore Community Foundation’s donation supports SMCC’s activities and programs for children and adults, which include upcoming community block parties, a fatherhood program, and two fall culinary classes with Chesapeake College. Children’s programs will recommence when SMCC’s building renovations are completed in 2024. Other MSCF funders to SMCC’s programs include the Ferree Donor-Advised Fund, The Arthur H. Kudner, Jr. Fund, The Katra Donor Advised Fund, and The Reynolds/Cristiano Fund.
 
During the year-long renovation, SMCC is operating temporarily from office space generously donated by Christ Church, St. Michaels, and leased space at 207 N. Talbot St. where the Community Café & Pantry are open three days a week.
 
The St. Michaels Community Center’s mission is to serve, empower, and connect the community with year-round programs and activities for children, families, and adults. Tax deductible donations to SMCC and sales proceeds from its Treasure Cove Thrift Shop across the street on Railroad Ave. help the nonprofit provide year-round programs, services, and community events for residents of St. Michaels and the Bay Hundred area.
 
Architectural renderings of the St. Michaels Community Center’s renovated building and planned capital improvements, including information about how to support the campaign, can be found at www.stmichaelscc.org/homestretch.