The money is sitting there. It’s just waiting for someone to ask it out.
One of the many groups that have benefited from Marketplace grants is the South Baltimore Little League. Photo by Bill Lear
It’s not just going once. It’s gone for good. This is the last year the grants will be offered.
The grant provides $10,000 a year to organizations that offer services to the South Baltimore Peninsula.
The grant’s history goes back to 1992, when the developers of the Southside Marketplace agreed that the shopping center would make payments to benefit the community for 20 years.
At the time, two decades seemed pretty far off. Now? Not so much.
“It is hard to believe that is has been 20 years,” says David Hirst, who has been involved with the program since the year 2000.
The disbursement of funds to the community is managed by a committee of representatives from six neighborhood associations: Locust Point Civic Association, Federal Hill South Neighborhood Association, Federal Hill Neighborhood Association, Riverside Action Group, Sharp-Leadenhall Planning Committee and the South Baltimore Improvement Committee.
The committee typically reviews applications in February and distributes checks in March.
Because the announcement for applications goes out just before the busy holiday season, however, and because the deadline is soon after the new year begins, Hirst is worried communities have forgotten.
“Requests have been few,” he notes. “I have received three or four applications with a few more outstanding.”
Hear that, South Baltimore? The time to apply is now, and the chances have never been stronger.
Hirst noted that the committee typically gets several dozen applications each year. The average grant award size is $500.
Among organizations that have received funds in the past are scouting groups (Brownies, Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts), South Baltimore Emergency Relief (SOBER), the Allen Center for senior citizens, churches that offer services to the general public, recreation centers and the South Baltimore Little League.
The grant application is available by contacting Hirst (information below). The application can be sent to organizations by e-mail, mail, or, if occasionally, it can be dropped by a members’ home or office.
The application is one page long. Hirst says it is much more user-friendly than many grant applications, requiring only organizational information and contacts, a brief description of the project, and an amount of funding requested.
The grant committee looks for information like the age group(s) that the program will benefit, how many people the grant money can potentially serve and what, if any, other funding an organization gets or is eligible for.
Note: For a Southside Marketplace Grant application, contact Dave Hirst at hirsthaven@verizon.net or 410-986-0371. Deadline is Tuesday, January 31.
by Mary Helen Sprecher
newsroom@baltimoreguide.com
