Residents Look to Start Foundation to Support Non-Profit Projects

College Park could soon have a fund to support various community projects, possibly modeled after the neighboring Greenbelt Community Foundation, which has donated tens of thousands of dollars to various non-profit efforts in the past five years.

District 1 City Councilman Patrick Wojahn hosted a gathering last week to discuss the opportunity, and to learn from Sylvia Lewis, who helped found the Greenbelt Community Foundation (GCF) in 2006.

“I was very pleased … because what I heard at [the College Park] meeting was the same passion for the cause,” she witnessed during the start of the GCF, Lewis said.

Since its inception, the GCF has awarded grants from $500 to $5,000 to start various non-profit projects, or to help them progress to the next level, Lewis said. According to the GCF website, the group donated $78,000 to causes that include the farmers market, Greenbelt Elementary School sixth grade chorus and the 2009 Utopia Film Festival.

The effort in College Park is very much in the beginning stages.

“We haven’t set a goal yet,” Wojahn said. The next meeting is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 11, when Wojahn expects to discuss a vision statement, leadership and structure for the College Park Foundation.

Wojahn said the College Park Foundation would likely function as a donor designated fund within the Prince George’s Community Foundation, under the umbrella of the Community Foundation for the National Capital Region (CFNCR). Wojahn said that 1.1 percent of funds raised by the College Park Foundation would go toward administrative fees for the CFNCR.

This is how the GCF functions, and Lewis said she was pleased the College Park residents are considering the same structure, which regulates itself independent of the city.

“It really will relieve them of a lot of headaches,” Lewis said.

She said this has worked in favor of GCF for two reasons. First, the CFNCR manages and invests the money raised by GCF.

“It’s a huge responsibility but they have a great deal of experience,” Lewis said, adding that the GCF didn’t lose any money it invested despite the country’s economic turmoil.

Lewis said the second benefit of this structure is that the county’s foundation serves as another layer of oversight. This was particularly useful when the GCF selected an organization that it didn’t realize was not a 501c3, or tax-exempt charity, and thus not eligible for GCF funds.

Wojahn said the idea for a College Park Foundation sprung from an interest to raise additional funds for the annual , which is currently funded by the city and private sponsors.

If anyone is interested in getting involved with the effort, contact Wojahn at pwojahn@collegeparkmd.gov.