ISSUED: 26 January 2017
MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Owens
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — Regional nonprofits and Shepherd University groups addressing critical community needs are invited to submit letters of inquiry to Women Investing in Shepherd (WISH) for the group’s 2017 grant awards.
WISH will award four equal grants of $25,625–two for local nonprofits and two for Shepherd University learning projects. Qualifying nonprofit organizations must be designated as 501(c)(3) public charities located in Jefferson, Berkeley, Morgan, and Hampshire counties; Loudoun, Frederick, and Clarke counties in Virginia; and Frederick and Washington counties in Maryland. Organizations and groups affiliated with Shepherd must be university sanctioned. Applicants submitting an inquiry by March 1 will be notified about eligibility to submit a formal grant proposal.
In 2016, WISH awarded four grants totaling $82,500 collectively to community nonprofits Horses with Hearts and Shenandoah Women’s Center and Shepherd learning projects Gateway Academy and the robotics program. In the grant program’s 2015 inaugural year, two grants totaling $52,500 collectively were awarded to community nonprofit Panhandle Home Health Inc.’s Advanced Wound Care Initiative and Shepherd learning project Seeding Your Future, the STEM project for middle school girls.
WISH, a women’s giving circle made up of both alumnae and community members, was established in 2014 by the Shepherd University Foundation and a volunteer steering committee from Women for Shepherd University. WISH was created to educate, engage and empower women to achieve their philanthropic goals.
For information about how to submit a letter of inquiry, go to shepherduniversityfoundation.org/get-involved/women-for-su/women-investing-in-shepherd/apply-for-grants/. For more information about the organization, contact Monica Lingenfelter, executive vice president, 304-876-5397, mlingenf@shepherd.edu or Meg Peterson, account and project manager, 304-876-5021, mpeterso@shepherd.edu.
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