The Women & Girls Fund of the Mid-Shore, the local grant-making organization that distributes about $40,000 each year to non-profits in the five Mid-Shore counties, has elected Paige Evans of Centreville to succeed Beth Spurry as board president.
In addition, Susie Dillon of Oxford and Margaret Welch of Easton have been named to the board of directors. Evans started out with the Fund as an intern when she was a student at Queen Anne’s County High School—her grandmother, Sara Jane Davidson, was a member of the Fund’s board—and she’s been volunteering for the organization ever since.
“I wrote thank-you notes and then started reading grant applications, even when I was in college in North Carolina,” Evans said. “And I became a $1,000 donor by committing $25 a month. I’m very proud to have completed my first pledge and plan to continue my regular donations. The ‘power of pooled resources’ is really building the endowment. ”
Evans says her belief in the goal of the Women & Girls Fund has been strong from the start. “I realized early on that the funds we were giving to underserved organizations truly benefited women and girls on the Mid-Shore.”
Estate planner Margaret Welch may be new to the Fund’s board, but she was at the meeting at Alice Ryan’s home ten years ago, when a group of women heard Ryan’s plan to pool donor dollars to support programs that benefit women and girls in the five county region.
“I wrote my check that day.” Welch recalled. “I’ve supported the Fund from the beginning, and now I’m able to serve on the board.”
Retired educator Susie Dillon says she’s supported the work of the Women & Girls Fund for years, and she’s known several women who have served on the board. “When I was asked to be on the board, I thought about the mission of the Fund and it spoke to me,” Dillon said. “I believe that when you improve the lives of women and girls, you improve the community.”
Board president Evans says her goal is to increase individual and corporate donations in a push to build the Fund’s endowment “to the million dollar mark.” The Women & Girls Fund endowment currently stands at $660,000, according to Evans, and a million dollar endowment will fund about $50,000 in grants annually for non-profits in Kent, Queen Anne’s, Talbot, Caroline and Dorchester Counties.
“I’ve seen families brought back together,” Evans explained. “I’ve seen young girls be intrigued by learning math and science and I’ve seen abused women and homeless women become empowered with the help of creative programs.”
Welch and Dillon are long-time professionals who share the Fund’s commitment to helping women and girls develop strengths and skills. “The Women & Girls Fund is about encouraging women to develop their resources so they can take care of themselves,” said Welch. “You see that in all the grants.”
A certified financial planner since 1985, Welch was named by the Financial Planning Association of the National Capital Area as the 2010 recipient of its Lifetime Achievement Award. She currently is a Managing Director of the financial planning firm Sullivan, Pruyette, Speros and Blayney-SBSB, Inc. Dillon, who moved to Oxford in 1981, served on the Talbot County Board of Education for ten years. She joined The Country School Upper School as an English and history teacher in 1989 and three years later was named Head of the Upper School, a position she held until retiring in 2005.
A current trustee and secretary of the board of The Gunston School, Dillon also serves as a volunteer for CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) an organization that assists Circuit Court Judges in their role as guardians of foster children. Her work as an educator and child advocate clearly guides her commitment to the mission of the Women & Girls Fund.
“When you support an organization that wants to empower women, you are improving the communities in which we all live,” Dillon said. “We are talking about women and children. When you give them a voice and allow them to capitalize on their strengths, you are giving them hope for the future.”
To learn more about the Women & Girls Fund, please visit the website at www.womenandgirlsfund.org.
..
Write a Letter to the Editor on this Article
We encourage readers to offer their point of view on this article by submitting the following form. Editing is sometimes necessary and is done at the discretion of the editorial staff.