Representatives from eighteen Mid-Shore non-profits will accept checks totaling $64,970 at the Women & Girls Fund’s 22nd Annual Grants & Awards Luncheon on April 28. That will bring the Fund’s overall grant total to $967,006 awarded to 118 distinct organizations whose programs benefit women and girls in one or more of the five Mid-Shore counties of Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s, and Talbot.
The grants will go to 6 new organizations and 12 non-profits that have been awarded Women & Girls Fund grants at least once before. New this year are: Allegro Academy; Building African American Minds; Chester Valley Ministers Association; Garfield Center for the Performing Arts; Hurlock Elementary School Girls on the Run; and, Tides of Grace.
Previous grant recipients receiving awards are: Aaron’s Place; Compass Hospice; Critchlow Adkins Children’s Centers; For All Seasons; Horizons of Kent and Queen Anne’s; Imagination Library of Talbot County; Mid-Shore Council on Family Violence; Open Doors Partners in Education; Pine Street Committee; Talbot Hospice; Talbot Interfaith Shelter; and, Tilghman Area Youth Association.
“The programs offered by our grant recipients focus on the significant issues facing women and girls,” said Allie Prell, Grants Committee chair. “From education to developing healthy relationships to supporting families in crisis, they have the potential to create a positive change in our community and we are proud to be able to support their efforts.”
In addition to bestowing the grants checks at the luncheon, the Women & Girls Fund Award and Sheryl V. Kerr Award will be presented to two extraordinary local women in recognition of their leadership, vision, integrity, and remarkable accomplishments benefitting Mid-Shore residents.
The Women & Girls Fund Award for 2025 will be presented to Kathy Deoudes, of Queenstown. A 30-year resident of Queen Anne’s County and past Board President of the Women & Girls Fund, she has demonstrated exceptional leadership through her professional career and extensive community service. In her professional capacity, her decade of service as a legislative aide to State Senator E.J. Pipkin contributed to bringing the Shore Health Queen Anne’s Emergency Center to the county in 2007. As the current Chair of the Board of Directors for UMMS/Shore Regional Health and through her volunteer work with numerous organizations, including the Mid-Shore Community Foundation and Compass Hospice, Deoudes has been a driving force in improving healthcare access and community development across the Mid-Shore.
The 2025 recipient of the Sheryl V. Kerr Award is Beth Anne Dorman, of St. Michaels, President & CEO of For All Seasons. Under her leadership since 2014, For All Seasons has grown from a $1.4M operation with 24 employees to a vital behavioral health agency and rape crisis center with a $10,000,000 budget and nearly 100 employees, with 60,000 services a year to 3,500 people. Her work establishing sexual assault response programs, developing mental health resources, and expanding access to mental health services has transformed the landscape of healthcare services on the Eastern Shore.
“Our award recipients are tireless advocates for Mid-Shore women and children through their professional careers and volunteer service. Our grant recipients address a wide variety of critical needs facing women and girls,” said Beth Spurry, president of the Women & Girls Fund Board of Directors. “We are pleased to bring our donors and friends together with this year’s recipients at the annual luncheon so they can see their dollars are going to real people doing great things.”
The Grants & Awards Luncheon will be held on Monday, April 28, 11:30am, at The Tidewater Inn Gold Room in Easton. Ticket price is $65 per person. The event is open to the public. Space limited. Registration deadline is April 14. To make a reservation or for more information, call 410-770-8347, email info@womenandgirlsfund.org or visit www.womenandgirlsfund.org.
