Rural Maryland Council Announces FY 2018 Maryland Agricultural Education and Rural Development Assistance Fund (MAERDAF) Grant Recipients

September 5, 2017

PRESS RELEASE

The Maryland Agricultural Education and Rural Development Assistance Fund (MAERDAF) was established in 2000 to offer financial assistance to rural nonprofit organizations that promote statewide and regional planning, economic and community development, and agricultural and forestry education. In addition, MAERDAF offer grants to community colleges that support small and agricultural businesses. with enhanced training. and technical assistance. Between 2001 and 2017, the MAERDAF program has awarded more than 3.8 million in grants to 101 rural serving non profit organizations. During fiscal year 2018, a total of 119 applications were submitted with a total of $1,642.296.00 requested.

A total of 34 grants totaling $680,515.00 were distributed to 32 organizations:
• Allegany Health Right, Inc., $19,900.00
• Arundel Lodge, Inc., $29,951.00
• Atlantic General Hospital Corporation, $26,590.50
• Bay Area for Independent Living, $20,000.00
• Bay Community Support Services, Inc., $13,000.00
• Caroline County Council for the Arts, $13,000.00
• Chesapeake College Foundation, $9,469.00
• Chesterwye, $30,000.00
• Community Development Network, $30,000.00
• Eastern Shore Area Health Education Center,
$15,120.00
• End Hunger in Calvert County, Calvert Ca$h
$7,500.00
• End Hunger in Calvert County, $7,500.00
• Evergreen Heritage Center Foundation, Inc,
$9,625.00
• Farming 4 Hunger, $27,000.00
• Friends of the Grape, $30,000.00
•Garrett County Memorial Hospital, DBA Garrett
Regional Medical Center, $25,000.00
• Habitat for Humanity Choptank, $26,625.00
• Hagerstown Community College, $29,813.00
• Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area, $11,800.00
• Historic Sotterley, Inc, $27,580.96

• LEAD Maryland Foundation, Inc., $30,000.00
• Maryland Association of Soil Conservation
Districts, $3,400.00
• Maryland Forestry Foundation – Mel Fellowship
Program, $25,140.00
• Maryland Forestry Foundation, $22,600.00
• Mental Health Association of the Eastern Shore,
$12,552.00

• Philips Wharf Environmental, $22,100.00
• Preservation Maryland, $30,000.00
• Southern Maryland Resource Conservation &
Development Board, Inc., $10,000.00
• Susquehanna Workforce Network, $18,800.00
• Tri-County Council Foundation, $10,269.00
• Western Maryland Resource Conservation & Development
Council, $17,380.00
• Washington County Community Action Council,
Inc., $29,600.00
• Washington County Museum of Fine Arts,
$30,000.00
• Women Supporting Women, Inc., $9,200.00

Founded in 1994, the Rural Maryland Council operates under the direction of a 40 member executive board in a nonpartisan and nondiscriminatory manner.  It serves as the states federally designated rural development council and functions as a voice for rural Maryland, advocating for and helping rural communities and businesses across the state to flourish and to gain equity to its suburban and urban counterparts. The vision for RMC is the the ultimate realization that citizens living in rural communities are achieving success in education and employment, have access to affordable, quality health care and other vital public services, live in a an environment where natural and cultural resources are being sustained for future generations.

For more information, visit the RMC website: www.rural.maryland.gov