3 organizations receive collective $1M from SECU MD Foundation
Three organizations serving Marylanders are receiving a collective $1 million from SECU MD Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Maryland’s largest state-chartered credit union announced Nov. 10.
Morgan State University, Sinai Hospital of Baltimore and the Maryland Food Bank will receive community impact grants over five years in memory of Donald Tynes Sr., SECU’s longest-serving board member. Tynes, who died in March, was a Randallstown resident. He joined SECU’s board in 1975.
Becky Smith, president of the SECU MD Foundation and executive vice president and chief strategy and growth officer for SECU, said in a news release that the foundation spent the past few months determining where the $1 million in grants could have the biggest impact. “We’re honored to not only benefit organizations that share our vision in helping others but also areas of service that were important to Donald, who was actively involved in giving back to his local community,” Smith said in the release.
The dollar amounts for each organization have not yet been set, said Sarah Ryan, SECU Maryland’s assistant vice president of community engagement, in a statement.
The Maryland Food Bank will use the money to support its food bank trucks and the Pantry on the Go program, which brings fresh produce and food to underserved communities, Ryan said. At Sinai Hospital, the grant will go toward creating a “healing setting” for patients at the hospital’s new cancer center, where construction will begin in April. Morgan State will create an endowment fund in Tynes’ honor to benefit the Fine Arts Department and the university’s choir.
The three nonprofit grants are the first in honor of a “notable individual,” the foundation said in a news release issued Nov. 14.