Employees of The Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation honored DonorsChoose.org, and 13 other nonprofit organizations working to make a difference in Baltimore City, Maryland, at their Employee Giving Luncheon on Tuesday, July 15th. The Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation has a cool way of involving their own employees in creative grantmaking. Once a year, The foundation encourages its employees to take a close look at the work being done by nonprofit organizations in Baltimore City, choose one making a meaningful impact on the community, and nominate the nonprofit of their choosing for a $10,000 grant.This year DonorsChoose.org was chosen by Amy Gross, Program Director of The Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation. Gross surprised the luncheon audience by announcing that each attendee would receive a DonorsChoose.org Giving Card so that they could help distribute the $10,000 employee giving grant among projects in their community.Gross said of her decision to share the gift of giving with attendees, “I was so excited to be able to have this opportunity to use my employee giving grant to share the ‘gift of giving’ with others. I felt great, everyone who received the gift certificates felt great receiving them, those that have redeemed them got to feel good again as a giver, and hopefully the teachers and students we help will also feel great! It’s a win-win.”Giving Card recipient Donn Weinberg, Vice President & Trustee of The Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, said of his DonorsChoose.org experience, “The whole idea behind DonorsChoose.org is great. I was able to review many teacher proposals for funding and choose which one I wanted to fund with a gift certificate given to me. If I want to go back and personally fund other proposals, I can do so at my convenience. I have suggested to a public school guidance counselor I know that she should look into adding her proposal to DonorsChoose.org.”On behalf of the 1,900 students who have already benefited from this philanthropic gift, a big THANK YOU goes out to The Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation and Amy Gross!
