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- Group Forges a Link With Non-Profits
Group Forges a Link With Non-Profits
08/21/2008 - By Lindsey Robbins | Gazzette Staff Writer
Young businessmen raise awareness of non-profit organizations
Prince George's County, with more than 3,000 nonprofits, many with barely adequate budgets, and the lowest per capita nonprofit revenue in the region, could really use a hand in helping its community helpers, says a new group of businessmen.
Next Generation Prince George's formed this summer, hosting monthly gatherings at Gladys and Ron's Chicken and Waffles Restaurant in Largo to spotlight nonprofits and their concerns around the Greater Washington region and link them up with people interested in boosting their causes.
The group, comprising 10 businessmen ranging from 27 to 37 years old, pushes civic engagement. All of its members hail from Prince George's, with most actively involved in community organizations or with political aspirations.
"We're doing something good on our off-time, and an educated workforce is good for business development," said member Harmon L. "Monty" Cooper of Bowie. He said learning about the county's nonprofits inspired the group to start showcasing them.
Eighty percent of the county's nonprofits have annual budgets of less than $25,000, compared with the state average of 65 percent, according to a survey released by the Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations last year.
All told, the county's nonprofits took in revenues of $6.83 billion in 2005, which averages out to $8,124 per county resident; that's the lowest per capita figure in the Greater Washington region, according to the association's survey. The county government grants these nonprofits a total of $1.7 million annually, or $2 per capita.
"Most of these [nonprofits] are just mom and dad looking out the window and seeing kids in trouble and wanting to help," said Jerry Adams, executive director of the county's Human Services Commission. "They have no sophistication to get the word out. They're just passionate people trying to do something to help the community."
The county recently rejected the commission's $82,000 request to build an incubator for nonprofits, where they would learn skills such as writing better grant proposals.
"More people need to stand up and do what [Next Generation's] doing," said Kim Wieman, director of the Bowie Interfaith Pantry and Emergency Aid Fund, which has operated as a nonprofit for more than six years. The pantry, which provides food to more than 80 families — $700 worth of groceries leaves the pantry per hour during its service hours — was recently spotlighted by Next Generation Prince George's.
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