Sen. Ben Cardin Helps Local Non-Profits Find Grants (Video)
U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin stood before an audience of more than 200 representatives from Maryland non-profits Friday, Dec. 6, to thank them for their service and tell them he wants to help them reach more people and touch more lives.
Greg Cantori, President of Maryland Nonprofits talks with Sen. Ben Cardin prior to the non-profit grant workshop at the Johns Hopkins Montgomery County Campus.
“Congress has a weird way of saying thank you, but I thank you,” said Sen. Cardin, D-Md.
The event is the first of its kind and is a joint effort between the Maryland Governor’s Grants Office and the Maryland Associated of Non-Profits, and was designed to help non-profits find more ways to grow and give back to the communities they work in.
“We depend upon the nonprofit community,” said Sen. Cardin. “The government is their partner so we’re here today to see how we can work better together in order to accomplish our mutual goals in helping communities,” said Sen. Cardin.
Workshop topics included how to report spending, how to make sure funds are spent properly, and what to do in order to increase the chances of getting awarded funds year after year.
“It’s not very simple, as you can imagine because it has bureaucracy tied into it but they need to know what the sources are and whether or not they can actually use it for the programs that they’re looking for,” said Greg Cantori, President and CEO of Maryland Nonprofits.
For Sen. Cardin, the large turnout was encouraging.
Sen. Ben Cardin speaks during the non-profit grants workshop at the Johns Hopkins Montgomery County Campus.
“I’m very optimistic, to see the number of people who are here the organizations they represent, you can understand that they understand that government is changing, the partnership is changing and they want to know how they can better access a government partnership so they can do the work in the community that is so important to strengthening neighborhoods,” Sen. Cardin said.
And for some non-profits, Cantori said the extra tips and security comes at the right time.
“Because of the issues that we have in our government right now with sequestration and the delays in budgeting going on here is that our non-profit sector is in a wait and see mode so you can imagine if you perform this work and you don’t know if your paycheck is coming,” Cantori said. “That’s kind of what’s happening right now and it’s very uncertain and it’s very stressful for the non-profits.”
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