Carroll: The County that Keeps on Giving

Written By Kimberly Liddick-Byrnes

Last year the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life events in Carroll County raised $443,000 to help battle cancer.

In the same year, the Carroll County Arts Council’s Festival of Wreaths raised $27,000 to help promote the arts in the county.

And Tails of Hope brought in just under $150,000 to help rescue animals.

This year, the Carroll Hospital Center Foundation received $1.75 million in gifts to provide health care to county residents, and the Shephard’s Staff received just under $200,000 to help those in need.

That is a total of $2.37 million in less than two years, but it is just the tip of the iceberg. With a population of more than 170,000, Carroll County is home to 528 nonprofits, 438 of which are 501(c)(3) organizations. Fifteen of those 501(c)(3)s have an annual income of more than $5 million.

There is no doubt that Carroll Countians are generous contributors to community causes.

In terms of income, Carroll County is average when compared to surrounding counties. According to the Census Bureau, in 2004, Carroll County’s median income was $69,000. Frederick County, Harford County, Charles County, Queen Anne’s County and Anne Arundel County also showed a median income level falling between $64,000 and $74,000.

The Urban Institute/National Center for Charitable Statistics reports that in 2004 (the latest year that data was available), Carroll Countians gave a greater proportion of their the average adjusted incomes than people in Frederick County (2.2 percent as opposed to 2.14 percent), but less than those in Howard, Harford or Baltimore Counties (2.37, 2.48 and 3.32 percent, respectively).

But giving goes beyond donating money. In fact, Audrey Cimino, Executive Director of the Community Foundation of Carroll County, said that donating time and skills is just as important as giving dollars. In managing more than 150 funds, the Community Foundation allocates more than $4 million.

“All of these [nonprofit] organizations have boards of directors that need accountants and lawyers and other professionals who contribute their skills and expertise. That donation of time and expertise saves the organization a fortune,” Cimino said.

For example, the 4-H Therapeutic Riding Program offers individuals with disabilities the opportunity to experience therapeutic horseback riding in a safe atmosphere, with trained professionals.

The program, which has been operating in Carroll County for 30 years, is run entirely by volunteers. They pay people to care for the horses, but the riding instructors, therapists, and horse handlers are all volunteers. Each fall and spring, up to 50 riders are served, using seven horses, assisted by 50 volunteers. Volunteers donate more than 1300 hours of service during each session.

Many organizations simply could not exist without volunteers who give their time and skills.

Caroline Babylon is a lifelong resident of Carroll County. In fact, her family’s roots in the county can be traced back to 1774. An avid volunteer herself, Babylon believes that it is every citizen’s duty to give back what they can, whether it’s time, in-kind gifts or dollars.

“The roots of Carroll County run deep, said Babylon. “This county is and always has been made up of people who believe in participating. They don’t want to sit around and wait for the government to fix problems.”

Carroll County does receive state funding for social services and the county administration expects to spend $8.8 million on citizen services in 2009. Additionally, the County will dole out another $8.5 million in grant money (received primarily from outside sources, including federal and state funding) for local nonprofits. But many organizations do not receive, nor do they solicit, county or state funding, relying solely on the good will of the community at large.

Giving back to community causes was just a part of growing up in Carroll County Babylon said. She remembers her father working to raise money for new uniforms for the Westminster High School band.
“This was when the high school was located in what is now East Middle and I was just in elementary school,”said Babylon. “I remember standing at the gate of the football game holding a donation canister asking people to give money for new band uniforms.”

The nonprofit landscape continues to flourish in Carroll County because when someone sees a need, they work to address it. They do not wait for someone else to do it, or for the county or state to address it.

It was that community spirit that led to the building of the Carroll Hospital Center in the late 1960’s. A group of citizens worked to get necessary studies completed and to find funding to make the dream a reality for what was then still a very rural suburb.

Babylon said that those community leaders in the late 1960s had the foresight to lay the groundwork for what is today an expansive health care facility. They made the decision when planning the original facility (and when finding dollars to fund it) to build a foundation that would allow the hospital to grow over the years.

Ellen Finnerty Myers, vice president of development for the Carroll Hospital Center Foundation, said that people tend to give to causes that are tied to their lives. For example, someone who lost a loved one to cancer might be more inclined to donate to cancer related causes, or someone who is environmentally conscious might donate to eco-friendly causes.

But, she added, “Carroll Countians have a lot of civic pride, they understand the importance of giving back. They want to leave a legacy. People are generous and they do give back.”

Jeff Castonguay has chaired the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life of the Westminster area for the past three years. A unique event, the Relay brings together thousands of people and raises hundreds of thousands of dollars in an effort to provide both support for those battling cancer, and funding for research. Castonguay said that he donates an estimated 900 hours each year in chairing this event, and does it because he is a cancer survivor himself.

“I was diagnosed with cancer when I was 31 and family and friends walked in my honor in an American Cancer Society Relay event.” he said. “I got involved in the local relay and had the enthusiasm and drive to end up in a leadership position,”

During Castonguay’s time as the event chair or co-chair, the Westminster Relay for Life has raised more than $500,000. This year’s event alone has already raised more than $175,000 and brought together more than 1,000 participants.

Finnerty Myers of the Hospital Center Foundation said that the Carroll County nonprofit sector is unique because the organizations generally work to support each other. She said that executive directors talk to each other regularly and keep up on what other nonprofits are doing so that they can maximize impacts and avoid duplicating efforts and conflicting events.

Toward that goal, Cimino said, there is even a Community Services Council in Carroll County, which functions like a chamber of commerce. The council, which meets monthly, allows those involved in the nonprofit sector to discuss concerns, share information and often listen to guest speakers who add an educational component.

According to the Giving USA Foundation’s 2006 annual report, even in times of recession from 1966 through 2006, Americans continue to donate money. The donation rate slows, but people continue to give. And the pattern appears to be mirrored in Carroll County.

Cimino said that the current economic situation is a concern, but while she has not seen donor dollars lessen at this point, it is increasingly difficult to get operating money.

Nonprofits in Carroll County face other problems as well. Cimino referred to the “graying of the boards,” which means that younger people tend not to serve on boards of directors. She believes that a large percentage of Carroll Countians commute long distances to work, which gives them less time to serve. She also suggested that people in their 20s, 30s and 40s are busy going to school, starting families and starting careers, which also leaves little time for volunteering.

“Kids are required to complete community service in order to graduate from high school, and then they go off to college and try to establish their own lives and families and careers,” said Cimino, “and it’s not until later that they return to community service. We have a large age gap in many of our boards, which is a concern because we will be in trouble down the line when our current volunteers cannot give any more.”

Carroll Countians have a history of giving. It has sometimes been a matter of survival. As a rural county, members of the community have always had to work together, whether it was to build a barn for a neighboring farmer, put food on the table of a family whose fathers and sons went to war, or provide shelter for a family who was hit hard by a recession. The community has traditionally stepped up and help friends and neighbors. Carroll County families who have lived here for generations believe in getting the job done instead of waiting for someone to rescue them.