Contributed Photo
St. Michaels, MD
Shore United Bank is helping to serve local children and adults with an investment of $10,000 supporting the St. Michaels Community Center’s capital campaign to renovate its aged building at 103 Railroad Ave. The renovations began in late 2022 and are on schedule to be completed by the end of 2023.
“At Shore United Bank, we’re more than just bankers, we’re bankers who care,” said Shore United Bank Vice President, Branch Manager Parker Spurry. “Investing in the St. Michaels Community Center’s renovations and giving back in this way can make a lasting impression on someone’s life and throughout our entire community. That’s very meaningful to us as a company and as individual bankers.”
The funding supports the Community Center’s total renovation of its World War II-era building that originally was a lumber warehouse. The renovated structure will include modern, well-equipped classrooms for after-school programs, summer camps, and adult education, along with a Technology Center to provide online classes offered by Chesapeake College and a home for a retail entrepreneurship training program.
“Shore United Bank’s support of our first-ever capital campaign is a gift that will keep on giving,” said SMCC Board Chair Langley Shook. “Their investment in these major renovations will serve generations of children and adults well beyond our lifetimes.
“My wife Karen and I have banked at Shore United and its predecessor for more than 35 years and we are delighted to have their community support along with our many other donors as we round our way to the finish line in fundraising.”
Shook says additional charitable donations and grants are needed to reach the project’s fundraising goal of $4.5M, which includes establishing an endowment fund to support the nonprofit’s growing operations.
“We anticipate doubling the number of people we serve after our programming in the new building is operational,” said SMCC Executive Director Patrick Rofe. “So, this investment will go a long way in impacting the lives of the children and adults we serve from Oak Creek Bridge down to Tilghman Island.”
Rofe says the renovated center also will help to meet the expanding needs for the Community Center’s food distribution services, which now provide more than 2,200 weekly meals through the nonprofit’s Community Café and pantry. A modern commercial kitchen will be used for a new Culinary Arts & Hospitality Workforce Development Program.
During the year-long renovation, SMCC is operating temporarily from office space generously donated by Christ Church, St. Michaels, and leased space at 207 N. Talbot St. where the Community Café and pantry are open three days a week.
The St. Michaels Community Center’s mission is to serve, empower, and connect the community with year-round programs and activities for children, families, and adults. Tax deductible donations to SMCC and sales proceeds from its Treasure Cove Thrift Shop across the street on Railroad Ave. help the nonprofit provide year-round programs, services, and community events for residents of St. Michaels and the Bay Hundred area.
Architectural renderings of the St. Michaels Community Center’s renovated building and planned capital improvements, including information about how to support the campaign, can be found at www.stmichaelscc.org/homestretch.
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