Easton, Maryland, May 2, 2017 –In response to recent press releases and efforts to expand capacity to help individuals and families in our community, The Chesapeake Multicultural Resource Center (ChesMRC) has been offered, through a gracious donor, a $15,000.00 Challenge Grant Opportunity.

ChesMRC is currently seeking $50,000.00 to expand its capacity by hiring a full time Hispanic Outreach Coordinator to manage and assist with the urgent demands they are currently facing.

Effective May 1, 2017 through June 30, 2017, every donation that comes in will be matched, dollar for dollar, up to $15,000.00. If the matching funds are raised, it will bring ChesMRC $30,000.00 closer to their $50,000.00 goal.

A recent letter sent out by Director, Matthew Peters, outlines the current challenges the organization is facing:  “In recent months, ChesMRC has been flooded with requests to assist more immigrant families than ever before in our history. The stories of our neighbors – some of whom we may know, while others we don’t know live in the shadows of our community – are poignant and troubling.”

“As I am sure you are aware, immigration issues have again come to the forefront of our national news cycle. At CheMRC, these issues are not bits from a news cycle, but intensely personal because they are experienced by the families we are trying to help. Think of Beatriz, a third-grader, being afraid to go to school for fear that her mom, Teresa, or her dad Javier, or both, will not be home when she returns. Or Mohammed and Nour, and their two children, Youssef and Fatima, hoping for access to qualified lawyers or anyone who can clearly define their legal rights and help them become an integral part of our community.”

“Fortunately for our neighbors, ChesMRC is regarded as the primary source of information and referrals in the Upper and Mid Shore Regions of Maryland, and our name recognition also draws in adults, children and families from Delaware to the Lower Shore.”

“However, our ability to provide the critical personal services to our friends and neighbors, known and unknown, comes with an overwhelming opportunity to meet the much higher demand for services than we imagined. Our small, dedicated staff is being pushed to its limits. We must meet this flood in our fortunes as a moral and social mandate to expand our services commensurate with pressing and overwhelming human needs.”

To donate online, please visit www.chesmrc.org/donate or donations can be mailed to:
Chesapeake Multicultural Resource Center
20 Bay Street
PO Box 1990,
Easton, Maryland 21601

Please note the match challenge with your donation 
For additional questions, please feel free to contact us at 443-786-1120 or email info@chesmrc.org 

Founded in November, 2012, The Chesapeake Multicultural Resource Center (ChesMRC) empowers people from different cultures to become successful and engaged members of our community by coordinating educational and informational programs. Since its inception, ChesMRC has provided services to more than 2,000 non-English speakers in Talbot and surrounding counties, involving over 4,000 separate requests for information and referral. For more information, please visit our website at www.chesmrc.org.