Growing New Hometown Heroes by Remembering our Past Ones
McCray Messenger
January 2017
Hometown Heroes Scholarship Fund
It started as a simple idea to remember the City of Baltimore’s local history and to help our students to afford a college education. But, it has become a robust scholarship fund that will benefit our local students on their journey to receive their college degree. Now the Hometown Heroes Scholarship Fund (HHSFund) has begun the process of selecting recipients of the scholarship money.
This past Fall, the scholarship fund organized and hosted a fundraising event and engaged in a successful fundraising drive. With over 200 individual donations, we were able to raise over $17,000. After expenses, our operating budget was just over $13,000. All told, in our first year of operation the HHSFund will proudly provide $10,000 in scholarship support, leaving $3,000 in the bank as seed money for next year’s fundraising event and fundraising activities.
We have decided to partner with experienced scholarship administrators in order to maximize the impact of our efforts. We have partnered with College Bound, who will administer three scholarships for $2,000 each. We have also partnered with Baltimore City Community College in order to provide $4,000 in “last dollar grants.”
The College Bound scholarship can be found here. Applicants must have verifiable community service, live and be a registered voter in the 45th legislative district, and submit an application essay.
I personally thank CEO Joseph Haskins for being our Keynote Speaker. I also thank our Sponsors – Council President Bernard “Jack” Young, CareFirst, Johns Hopkins University & Medicine, Councilman Brandon Scott, Laborers’ Union, Councilman Kristerfer Burnett, Sheriff John Anderson, Franks Pizza, Amy Macht and Forest City.
I would be remiss if I did not thank the Scholarship Fund Committee, whose dedicated service made this scholarship fund possible – Terrell Boston, Caron Brace, Travis Bullock, Rita Crews, Councilman Ryan Dorsey, Winette Downer, Antonio Glover, Patrick Gutierrez, Barbara Jackson, Michael King, Naon Locust, Stephanie Maddin Smith, Danielle McCray, Ronisha Moore, Councilman Brandon Scott, Tamika Winkler, and Calvin Young. Conversations with Cory
Every month during the legislative session, I host an event called Conversations with Cory to provide you with an update about our progress in Annapolis and to provide you with critical information about the things that affect our district. These events are an opportunity for me to engage with you and to help craft my legislative strategy. I look forward to seeing you, if you can attend.
The details for the Next Conversations with Cory event are:
Location: Rita Church Community Center
2010 St. Lo Drive
Baltimore, Maryland 21213
Date: January 28, 2017
Time: 10 a.m. until 12 p.m.
The guest speaker with be Baltimore City Schools CEO Dr. Santelises and we will focus our discussion on the 2017 legislative session.
Around the District
Myself, Councilman Brandon Scott, and Delegate Antonio Hayes hosted a karaoke toy drive from which we were able to donate toys to several communities. We were able to support the “Men and Family Center” in East Baltimore after coordinating with Leon Purnell. We were able to support Lanvale Towers in the Oliver Community after coordinating with Lynn “Dondrea” Ross. Finally, we were able to support the Madison Recreation Center, also in the Oliver Community after coordinating with Gary Crum and Kristen Allen. Hopefully this small act was able to have a large impact on the families living in our communities, and just in time for the holiday season.
I had the opportunity to tour Brehms Lane Elementary, which is now run by Afya Baltimore. After my visit with the new principal Diya Hafiz and the teachers, I look forward to the great work they will do for their students.
The AFL-CIO hosted a legislative conference at which I was able to speak on a bi-partisan panel about my legislative priorities for the 2017 legislative session. This was a great opportunity to begin to find common ground in preparation for the next legislative session.
I was also able to attend a three day conference for state legislators, located in Washington D.C., called the State Innovation Exchange. I was honored to sit on a panel with three other state legislators. We spoke to 60 new state legislators from across the country about how to hit the ground running and about why that is so critical to long-term legislative success.
Finally, for all of my work as your delegate, I am also a husband and father. The past several months my daughters have attended “The Carroll School of Dance” located in the Station North part of our district. I had a proud dad moment when I watched their dance recital and extra performance this past Sunday at Mondawmin Mall. Here is a short video of their performance.
This will be my last blog before the New Year. I wish you each a happy one and I hope you accomplish your dreams in 2017.
Cory McCray
Delegate, 45th Legislative District