Strength in Legacy: The Karen Feldman Endowment Fund for Seeds 4 Success

The two most important things in the late Karen Feldman’s public life were children and education so it is  not surprising that she co-founded the Eastport-based Seeds 4 Success. The nonprofit, now in its 15^th year, is still going strong, helping to provide children from low-income communities with the skills and support needed to achieve success in school and life. And, thanks to Karen, and her husband Charles “Babe” Feldman, her legacy will continue to provide for the nonprofit through the Karen Feldman Endowment Fund for Seeds 4 Success at the Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County (CFAAC).

“Karen and I watched the Community Foundation’s generosity and admired what they were doing for the county and so many nonprofits. We talked about creating a fund at CFAAC for years, and as things got worse for her, we took comfort in knowing that establishing a fund would carry on Karen’s legacy.” said Babe.

The Endowment Fund will grow over time providing income for Seeds 4 Success programs and operations. Ensuring that Karen’s vision to  provide children from underserved communities in Annapolis with the tools to succeed will continue in perpetuity.

The nonprofit, co-founded by Karen and her friend Helena Hunter, grew out of a goal to resurrect the Eastport Girls Club, originally a church organization, said Babe, who explained that the process was very informal at first.

“Both Karen and Helena wanted to see if there was any interest, so they decided to grab a bunch of magazines and walkto the recreation center to meet with some of the kids. There was no formal organization; just two women who grabbed some snacks and  magazines to create vision boards with any girl who showed up,” he said. “Karen and Helena would go every week, eventually establishing a relationship of trust with the girls.”

Over time, other women joined them and the organization grew legs. Karen used her education background to help plan programming, tutoring, mentoring, organizing volunteers, and managing “the classroom.” As time went on, Karen took on the role of Development Chair, and eventually, became Vice President. In 2017, Feldman and Hunter were recognized as Volunteers of the Year at CFAAC’s annual Celebration of Philanthropy Awards event.

Just as the girls developed trust in Karen and Helena, trust is also something that the Feldman’s felt when they talked about opening their fund at CFAAC.

“The Community Foundation does a great job accepting managing, , and  distributing philanthropic dollarsfor the long-term benefit of  the organization for which the fund was established. They have the best reputation in the county,” said Babe. “CFAAC has strength of leadership and professional, competent administration of legacy funds. They’ve got the right people working full time for the betterment of all of the funds they manage. You don’t have to think about it. It’s done for you.”