Philanthropy : Featured Stories

Hard work. Talent. Unshakable will. Whatever form social change takes, we won't get there without them. Meet Amplify Baltimore founder April Yvonne Garrett, who has all three (and then some). She's putting them to work to make Baltimore a better place.

Entrepreneurs in Maryland can now build social good into their business plans thanks to the recently created "benefit corporation" designation.

Baltimore is known for many things, but the charitable spirit of its organizations and residents is one of the city's best kept secrets. Thousands of nonprofits with tens of thousands of employees offer a multitude of services that help improve the lives of Baltimore's citizens, its neigborhoods and the entire city.

It's a great week for pint-sized partiers and crab lovers. Center Stage will become Party Animal central with a carnival pre-show and rock-n-roll show. Baltimoreans (heck all of Maryland) loves blue crabs. To celebrate its first anniversary, the B&O American Brasserie is hosting its first annual Crab Bash. Seven chefs competing to create the best crab dish -- and it's all for a good cause! Sounds like a good time!

What do you get when you take a little philanthropy, some Shakespeare and Artscape, of course! Why, our picks of the week, of course!

Watchen Harris Bruce has only lived in Baltimore for a few years, but in that time she's started a non-profit to help those with mental illness find a place in the workforce and been appointed the Commissioner for Liberia to the Governor's Commission on African Affairs. And, as though that wasn't enough, she's the assistant vice president and community development advisor at PNC Bank. We managed to catch up with Bruce, though it wasn't easy keeping up with her.

When Bmore heard that Julian Bond, an icon of the Civil Rights Movement, was coming to Baltimore we jumped at the chance to ask him a few questions. So, after 50-plus years at the forefront of history, what does Bond have to say about the problems facing cities and how young people can get involved?

What do you get when you combine a natural disaster of historic proportions with a community of people anxious to help the best way they can? A new Baltimore-based organization with philanthropic plans for Haiti and Baltimore.