Partners In Recognition Charitable Gift to Bridgeville Library

Bridgeville Library is the 2014 recipient of the Partners In Recognition Charitable Gift Fund and will receive $10,000.

The Morning Star Newspaper wrote:

It had been a lean couple of years at the Bridgeville LIbrary, so when Sally Souris Snell, of Partners of Recognition, told library officials that the institution had been selected to receive a $10,000 donation from the company, the staff and board of directors were elated.

Partners in Recognition is a Delaware company that specializes in plaques for institutions. The company’s work hangs in most of the area libraries as well as in Beebe Healthcare facilities and halls of fame and history walks all over the country.

“We really are a Delaware company.” Snell said. The company was conceived in Rehoboth Beach and had a special place in its heart for Delaware.

The company works with a lot of non-profits and, as a result, sees the struggles many of them have. According to Snell, when the Partners in Recognition begins to evaluate which of its customers will receive a grant, among the most prominent concerns is the amount of good the donation will do.

This year, unfortunately, Bridgeville Library had a pretty strong claim on need versus resources.

Ruth Gilefski, the secretary and treasurer of the library’s board of directors, said it had been a particularly tight two years.

The Apple Scrapple Festival is the library’s biggest fundraiser, and the board counts on the significant receipts of this regional even to provide a chunk of operational money each year. The last two Apple Scrapple Festivals, she said, have seen a diminished attendance because of bad weather.

Library Executive Director Karen Johnson said on top of that, recently the library had a scare when it looked as if the land on which held the annual carnival would be unavailable to them.

More recently, however, the institution got a bit of good fortune. Norfolk Southern reduced the lease on the festival property, making it possible for the library to count on that weather-dependent income, and the Sussex County Commissioners found a little extra funding for many of the area libraries. The family of Trudie Harris volunteer’s name, and another volunteer, Stanley Krozichousky provided stained glass windows for the institution.

It was during the preparations for getting all of these names on the plaque that the library’s need came to the attention of Snell, who nominated the Bridgeville Library for the Partners in Recognition grant.

Johnson said much of the money will go to maintenance to keep the building from falling into disrepair. It is the small maintenance issues that can become larger ones when funding gets scarce.

Part of the recognition programs is to highlight not only the good that donors do for the library, but also the need for community and corporate support. the Bridgeville Library has many different endowment opportunities and way to give. A gift of $2,000 qualifies a person, organization or memorial entry on the recognition plaque, but Johnson said there are other ways to give to the library.

The Bridgeville Library has an account at NetworkForGood.org as well as with the Delaware Community Foundation. For more information on giving opportunities, call Karen Johnson at 302-337-1401.