Jenifer Fedeli Living Classrooms 2020 Rising Star

Thanks for checking out my fundraising page, hon!  

I am overjoyed to be honored by Living Classrooms Foundation and the Baltimore Business Journal as a Rising Star, an award recognizing young leaders in our community for our outstanding achievements and philanthropic efforts. In accepting this distinction, I have committed to raising funds to help Living Classrooms fulfill its mission of providing hands-on education and job training to underserved youth and adults in the Baltimore and Washington, DC areas.  

I was born and raised in Maryland and have spent the majority of my life here. Growing up, my Father worked for Phillips Seafood which was located at the Inner Harbor at the time. Our family would spend every special occasion there. As a young girl, being at the restaurant, attending an Orioles game, field trips to the zoo, aquarium, or science center were always exciting because that meant we got to go “downtown”. In my twenties, I ventured out from the Fedeli nest and got my own place in Federal Hill. After a few years there, I moved across the harbor to Canton. I spent several years living in the city and experienced some epic events. My roommates and I survived Snowmageddon, enjoyed a Ravens Superbowl win, Orioles playoffs, and had our fair share of big beers at Cross Street Market. My adult years in Baltimore also led me to my boyfriend, Chad. 

In 2014 Chad’s job took us to Houston, Texas. People in Texas ALWAYS asked me questions about Baltimore. They would often compare the city to The Wire and asked me if “it was really like that there”. After I rolled my eyes, I would always try to share all of the lovely things about Baltimore, and how it truly is Charm City, but to the people who have never been here, they would never understand. Yes, there is some truth to the HBO series that portrayed stories of our city, but we are so much more. Baltimore is also a beautiful city on the waterfront with unique neighborhoods, amazing history, delicious cuisine, and fantastic people who make up a community I love so much called “Smalltimore”. 

In 2015, the social unrest from the death of Freddie Gray and the Baltimore protests was devastating for Chad and me to watch from afar in Houston. We decided that we needed to be back in our hometown, fighting for everything we believed in. We wanted to be home. In 2016, we purchased our first home together in Canton and have been here ever since. 

Being nominated as a Rising Star means a lot to me. It is giving me a chance to be more involved in my community and make a positive impact on its future. If I can in some way help this city become a better place and truly be the Greatest City in America (as our city benches proudly proclaim), then it was worth it for me. 

Please support me by making a contribution to Living Classrooms Foundation, a nonprofit that disrupts the cycle of poverty and makes our community safer, stronger, and healthier by meeting individuals where they are and building skills for life. Living Classrooms inspires children, youth, and adults to achieve their potential through hands-on education, workforce development, health and wellness, and violence prevention programming.   Living Classrooms has developed a distinctive competency in experiential learning – literally learning by direct experience – or “learning by doing.”  They utilize their environmental campuses, athletic fields, community centers, and historic ships as “living classrooms.”  

Due to COVID-19, many Living Classrooms program sites’ physical doors have been temporarily closed, and thus they do not currently have the revenue streams to support all their services and programs for the community. For the sites that remain open, Living Classrooms is continuing to provide essential services; from meal and hygiene distribution, regular wellness check-ins, access to unemployment resources and employment opportunities, to virtual learning, Living Classrooms is adapting and diligently working hard to pivot and adjust to the daily changes affecting Baltimore’s most vulnerable communities. Now, more than ever, Living Classrooms needs your support!  

You can support me by donating here on this page or mailing a check to: 

Living Classrooms Foundation, ATTN: Thara Taylor

1417 Thames Street, Baltimore, MD 21231

Include “Jenifer Fedeli, Rising Star” in the memo section.
 

Thank you in advance for your donation. Together, we can make a difference.  

Sincerely,  

Jenifer

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