Our Blog

Get to know Tiffany Marini, Vice President of the Spruce Foundation, collector of vinyl, and advocate for giving back to Philly’s communities.

Get to know Maggie Mandich, our very own Secretary, a Grace Kelly fan, and five-year supporter of the Spruce Foundation, from starting out as a grant reviewer to now being on the Executive Committee.

Bill Leffler, Treasurer of the Delaware Valley Legacy Fund, talks to us about the the impact of legacy funds, the importance of advocacy and funding for Philadelphia’s LGBTQ+ community, opportunities for you to support DVLF and its mission, and more.

Originally posted on the Young Professionals Council’s website. Millennials have been unsurprisingly a demographic hit hard by the past year’s pandemic and economic slowdown. While budgets tightened, the act of giving did not disappear as a line item. In 2020, over 75% of individuals aged 25 to 34 (“millennials”) donated to friends, family, or nonprofits….

During our Q1 Spruce Council meeting we learned how Teach For America is “Catalyzing Leadership to make Educational Equity and Excellence a Reality” from our guest speaker Caitlin Wood Sklar, Managing Director – Corporate, Foundation and Public Partnerships at Teach for America – Philadelphia. She began by noting “America is not yet preparing all children…

Naima Murphy has always supported causes that are close to her. Growing up, she had two active role models in her parents, both of whom worked in spaces championing collective equality for Black people. Her dad was a civil rights lawyer while her mom was a social worker, and they demonstrated that everyone has a…

The Spruce Foundation is committed to incorporating diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) into every aspect of our organization. Over the summer, we shared our commitment to becoming an anti-racist organization and compiled a list of resources to learn more about anti-racism and a few local organizations who are doing incredible work in advancing equity.   We…

This fall, Spruce checked in with its 2020 Grantees to see how they were faring admist all the craziness of the past year—and I had the pleasure of checking in with the Spruce Foundation’s 2020 LGBTQ Grantee, Philadelphia Gay Men’s Chorus (“PGMC”).  PGMC entertains audiences, supports communities, and fosters acceptance through exceptional musical performance. They…

The Spruce Foundation awarded our 2020 Education grant to the WesGold Fellows program of the West Philadelphia Financial Services Institution (WPFSI). Their mission is “to engage the youth, positively impact disadvantaged populations, and increase financial literacy in families and communities throughout the City of Philadelphia.” We spoke with Abbie Briskin, one of four Program Coordinators…

Spells Writing Lab is one-of-a-kind. Founded in 2009, their mission is to develop the creative and expository writing abilities of school-age children through free, fun, and imaginative writing programs and teacher development opportunities. All programs are free and include classroom visits focused on creative writing, weekend writing workshops, a six-week summer day camp, after-school writing…