A Wider Circle
A Wider Circle is a 501(c)(3) charity whose mission is to help children and adults to lift themselves out of poverty. Each day, A Wider Circle provides basic need items to families transitioning out of shelters or simply living without life’s necessities. A Wider Circle also leads educational workshops on topics ranging from job skills and stress management to healthy nutrition and financial planning.
Since their inception A Wider Circle has focused on building an organization that addresses the whole person- with programs that not only tend to people’s tangible needs but also to their inner needs. It is a holistic model that they believe facilitates long-term change.
A Wider Circle has been named “one of the finest small charities Greater Washington has to offer” by the Catalogue for Philanthropy. The organization has also received the Washington Area Women’s Foundation Leadership Award. Its founder, Dr. Mark Bergel, has received the Greater DC Cares Essence of Leadership Award, the Community Foundation for National Capital Region’s Linowes Leadership Award, and the Andrea Jolly President’s Award from the Montgomery County Corporate Volunteer Council. In 2010, Dr. Bergel was also chosen as one of People Magazine and Major League Baseball’s “All Stars Among Us."
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Commonwealth Cares FoundationA Foundation for Community
Commonwealth Cares is a 501(c)(3) charity created to maximize the impact of our many and varied efforts to give back to the communities we work in, live in, and visit. This foundation is the natural next step in a long history of giving back that began with Commonwealth’s founder and Chairman, Joe Deitch, and his late wife Robbie. For more than three decades, they and others on our Executive Management team have lived our firm’s cultural values through their commitment to a diverse range of causes and organizations.
The Mission
Commonwealth Cares provides contributions of time, talent, and financial support to a wide range of philanthropic efforts aimed at relieving human suffering, promoting social and economic growth, and sustaining and protecting our planet’s resources.
Every Dollar Goes to Those in Need
All operating and administrative expenses for Commonwealth Cares are borne by Commonwealth. One-hundred cents on every dollar contributed goes directly to the causes we support. The foundation has a specific focus on causes dedicated to children and education, poverty relief, and disaster assistance. Efforts range from local programs, such as the Waltham and San Diego Boys & Girls clubs, to humanitarian relief efforts happening on a global scale. Our board, however, will consider any opportunity for giving that meets the goals of the foundation.
So Others Might Eat
So Others Might Eat (SOME) works to help the low-income and homeless populations of Washington, DC. Originally a small soup kitchen, SOME has expanded to offer comprehensive services comprising 38 different programs and serving over 10,000 individuals every year. They help break the cycle of homelessness and poverty by providing a wide range of services including affordable housing, job training, addiction treatment, and mental healthcare. They also provide immediate essentials such as food, clothing, and medical help every day to those in need.
The mission of SOME is to not only help relieve the daily burden and stress inherent among the poor and homeless populations, but to provide a path to independence and dignity. In 2019, SOME served 367,855 meals, provided 38,152 free sets of clothing and 12,211 showers to men and women experiencing homelessness, and provided 26,254 visits to a doctor, dentist, therapist, or case worker across our Medical, Dental, and Behavioral Health Clinics.
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