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WEINBERG FOUNDATION AWARDS $500,000 CHALLENGE GRANT TO THE FAMILY TREE

BALTIMORE - The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation has awarded The Family Tree, Maryland's leading child abuse prevention agency, a $500,000 challenge grant to establish The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Endowment Fund. The Family Tree recently moved to its new statewide headquarters at 2108 North Charles Street in midtown Baltimore.  Once the challenge grant is matched dollar for dollar by the community, the Foundation's award will complete the organization's $3.75 million campaign, which was launched to strengthen its capacity to reach more families and improve the possibilities for thousands of Maryland's children.

"The gift by The Weinberg Foundation is a vote of confidence for The Family Tree's services and a demonstration of their commitment to families and children in Maryland", said Patricia K. Cronin, LCSW-C, The Family Tree's Executive Direcotr. Thanks to The Weinberg Foundation's gift, the community is assured that The Family Tree's programs will have a lasting measure of stability- which is extremely valuable for community-based non-profits.

The new building enables The Family Tree to provide its comprehensice array of family-focused education services unders one roof. In addition to a community learning center and meeting rooms for Parents Anonymous^® support groups, the organization's new home features a children's learning lab, family-to-family mentoring rooms, training rooms and a resource library.

The Family Tree is Maryland's largest community-based nonprofit dedicated to strengthening families and preventing child abuse and neglect through education and support.  With the active participation of more than 270 program volunteers, the organization provides family education classes, mentoring, Parents Anonymous^® groups and workshops, and other youth and family building services, as well as a 24-hour crisis and referral hotline to families and children in need of help, whether at home, at school, in the community or at the workplace.

Since its inception in 1959, The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation has been dedicated to bettering the lives of those in need. Created and funded by philanthropists Harry and Jeanette Weinberg, the Foundation has continued to grow and support a myriad of institutions throughout the world. The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation brings the total raised for the Campaign for The Family Tree to $3,300,000, with $450,000 remaining to complete the $3.75 million campaign and endowment goal by December 31.  As one of the largest private foundations in the United States today, the Weinberg Foundation has assets of approximately $2 billion.

In addition to support from The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation and The Family Tree's Board of Directors, major contributors to The Campaign for The Family Tree include The Sherman Family Foundation, the Witt/Hoey Foundation, The France-Merrick Foundation, the Henry and Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg Foundation, The Abell Foundation, and the Alex. Brown & Sons Foundation. Leadership support also comes from T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., Sylvan Learning Systems, Inc., Deborah and William Kissinger, and Dr. John O. Meyerhoff and Mrs. Lenel Srochi-Meyerhoff.

A national affiliate of Parents Anonymous^® and The National Exchange Club Foundation, The Family Tree also has offices in Anne Arundel, Harford, Howard and Prince George's counties as well as the Mondawamin/Penn-North community of Baltimore City. Last year, the organization served more than 13,000 people in every county across the state.

For more information about The Family Tree's programs and services, call 410-889-2300, the

24-hour Family StressLine at 1-800-243-7337, or log onto www.familytreemd.org.