About the Mager-Deliee Family Fund

In the fall of 2021, Mimi and Truman Deliee were 16 and 12 years old respectively. They told their grandmother, Marcy Mager that since they had everything they needed, she should take any money she intended to spend on holiday gifts and donate it to charity. She was not entirely surprised, since the children had long helped their parents working in food pantries and the family sometimes gave donations in addition to the more typical gifts of clothes, books, toys and electronics.

Marcy asked that Mimi and Truman research and decide which charities they wanted to fund. That Christmas they chose the Trevor Project, World Kitchen, UNICEF and Sandy Hook Promise, but also said that going forward they wanted to do the same with gifts for birthdays and special occasions like graduations. Marcy thought that over the years those individual contributions would add up. What if instead of singular gifts to a wide range of already existing charities the grandchildren could decide on a cause that was most important to them and take responsibility for funding it?

Because she had already established a scholarship fund through the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia, Marcy knew the quality of their organization and effectiveness of their efforts. So, in the summer of 2022 she met with Eileen Ellsworth to learn how to set up an ongoing multi-generational fund and then presented the idea to Mimi and Truman. Did they want to develop and run a family fund, which would define their own charitable goals, investigate organizations that aligned with their philanthropic purpose and make grants to those groups which met those criteria? They were all in, and in September 2022 the Mager-Deliee Family Fund was born.

The two teens began by considering every cause in which they had ever been interested, quite a long list. Fortunately, a meeting between Mimi and Josiah Day helped focus the fund on equity in education. Concurrently, Mimi and Truman shared their intentions with family and friends, soliciting donations instead of personal gifts. With advisement from Director of Donor Relations Gabrielle Webster, the three began investigating and visiting organizations which provide support to students who do not have the educational resources they need. The fund's first grant was made in November 2022 to ASPIRE! Their literacy program provides after-school instruction to students who are below grade level in reading. On-going assessment, well-trained instructors, a literature rich program, coordination with the student's school staff and parent support all recommend ASPIRE! as an excellent intervention for struggling students.

The Mager-Deliee Family Fund is off to a good start fulfilling their vision of on-going, multi-generational philanthropy dedicated to equity in education.