‘Best Spirit Ever’ Raises Unprecedented Amount for Georgetown Ministry Center

Spirit of Community Shines Bright at Annual GMC Benefit

In a watershed year for Georgetown Ministry Center, Thursday evening’s Spirit of Georgetown benefit was, fittingly, one for the books! GMC would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to all those who attended this year’s benefit and to all those who have aided GMC’s work in other ways throughout the year — with your generous support, we raised a record-setting amount of $137,373 for our Center operations! This feat was only possible through the incredible support and commitment of our generous donors. Thank you!

This year’s event was an embodiment of the spirit of community so vibrantly alive in Georgetown, exemplifying what is possible when a group of individuals come together for the common good. More than 200 GMC supporters gathered in the stately Georgetown home of consummate DC hostess, Sally Quinn, to commemorate 30 years of GMC service in our community.  Guests spent the evening mingling from room to impeccably decorated room, spilling onto a wraparound back porch perfectly suited for the mild October temperatures. While there was plenty of DC star power in attendance — including honoree Mayor Bowser, Deputy Mayor HyeSook Chung, Councilman Jack Evans and our gracious host, Sally Quinn — it was truly the spirit of community that shone brightest throughout the evening.  Retiring GMC Executive Director, Gunther Stern, aptly described his final Spirit after his nearly 3-decades-long tenure as the “best Spirit ever” — and we couldn’t agree more!

A special thanks to this year’s honorary hosts, Carrington Tarr and Amy Tercek, and our event sponsors, Washington Fine Properties, Kilpatrick, Townsend, Stockton, Walker & Dunlop LLC, John D. Richardson Company and Martin’s Tavern.

Whether you were there in person on Thursday, or just in spirit, we hope you’ll recognize the profound impact your support has on the lives of our community’s most vulnerable. American cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead’s famous quote resonates as much today as it did upon GMC’s founding 30 years ago: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

Thank you for helping us end homelessness — and change the world! — one person at a time.

View all event photos on our Facebook page.

 

 

By all accounts, yesterday evening’s Spirit of Georgetown was a record-breaking success! While there was plenty of DC star power in attendance — including honoree Mayor Bowser , Deputy Mayor HyeSook Chung, Councilman Jack Evans and host Sally Quinn — it was truly the spirit of community that shone brightest. Georgetown Ministry Center would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to all those who attended last night’s benefit and all those who have supported our work in other ways throughout the year — with your generous support, we raised a record-setting amount of more than $130,000 to support our Center operations! Retiring GMC Executive Director, Gunther Stern, aptly described his final Spirit after his nearly 3-decades long tenure as the “best Spirit ever.” We couldn’t agree more!

Stay tuned for more great photos and a full event recap next week.

Today construction on Georgetown Ministry Center’s renovation has officially begun! While the Center will be closed for the next few weeks, we will have a daily check-in area located in a tent outside of the Center entrance from 9:30-11:30am Monday-Friday. Guests are welcome and encouraged to stop by for coffee, food donations, and to receive mail, toiletries, socks, etc!

After nearly 30 years at the helm of GMC, our Executive Director, Gunther Stern, was interviewed for a feature post in the Georgetown Business Improvement District’s byGEORGE Blog, originally published on September 28, 2017:

“Greg Sherman was a Northwestern graduate, trained constitutional lawyer, and a father of two. He died in 2006 on a bench by the C&O Canal, homeless. Four years later, a medical examiner pointed the family to Gunther Stern, Executive Director of Georgetown Ministry Center–and the person who’d identified the body. In this week’s byGeorge, Gunther shares how a college cab driving gig sparked his interest in helping the homeless, the one symptom of mental illness that no one’s talking about, and the greatest lesson he’s learned over three decades.”

Read the post here.

Exciting renovation plans are in the works at Georgetown Ministry Center! Last fall, the Share Fund offered to help GMC drastically improve its space. With additional support from the Arcana Foundation and Georgetown University’s Office of Campus Ministry, construction plans are approved and the renovation will begin in early October.

This idea came about because every day, 50 to 70 vulnerable homeless people visit our well-worn space. Our 13-year-old shower has a cracked floor, our hot water heater doesn’t keep up with the demand in the winter, our roof leaks during heavy rainstorms, and the center is often standing room only.

To improve the quality of our services, an architecture firm came up with a plan to expand our space in an ingenious way. Their plans include the installation of higher efficiency equipment, the ability to do more loads of laundry and offer warmer showers in the winter, the addition of one bathroom, the improvement of storage space for supplies, and the transformation of an office into a medical clinic for our consulting psychiatrists and doctors.

While this project will dramatically improve our program, it will require us to close for about 7 weeks. We can’t thank the Share Fund enough for making this possible. We look forward to keeping you updated on the progress and are eager to return to an improved day center!