Dear Friends,

    As we move into our 76th year of providing services for people living with mental disorders, we need YOU to help us continue offering this valuable assistance and information. 

    Mental Health is fundamental to our overall health.  You can help us continue our quest to “fund-a-mental” health program through your monetary donation to our annual campaign. You can be a key player in helping us continue to offer the important services needed by people every day as they live with their mental health.  There are many ways we provide these services such as through our conferences like the People of Color Conference, the 24 statewide support groups, suicide prevention leadership and the “Beyond Stress” and other educational presentations just to name a few.  In order to continue these offerings, funding is key.  Your support can play an integral role in helping us continue our mission…to promote improved mental well being for all individuals and families in Delaware through education, support and advocacy.

    It is important that we remain a trusted source in our community that people can contact when they want information on mental health.   We rely on individual and corporate donations to continue our work as we educate, support and advocate.  Your donation is especially needed this year as we add a new initiative “Child Mental Health Matters in Delaware” while still maintaining all of our other programs.  It is of vital importance to all of the people we serve who have a mental illness that we are able to maintain our important work.  Work that someday, you may need or your loved one may need.  Your generosity in sharing your hard earned money with us is gratefully appreciated and we thank you in advance.

Please send your tax deductible donation to:
Mental Health Association in Delaware
Annual Fund Campaign
100 W. 10th St., #600
Wilmington, DE  19801

The Mental Health Association in Delaware's Annual Fund Campaign is an important part of helping us achieve our mission of providing mental health education, support and advocacy in the state of Delaware. MHA strongly believes that mental health issues are best addressed within the context of overall good health and wellness. Our programs and services further this core belief.

Public and private grants alone can not meet the costs of providing the quality educational programs and free services needed by those experiencing a mental illness. MHA must rely on the generosity of people in the communities we serve for support.With your help, MHA can continue to make a positive impact on the lives of those who suffer from a mental illness, like depression or anxiety disorders, and continue to educate the public through programs which stress prevention and treatment options for this illness.

Please consider making an annual gift to MHA that we can continue to expand our programs and meet the ever-growing need in Delaware in the next millennium.

Why do we have an endowment fund?

MHA created an endowment fund at the Delaware Community Foundation to provide for the long-term stability of our agency. We can either spend a portion of the interest that is earned each year or allow the interest to build up over a period of years to increase the size of the fund. In either case, our endowment fund is permanent. The initial investment that created the fund, along with the gifts that are added over the years, will always be at the Delaware Community Foundation to generate income to meet our future needs.

What is the Delaware Community Foundation and why is our fund there?

The Delaware Community Foundation was created in 1996 to provide a lasting source of income to meet community needs. It administers hundreds of charitable funds for individuals, families, organizations and businesses and awards grants to nonprofit organizations to enrich the lives of Delawareans. The Delaware Community Foundation has close to $130 million in assets.

· Our endowment fund benefits from the Foundation's investment expertise and from being part of a large portfolio.

· The DCF handles all administrative, as well as investment responsibilities for our fund, freeing our staff to concentrate on our mission.

· The DCF employs gift planning professionals who will help our donors make current and deferred gifts to our endowment fund.

How can donors contribute to our endowment fund?

Our endowment fund at the Delaware Community Foundation gives donors - some of whom already support current operations and programs - the opportunity to provide for the future needs of MHA. There are many types of gifts and giving vehicles that provide donors with the maximum tax and financial benefits. They include:

· A gift of non-cash assets, including appreciated stock, retirement plan assets and life insurance.

· A bequest, which is a deferred gift given through a donor's will.

· A life income gift, which allows a donor to make a charitable gift and also receive a stream of income for life. The two most common types of life income gifts are charitable gift annuities and charitable remainder trusts.

· A charitable lead trust, which helps a donor reduce gift and estate taxes when passing assets on to heirs. Trust income is paid to charity annually for a period of years; at the end of the term, the trust principal passes to family members.

How can donors learn more about contributing to our endowment fund?

Please call Laurie McArthur, Director of Development and Communication, at (302) 654-6833x14 or contact LMcArthur@mhainde.org to discuss other gift options, such as gifts of stock or planned giving opportunities. You may also contact the The Delaware Community Foundation