Recent sealholder Building Families for Children announces today the receipt of a $100,000 gift from a private backer of the nearly century-old, faith-based nonprofit. The organization recently earned their accreditation under the Standards for Excellence program. “This welcomed and generous donation will help us to do God’s work, which is lifting children and their parents out of poverty,” said BFC Executive Director Debbie Marini.  The donor, who asked to be identified only as a “long-time admirer” of BFC, said, “Building Families has made a real difference for so many children over the years. It’s a wonderful organization and deserves support as it helps even more.” BFC’s programs include: treatment foster care for traumatized youth; Safe Families For Children which recruits “host parents” to temporarily house and care for a child while their mom or dad deals with homelessness, or some other life crisis; mentoring of young adults aging out of foster care; and other initiatives to support at-risk families. In December, BFC was awarded the Seal of Excellence from the Standards for Excellence Institute, which is part of Maryland Nonprofits. To earn accreditation, BFC’s programs, management, and financial practices were all subjected to close scrutiny by a jury of its peers. The donation and Seal of Excellence come as BFC, founded in 1920, prepares for its 100^th anniversary with a community-awareness campaign, “Countdown to 100,” which will feature fundraisers and public-service events.  “Countdown to 100” will highlight BFC’s past and offer a vision of its future as an agency that has helped more than 20,000 people while pushing to break the generational cycle of poverty. About Building Families for Children: Willoughby McCormick, founder of the prominent Baltimore-based spice company that bears his name, helped establish Baptist Children’s Home of Maryland in October 1920. It later became known as Baptist Family and Children Services. A quarter century later, the faith-based organization was renamed Building Families for Children. In 1989, the organization moved its headquarters from Baltimore to Columbia, Maryland, to become more centrally located to its broad service area. Today, Building Families upholds McCormick’s founding beliefs that children do better in a home setting rather than in an institution, and that families are strengthened when embraced by their communities. For more information on Building Families for Children and “Countdown to 100 Activities”, visit www.buildingfamiliesforchildren.org.