Sunshine Lady challenges Delco with a match grant

The Sunshine Lady has offered to lend a hand, but are Delaware County residents equipped to take it?

The Sunshine Lady Foundation, a private philanthropy led by Doris Buffett, sister of financier Warren Buffett, last month made a $100,000 challenge grant to the Delaware County Community Foundation.

If the DCCF can match that sum in local donations by Dec. 31, down-on-their-luck residents would see the money available to them double. If the DCCF cannot raise at least $50,000, the Sunshine Lady's hand will be empty.

Now the question is whether local residents and businesses can afford to aid their neighbors at a time when checkbooks are closing, not opening.

"I think it will be challenging given the state of the economy," DCCF executive director Peg Hendricks said. "But my sense is that even in tough times, people are still willing to help."

Although it is being called a $100,000 grant, the challenge is actually half that. That's because the Sunshine Lady Foundation has agreed to match, dollar for dollar, any money the DCCF raises between $50,000 and $100,000. But if the $50,000 threshold is not met, the DCCF will receive nothing from Buffett's foundation.

Some in Delaware County are already the beneficiaries of the Delco Sunshine Fund, a $100,000 outright grant from the Sunshine Lady Foundation in 2008.

The Community Action Agency of Delaware County, which has partnered with the DCCF and awards the grants, hopes to emulate the success of that program. Through it, 25 grants of up to $7,500 helped some residents pay for emergency expenses - anything from urgent home repairs to vital medical operations.

One recipient was Gloria Becker, a single mother from Ridley Township. Six thousand dollars in aid helped her stave off foreclosure and keep her home.

"Those people are angels," Becker said of the DCCF and the Community Action Agency. "It's a necessity to have them take care of people like me."

Founded by Doris Buffett in 1996, the Sunshine Lady Foundation offers grants to tax-exempt charities, which then aid families and individuals facing short-term crises, according to its Web site.

Doris Buffett, whom some call the Sunshine Lady, is "very enthusiastic" about the grant, said Mitty Beal, executive director of the Sunshine Lady Foundation and a Delaware County native. But Beal noted that the DCCF faces a difficult task.

"It's not hard to give money away," she said, "but it is hard to raise it."

Grant recipients in Delaware County first must have exhausted all sources of government relief, and must verify their income and intended use of funds, Hendricks said. Generally, income for individual recipients cannot exceed $40,000, or $60,000 for families, Hendricks said.

Hendricks said she hoped that the program would receive gifts from local businesses, philanthropists, and other foundations, although she started soliciting donations only recently.

If the DCCF does not qualify for matching funds, the money raised would go toward the Delco Sunshine Fund or similar programs.

"Local people do support local needs, and our goal here is to reinforce that belief," Hendricks said. "For most people, it truly is a basic instinct to be philanthropic."