When Nancy Kellar stepped down from the Kids’ Chance of Maryland (KCMD) Board of Directors earlier this year, the organization marked the occasion with its Distinguished Service Award and the designation of director emeritus to honor three decades of dedication and leadership in advancing the KCMD mission.

Kellar’s contributions to KCMD have been transformative. Her history with the organization is even more remarkable, however, when you consider that getting involved in KCMD was not on Kellar's bingo card 30 years ago when she was working as an executive assistant to Paul Rose, who at the time was the CEO of the State Accident Fund (now called Chesapeake Employers Insurance).

“Paul was working with two of his colleagues to form a Kids’ Chance organization for Maryland,” Kellar said. “Most of the meetings were taking place at our offices, which meant that I was the one setting up and taking notes. It was informal at first.”

It wasn’t long before Kids’ Chance of Maryland (KCMD) was holding formal board meetings and planning to host events. “They decided to do a golf tournament as well as a cocktail party,” she recalled. “They hired a consultant to help with planning. Paul encouraged me to get more involved, which is how I learned about meeting and event planning.”

“It was thrilling to award those first scholarships,” she continued. “These kids had been through so much hardship. It was very gratifying to learn firsthand the difference Kids’ Chance was making in their lives.”

More events followed and Nancy began to take her role at KCMD even more seriously, becoming the organization’s first paid staff member. Her experience at KCMD even led to a second career as a meeting planner for the Alliance of Schools for Cooperative Insurance Programs (ASCIP), organizing large-scale events across the country.

Although Nancy retired from ASCIP 10 years ago, barely a year went by before she was asked to serve on the KCMD Board of Directors. The organization has grown considerably in that time. It now awards $10,000 per semester to 15 students each year.

The board also formed a student outreach committee to strengthen the lines of communication between KCMD and its scholarship recipients. “The [Kaleidescope] online scholarship application reduces our administrative burden, making it easier to manage multiple scholarships,” she said. “Our goal is to invest this time in becoming a supportive network for our students.”

KCMD promotes the Kids’ Chance Planning for the Future Program (PFF) platform as well, to gather information about future KCMD scholarship candidates. “We know that there are so many more students out there who could benefit from KCMD,” she said. “It is important to get the word out about our scholarships.”

Despite appearances, it would be wrong to assume that retiring from the board represents the end of Kellar’s KCMD story. She is participating on a new committee to encourage donors to consider tax-friendly avenues for supporting the organization. “Gifts from required minimum distributions from retirement savings, through life insurance policies and gifts of appreciated securities can provide tax savings that enable donors to increase their support,” she noted. “It is also an easy thing to use a codicil to include KCMD in one’s will.”

Once again charting new territory for KCMD and its donors, Kellar remains laser focused on KCMD’s mission. “Almost every penny we raise goes to the good of kids who have been adversely affected in profound ways,” she said. “Giving to KCMD is an opportunity to have a positive impact in their lives.”

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