The Martin Guitar Charitable Foundation announced at its December 2019 Trustee meeting that it awarded 52 grants to Lehigh Valley and national organizations in 2019.
The Foundation was established in 1996 by Christian Frederick Martin IV to serve the charitable interests of the Martin Guitar Company. The Foundation supports 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations with programs in Foundation target areas. The Martin Guitar Company provides funds each year to support the Foundation’s programs. Since 1996, the Foundation has distributed $3.33 million in grants, including $355,000 in 2019.
The Foundation’s core principles are to support Martin Guitar’s engagement with nonprofit music, arts, education, and environmental action organizations. The Foundation does not fund political or religious organizations or activity. The Trustees manage the Foundation’s assets conservatively to allow for long-term planning and seek best value from Foundation grant-making for the people and causes that their grantees serve.
Lehigh Valley and regional organizations receiving Foundation support in 2019 were: Allentown Art Museum, Allentown Rescue Mission, Allentown Symphony Association, ArtsQuest, Community Music School, Da Vinci Science Center, Godfrey Daniels, Lehigh Gap Nature Center, Meals on Wheels of the Greater Lehigh Valley, Miller-Keystone Blood Center, Moravian Historical Society, Muhlenberg College, New Bethany Ministries, Northampton Community College Foundation, PBS 39, State Theatre Center for the Arts, WDIY-FM, and several other Lehigh Valley charities. In Nazareth, the Foundation supported the YMCA, Memorial Library, Nazareth Area Food Bank, and several other Nazareth-area charities.
The Foundation also made grants to national organizations with strong arts presence and programs in acoustic guitar education and research: Guitars in the Classroom (San Diego, Calif.), International Bluegrass Music Museum (Owensboro, Ky.), Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City), Musical Instrument Museum (Phoenix, Ariz.), Museum of Making Music (Carlsbad, Calif.), Old Town School of Folk Music (Chicago, Ill.), Southern Folklife Collection at University of North Carolina, WHYY (Philadelphia), Woody Guthrie Center (Tulsa, Okla.), and several other organizations.
The 2019 Foundation Trustees are C. F. Martin IV, Chairman and CEO of Martin Guitar Company and Foundation President; Diane Martin, Foundation Vice President; Dick Boak, retired Martin Guitar Director of Museum, Archives, and Special Projects; Debra Karlowitch, retired Martin Guitar Vice President of Human Resources and Foundation Secretary; Susan Kubik, Managing Principal of eAdvancement and retired Executive Director of Northampton Community College Foundation; Dr. Roland Kushner, Associate Professor of Business at Muhlenberg College; John Messer, retired Martin Guitar CFO; and Charles J. Peischl, Esq., of Peters, Moritz, Peischl, Zulick, Landes & Brienza.
The Foundation will accept applications for 2020 grants between August 1, 2020, and September 1, 2020. To obtain guidelines, send an inquiry by email to mgroller@martinguitar.com.
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