The Arc Baltimore Honors Three Area Organizations

The Arc Baltimore recently honored three organizations based in the Towson-Timonium area.

The Arc presented its 2018 Employer of Distinction Award to Timonium-based Michele’s Granola and Hunt Valley’s PDP Group.

Michele's Granola has 31 employees who are committed to producing hand-made crunchy granola that they ship around the world. Part of the team for over a year now are Daylan and Tony, graduates of The Arc Baltimore's Project SEARCH program. Daylan and Tony are applying the skills they learned through Project SEARCH at Michele’s and are now experts in their jobs. Daylan pulls granola off the line for boxing and labeling. Tony helps in assembling the boxes and is expert in operating a granola tray cleaner.

The PDP Group has contractually employed a crew of six people supported by The Arc Baltimore to prepare documents for mailings since 2008. In 2016, PDP added a second crew at another PDP site, then partnered with The Arc Baltimore's Career Catalyst program to provide internship opportunities in another part of the business so that participants could learn a variety of skills and build work experience. In April 2017, PDP hired two of the interns as distribution clerks in their Document Management Center. Recently, they hired two more interns and they continue to offer internship opportunities.

Finally, The Arc Baltimore presented a Special Appreciation Award to Towson's Thomas W. Bradley Foundation. The Bradley Foundation is The Arc Baltimore's longest-running foundation partner for its Bay Buddies enrichment and education program. The Foundation has provided generous grants that have helped grow the program from its earliest days into a highly impactful experience for 80 children each year. As Bay Buddies approaches its 18th year with students from four partnering schools, the Bradley Foundation has contributed more than $100,000 to the program