Please Support the Work of Mediators & ADR Professionals in Maryland

by Sending Us Your Tax-Deductible Donation, or leave MCDR a Legacy

Note:  MCDR is a 501(c)(3) organization relying on your generosity to sustain our work.

Making a Donation:

     100% of your contribution is applied to the fund or activity you request; MCDR takes no administrative fees.  Please let us know how your donation is to be applied by placing a check mark next to either the Operational Fund, Sarah Grebe Fund, Assessment & Certification Fund, Sharon Pickett Award, or the Promising Mediator Book Scholarship. 

      The Operational Fund

     Your donation will help support MCDR's efforts advocating for ADR across the state of Maryland, help pay for our quarterly general meeting, special events and speaker honorariums at these events.  Or, you might wish to tell us which activity your donation is to be applied or allocated between.  Programs, Advocacy, mentoring, or marketing Outreach.  If you would like to receive information on any of these activities please send us an e-mail.  We ask you to please consider other donation possibilities.  For example, if you have a special interest or area you feel would be best served by a donation, and that special interest or area has yet to be addressed, make a donation to fund that special interest or area.  We have done this before with the Sarah Grebe Fund.  Please send us an e-mail for a consultation about special bequests.

The Sarah Grebe Fund

The Maryland Council for Dispute Resolution (MCDR), an ADR practitioner organization in Maryland which was begun in the mid 1980's, has a fund to support the education/training of mediators in Maryland. The fund was formed in honor of Sarah Grebe, a long time mediator, trainer and one of the founders of MCDR, who was stricken with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) and died several years ago.

Sarah was the trainer for many mediators working in Maryland today. In addition to her mediation and training work, she was the Director of the Ethics Department at the National Association of Social Workers, NASW, and brought mediation to that agency as a way of dealing with some of the ethics complaints. She was in this position when she became ill.

Each year the Fund give a monetary award to a deserving conflict resolution practitioner or student, so that he or she can attend a conflict resolution educational activity.

You may send a check made out to "MCDR," with a memo stating "For Sarah Grebe Fund," to MCDR or send your contribution online.

     The Stanley Rodbell Legacy Award

     Stanley Rodbell, with both law and social work degrees, was one of the first mediators in Maryland to practice the profession full-time.  He was active in promoting mediation through his work on the MCDR Certification Committee and through mentoring newer mediators.  He specialized in working with conflict among couples who were divorcing, and worked with hundreds of couples during his career.

     The Stanley Rodbell Legacy Award is presented bi-yearly to a mediation practitioner who does one or more of the following:

• Shows dedication to the profession through long-term ethical practice
• Contributes expertise, leadership, time, or creativity to an organization that promotes mediation
• Mentors or assists other dispute resolution practitioners
• Innovates and creates new models or practices that further the practice of mediation
• Conducts research that brings new insights valuable to ADR practitioner
• For more information, please click here.

      Assessment & Certification Fund 

      Help support MCDR's efforts offering performance-based assessments leading to certification.  Funds are used to pay our highly experienced & trained assessors, venue rentals, and special functions.  For more detailed information please refer to the Certification tab shown above.

    Sharon M. Pickett Award 

     The Sharon M. Pickett Award recognizes those individuals who have made outstanding contributions leading to the advancement of mediation practice in Maryland.  These contributions may be in the fields of:  Mediation Practice, Mediator Education, Performance-Based Assessments of Mediators, or Advocacy/Legislative work ensuring the highest standards of mediator competence. The Sharon Pickett Award Fund supports the bi-annual award ceremony.  This ceremony ends a full day that has included in the past an advanced mediation workshop for attendees. Over the past several years the Sharon Pickett Award has honored Martin Kranitz 2009, Rachel Wohl 2011, Lorig Charkoudian 2013, Robert Ketcham 2015, and Cam Crockett 2019.

     Promising Mediator Book Scholarship

     Established early 2016, this award recognizes exceptional achievement in scholarship by helping build the library of newly minted ADR professionals.  Granting this award is based upon recommendations and determined by the MCDR Board of Directors. 

Donations Can Be Made Via Check, MasterCard, VISA, Discover or American Express

     When making your donation using a Check, On the memo line of your check please indicate how you intend your donation to be applied.  If your donation is on behalf of, or to honor someone please provide instructions with your donation. Mail your donation directly to:  

Maryland Council for Dispute Resolution, Attn: Treasurer, 10319 Westlake Drive, Suite 247, Bethesda, MD  20817

       When making your donation using MasterCard, VISA, Discover, or American Express, please use the Donation Box below.  Please use the Comment Box to provide us with any additional instructions.  This box should also be checked if you wish your contribution be made anonymously.  Below the Comment Box please be sure to check the small box corresponding to the fund you intend your donation be applied.

As our way of saying thank you, Donors are recognized, listed under the Donor tab shown above.

Note:  Upon our receipt of your donation MCDR issues a donation receipt compliant with standards set forth by the Internal Revenue Service for making donations to a Section 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation.

Of course MCDR thanks you for any amount you donate.

Leaving a Legacy:

       Estate gifts are one of the simplest, most flexible, and popular methods of supporting ADR activities of the Maryland Council for Dispute Resolution. Use the language provided below on your IRA, Insurance, or other beneficiary designation forms; or provide it to your attorney for your Will or Living Trust:

"I leave (%of the estate, $amount, etc.) to the Maryland Council for Dispute Resolution, a Maryland nonprofit corporation with Tax ID 91-20411897. for (general or specific purpose) at the Maryland Council for Dispute Resolution for (general or specific fund as presented above) use."

        Please contact the Treasurer or President of the Maryland Council for Dispute Resolution to further designate your bequest and confidentially record your estate intention.  Feel free to contact us to learn more about estate gifts and other options to complement your financial plans.