The Sunshine Kids Scholarship Program

 

Headquartered in Rockville, Maryland, Telligent Masonry completes contract construction projects throughout the greater Washington, DC area. Dedicated to giving back through multifaceted philanthropic outreach, Telligent Masonry supports Sunshine Kids, among other charitable nonprofits.

From funding dream trips to providing inspiring hospital visits, Sunshine Kids spearheads various initiatives to benefit children with cancer. One of its lesser-known initiatives is the Sunshine Kids Scholarship Program.

This program awards $5,000 to qualifying students pursuing a 4-year college degree and $2,500 to qualifying students pursuing a 2-year college degree. These awards are renewable for as many as four years after their initial distribution.

To qualify for a Sunshine Kids Scholarship, a candidate must be a pediatric oncology patient or survivor who received a diagnosis before turning 19. Candidates must also have a history as a Sunshine Kid that goes back at least three months. They cannot currently be older than 22 and must commit to enrolling for a minimum of nine credit hours per semester at a college or university.

The Sunshine Kids Scholarship Program is open to graduating high school seniors and current college students. Regardless of their education level, candidates must have at least a 2.0 GPA at their most recent enrollment institution.

Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing Serves the DC Area

 Located in Rockville, Maryland, Telligent Masonry is a leading supplier of building materials, such as brick, stone, and stone veneer. Telligent Masonry serves customers ranging from hotels and libraries to resorts and apartments. The company supports nonprofit organizations such as Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH) in northern Virginia.

APAH has constructed 17 housing projects in the metro DC area, where homes are out of reach for many low-income residents. Following are some of the APAH communities that cater to families and individuals earning between $20,000 and $40,000:

Arlington Mill

Arlington Mill consists of apartments ranging from studios through three bedrooms. It is adjacent to a community center with meeting rooms, a gym, and a senior center. Built in 2013, Arlington Mills includes units for individuals with very low income. Like many APAH properties, it is designed for sustainability.

Ballston Station

Still under construction, Ballston Station is a unique residential living space with a house of worship. The first two of the building’s seven stories will belong to Central United Methodist Church, which has served the neighborhood for more than 100 years. Convenient to the DC Metro, the facility will feature 144 apartments.

Fisher House

These garden-style apartments, built in the 1940s, are part of the historic Westover Village area. One section was renovated in 2007 as the first APAH project. The company redid the other one in 2018. All units feature energy efficient appliances, windows, and heating and cooling systems.

Parc Rosslyn

Since 2008, Parc Rosslyn has provided housing in 100 units in a 15-story building within walking distance of the Metro, as well as a bus line, parks, and shopping. Offering elevated views of the surrounding area, Parc Rosslyn includes a rooftop pool, club room, and a fitness center. Units come equipped with tankless gas water heaters and low-flow water fixtures.

A History of the National Building Museum

 

The National Building Museum is a cultural institution that commemorates, analyzes, and tells the stories of American construction, engineering, architectural design, and urban planning. Located in Washington, D.C, its great hall, tall corinthian columns, and terracotta friezes represent a family-friendly destination with free annual festivities, exhibitions, and programs.

The National Building Museum is also a fundamental platform for sharing knowledge and ideas about architecture and urban growth. The building that houses it, however, was initially built after the Civil War for three reasons: to act as the headquarters of the Pension Bureau, to honor the soldiers who fought on the side of the Union during the civil war, and to act as an elegant space for social and political functions in Washington. The building was authorized by Congress in 1881 to address the rising need for office space for federal workers attending to the growing number of pension claims.

U.S. Army veteran Montgomery C. Meigs acted as both the architect and engineer for the building, which was begun in 1882 and completed in 1887. Congress instructed Meigs to use metal and other fireproof materials to carry out the project in order to keep veteran records safe. As a result, the scale of the project resulted in a regional scarcity of bricklayers, as Meigs convinced many skilled workers from nearby cities to take up his project and abandon their current work. Many notable people criticized the building, but by the time Meigs completed it in 1887, it housed roughly 1500 public officials who used the space to sort through over 800,000 pension claims that were taking up one-third of the government's budget.

The building also hosted unique events and balls by notable personalities such as Theodore Roosevelt and William McKinley. However, due to public outrage, the Woodrow Wilson administration decided to stop hosting them there. In 1930, due to upheavals from World War I, the Pension Bureau moved out of the building and turned it over to the General Accounting Office. The GAO renovated the building by putting in cubicles with glass ceilings on the ground floor, and this agency resided in the building until 1950.

Other government agencies occupied the building in the 1960s, but it had fallen into a state of dilapidation, and the government was considering the option of demolishing it. In 1967, Chloethiel Woodard Smith, an influential architect in Washington, D.C., submitted a report to the government stating a number of possible ways the building could be used, including a museum devoted to the building arts. Other conservationists such as Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Herbert Franklin, Dr. Cynthia Field, and Beverly Willis consolidated Smith’s efforts. Due to their work, the government added the building to the National Register of Historic Places in 1969, and Congress passed a resolution in 1978 that preserved the structure as a national treasure. Congress backed this up with a 1980 act that created the private nonprofit institution known today as the National Building Museum.

This act of congress led to a period of thorough and precise restoration. In 1985, the museum opened with an inaugural exhibition called “Anatomy of a Bridge: Seven Steps in Constructing the Brooklyn Bridge.” In 1997, the government officially renamed it the National Building Museum.

Food Insecurity in Loudoun County

A winner of 28 awards in the construction industry, Telligent Masonry completed many projects over the years and partnered with the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing to create cheap living units. Telligent Masonry also supports non-profit organizations such as the Backpack Buddies Foundation of Loudoun, Inc.

The Backpack Buddies Foundation of Loudoun Inc is an organization that aims to alleviate hunger problems among students in Loudoun county. Loudoun County is a food-insecure county in the United States, and according to reports, one in four children do not know where their next food is coming from.

Over nine thousand children suffer from food insecurity in the county, and the foundation, through its volunteer-led food programs, provides for a third of them. Members in the program receive food bags regularly for the weekends and long holidays. Over 20000 food weekend bags have been distributed so far by the organization.

With contributions from donors, The Backpack Buddies Foundation donated over $130,000 to hunger relief programs, as 0.94 cents out of every dollar donated is fueled to these programs.