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DENTON – The Town of Denton recently launched its own grant program to financially support community-based projects in the town. At the February Denton Town Council meeting, the first five recipients of these grant awards were announced. They are His Hope Ministries, Choptank Community Health, Aaron’s Place, the Caroline County Council of Arts, and the Caroline County Historical Society.
“We have a lot of need in the community. We've got a lot of good nonprofits that do good things for our community. So, when we have funds that we can allocate to this program, we're going to try to do that,” said Denton Mayor Dr. Abigail McNinch. Councilmember Keith Johnson explained that the idea for the town to give out formalized grants came from the Council seeing the efforts of local philanthropists like Terae Warner, who spearheaded the beautification of the Sharp Road Park basketball court and Nap Day Invitational.
Councilmember Johnson said that rather than having community members or nonprofits come to the Council and ask for money sporadically, they can review these grant applications and decide if they are comfortable spending taxpayer dollars on certain projects.
The maximum amount for each applicant was $5,000. There were six total applicants, with one not meeting the grant requirements.
His Hope Ministries received $5,000 to provide emergency food resources to both their shelter guests and locals in need. Part of the motivation behind this ask was the adverse effects of the lengthy government shutdown in late 2025 on SNAP recipients, and the strain on local food pantries due to an increased need.
Choptank Community Health received $4,760 to launch an Open Airways for Schools program, which is a program by the American Lung Association that educates elementary school aged children about asthma. While the grant kickstarts the seed program, Choptank plans to sustain the program past the initial training and implementation. Choptank’s Director of Community-Based Programs Chrissy Bartz said that about 15% of Denton Elementary’s student population has an asthma diagnosis, and they anticipate being able to identify more children who may be at risk for asthma through the Open Airways program.
The Caroline County Council of Arts received the full $5,000 they requested to support several events: an African-American Read-In at the Caroline County Public Library’s Denton Branch, a Black History and Arts Celebration, and a Riverside Speakeasy. Representatives explained that the cost to attend two of these three events is free in an effort to break down financial barriers, hence the need for grant funding.
Aaron’s Place, which just celebrated their relocation to Sixth Street in Denton, requested $5,000 for “workshops on life skills, mental health education, parenting support classes, and health and wellness education,” said Denton Town Manager Scott Getchell. Some of the grant funds may also go towards upcoming events at Aaron’s Place.
Last but not least, the Caroline County Historical Society received $5,000 to continue with the planning phase of the Knotts-Walsh House garden project. “The idea is to transform the back garden into a usable public space,” Getchell said. The home is located in Downtown Denton just two doors down from the Museum of Rural Life. The grant money will cover preliminary planning of the garden’s layout and consulting with organizations like the Caroline County Garden Club, Adkins Arboretum, the Caroline County Bird Club, and Delmarva Wild Ones on how to best beautify the space while keeping it environmentally practical.
“Good luck with your projects,” said Mayor McNinch, “We actually lowered our tax rate this year, and we're able to provide these projects. So in a world where everything's going wrong, we're moving forward.”
