The Marian Greenblatt Fund is now closed
The Marian F. Greenblatt Education Fund closed in December 2024 after 36 years of charitable efforts. The Fund has distributed its assets in awards to many outstanding Montgomery County, MD teachers and students, as well as to local hospitals combating breast cancer. The Fund is named for Dr. Marian Greenblatt, who was twice elected to the County Board of Education and served from 1976 to 1984. She died of breast cancer in 1988.
Since its founding to honor Dr. Greenblatt’s memory, the Fund has given $200,000 to recognize 118 excellent teachers and 595 outstanding students in the county. For many years, the Fund was integrally involved with the school system in selecting the County Teacher of the Year. One of the Fund’s selections became National Teacher of the Year in 2006 and was honored at the White House by President George W. Bush. For the Fund’s work, the Country Board of Education honored Marian’s husband, Mr. Greenblatt, with its Award for Distinguished Service in 2019.
In 2022, the Fund shifted its funding focus from education to halting breast cancer. It has donated a combined total of more than $1,000,000 to Inova Hospital of VA for patient screening and monitoring, as well as to two affiliates of the Johns Hopkins University Medical System: Sibley Hospital in DC for research and Suburban Hospital in MD for patient assistance. The donation to Inova supports a major outreach effort: a bus equipped with mammogram screening and other equipment that visits low-income neighborhoods to provide diagnostic services in under-served communities. The bus will test hundreds of women per week, many of whom have no regular medical care. Once patients are enrolled in the Inova system through this outreach/mobile testing program, further care is easier to provide.
The Greenblatt family is grateful to the many donors, judges, and advisors who helped the Fund to perform its mission and honor Marian’s legacy.
In 2024, the Fund made a significant donation to support a bus equipped with mammogram screening and other equipment that visits low-income neighborhoods to provide diagnostic services in under-served communities. The bus will test hundreds of women per week, many of whom have no regular medical care.
When Marian met (then) Vice President George H. W. Bush at the White House in 1982, he said, "Marian Greenblatt! Your name is practically a household word.” He had read about her work on the Montgomery County Board of Education and was very supportive of her efforts.
The Fund supports the Oncology Nurse Navigator Program at Suburban Hospital, which provides complimentary resources to newly-diagnosed cancer patients and their families.
In 2024, the Fund made a significant donation to support a bus equipped with mammogram screening and other equipment that visits low-income neighborhoods to provide diagnostic services in under-served communities. The bus will test hundreds of women per week, many of whom have no regular medical care.
Breast Cancer Programs
The Marian Greenblatt Fund is currently supporting two programs that address breast cancer. The Fund supports a Patient Navigator Program at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda MD, an affiliate of Johns Hopkins Medicine. The program assigns a skilled nurse to explain to new breast cancer patients the different treatment options and the resources available to patients, and then follows the patient through the treatment process, being a source of information, comfort, and support. About 300 patients a year are helped by this program. Read more about the Funds' work with Suburban Hospital in their 2023 impact report.
The Fund also supports a screening program at Inova Hospital in Fairfax, VA. The program is led by Dr Rebecca Kaltman, director of the Saville Center for Screening and Prevention. At the first screening event, an Arts and Healing program held in conjunction with the Nueva Vida community organization, women enjoyed art projects, music, and a warm breakfast while receiving cancer screenings and other health and wellness screenings.
On Monday May 13, 2024, the Inova Fairfax Hospital's Schar Cancer Center dedicated the Marian Greenblatt Fund Examination Room in the Inova Saville Cancer Screening and Prevention Center. Dr. Rebecca Kaltman, Executive Director of the Inova Saville Cancer Screening and Prevention Center and a board-certified oncologist specializing in breast cancer, spoke at the dedication attended by Greenblatt family members. Dr. Kaltman said: "We greatly appreciate the Marian Greenblatt Fund's generous gift that enables us to more easily examine patients both at the Saville Center in Northern Virginia and in the community. Research has shown that the earlier we can detect cancer in peoples' lives, the greater the chances of successfully treating cancers. The Greenblatt donation also is a first step in enabling us to initiate a new, fully-equipped mobile unit to extend our screening outreach to those who have work or have family obligations that make it difficult to come to the hospital." Dr. Marshal Greenblatt, President of the Greenblatt Fund, added, "The Greenblatt Fund is happy to honor the memory of Marian in such a meaningful way--by increasing the number of people screened to prevent the scourge of cancer."
In 2022, the Fund provided support to breast cancer research led by Karen L. Smith, M.D., M.P.H., a medical oncologist specializing in breast cancer at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center at Sibley Memorial Hospital and assistant professor of oncology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Smith's research primarily focuses on patient-reported outcomes and reducing toxicities of cancer therapy. She is interested in improving the lives of all patients facing breast cancer but has a special focus on those living with metastatic disease, those diagnosed at a young age, and those at risk for recurrence of hormone-receptor positive disease.
Jones/Greenblatt Drone Scholarship
From left: Mr. Wally Jones, Anthony Houser, Aiden Dabbondanza, Dr. Marshal Greenblatt. They are students in the Magruder High School Aviation program under the direction of Mr. Michael Smith.
The Marian Greenblatt Fund helped establish the Jones/Greenblatt Drone Scholarship at Magruder High School in 2022. The first scholarships were awarded to Eli Schwartzman and Himanshu Gediya in a ceremony at the school’s Award Assembly on May 26, 2022. The scholarship was conceived by Mr. Wally Jones, an expert in Drone Technology at MITRE Corporation and son of the founders of the Jones Family/Plasma Fellows/Greenblatt World Language Scholarship, given for many years to students in MCPS. Magruder has a world-class aviation program, of which drone studies are a prominent part. Click HERE to read Mr. Jones' speech at the 2024 awards ceremony.
Past Awardees
The Marian Greenblatt Education Fund has awarded outstanding teachers from 1989 through 2021, and supported breast cancer treatment since 2022. Please see all our former awardees here.
Latest News
Marian Greenblatt Education Fund to close
Inova Fairfax Hospital's Schar Cancer Center dedicates exam room to the Marian Greenblatt Fund
Navigating Through a Cancer Diagnosis: Facilitating Informed Decision-Making (Suburban Hospital 2023 Impact Report)
MGEF President honored by Montgomery County Board of Education
MGEF President honored by Regional Manufacturing Institute
