MC917 Foundation, Inc.

To provide human and financial resources that advance the social, educational, intellectual and economic well-being of individuals, families and other charitable organizations.

MC917 Foundation, Inc. is the philanthropic arm of The Monday Club, Inc. — one of the oldest Black men's civic organizations in the country and the oldest in Delaware, founded in Wilmington in 1876. We incorporated as a Delaware 501(c)(3) in 2017 to formalize nearly 150 years of community commitment into structured, sustainable philanthropy.

Who we serve: Our primary focus is student persistence — helping Pell-eligible college students from single-parent households stay enrolled and finish their degrees. Through our Longwood Foundation-funded Student Persistence & Support Initiative at Delaware State University, we provide non-academic stabilization support: emergency financial assistance, mental health access via telehealth, and mentoring — the kinds of support that prevent stop-out but that scholarships alone don't cover. We also run a bi-monthly direct-to-student food delivery program with Rosehill Community Center, designed specifically to reach students who would never self-identify as food insecure or walk into a campus food pantry.

Beyond DSU, MC917 supports the Wilmington community through Wilmington Little League, Adopt-A-Family, an annual Thanksgiving Turkey Drive, and a youth mentoring initiative in partnership with The Monday Club.

Our values: We believe dignity matters as much as dollars — our programs are built to remove stigma, not just provide aid. We operate lean and volunteer-led, prioritize direct relationships with the people we serve over bureaucracy, and hold ourselves to the same rigor and accountability we'd expect of any funder-facing institution, because we are one.

We're now building our first paid staff infrastructure to sustain this growth responsibly — starting with the Executive Program Coordinator role we're posting today.