Chapter News

The Chapter continued the tradition of helping those in need by donating $500 to the Bea Gaddy Family Center. The annual donation was the brainchild of our longtime chapter member Dave Webb who passed away suddenly this past year. To honor Dave's memory, the Board of Directors voted to name our annual donation:

In addition to the "Thanksgiving" event, the Bea Gaddy Family Center provides assistance for heating and rent needs for individuals and families.

The Chapter participated in the 2011 Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure on Sunday, October 23, 2011. Team ACFE had close to 30 people participate in the race. Thanks to the members' participation and related sponsorships we helped raise approximately $1,500 to help fight breast cancer. Special thanks to Board Member Amber Schon, the ACFEMD Team Captain, who spearheaded the Chapter's participation for the second time.

For anyone who would like to show support for our Komen Race for the Cure team through a donation, go to our team page (http://www.komenmd.org/2011/mdacfe). Under the “Team Members” portion, you can either click on the “General Team Donation” or a specific team member and be taken to a page to make your donation. Donations can be made by credit card or debit card. The site accepts VISA, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover.

The Chapter participated in the 2010 Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure on Sunday, October 3, 2010. Team ACFE had 7 people participate in the race. Thanks to the members' participation and related sponsorships we helped raise almost $600 to help fight breast cancer. Special thanks to Board Member Amber Schon, the ACFEMD Team Captain, who spearheaded the Chapter's participation.

For anyone who would like to show support for our Komen Race for the Cure team through a donation, go to our team page (http://www.komenmd.org/2010/acfemd21). Under the “Team Members” portion, you can either click on the “General Team Donation” or a specific team member and be taken to a page to make your donation. Donations can be made by credit card or debit card. The site accepts VISA, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover.

The Chapter helped support the Maryland Chapter of the American Red Cross at the 21st Annual ACFE Fraud Conference & Exhibition. The Chapter sponsored an 8gb Ipod Touch and held a raffle at our exhibit booth at the conference with 100% of the proceeds going to the Red Cross. Congratulations to Patricia Maloney of Citizens Financial Group who won the Ipod.

The raffle raised $650 which was presented to Ray Herman, Manager of Philanthropy at American Red Cross of Central Maryland, at the September chapter meeting. The funds will be used to assist victims of local disasters. Thanks to all those who contributed including the "ACFE celebrity" who made a generous donation to the cause.

The Maryland Chapter Attends the 21st Annual ACFE Fraud Conference & Exhibition

The Chapter attended the 21st Annual ACFE Fraud Conference & Exhibition in beautiful National Harbor, MD. Five Chapter members attended the conference and promoted our local fraud fighting initiatives at the Chapter booth in the Exhibit Hall. The conference was kicked off with the annual Chapter Leader Meeting attended by Chapter President Brian Tanen and Secretary Mellissa Schuch. The next two and a half days were filled attending various sessions to recruit speakers for our local fraud conference and networking with thousands of fellow fraud fighters from across the globe. The conference ended with the closing ceremony and exhibitor raffle which included the Chapter Ipod raffle to support the American Red Cross.

The 22nd Annual ACFE Fraud Conference & Exhibition will be held June 12-17, 2011 in San Diego, CA

The Maryland Chapter of the ACFE joined the international campaign to assist Haiti

As part of the Chapter's commitment to help the community, we have contributed $1,000 to Doctors without Borders to assist in their efforts to help the people of Haiti.

Every year, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) provides emergency medical care to millions of people caught in crises in nearly 60 countries around the world. MSF provides assistance when catastrophic events — such as armed conflict, epidemics, malnutrition, or natural disasters — overwhelm local health systems. MSF also assists people who face discrimination or neglect from their local health systems or when populations are otherwise excluded from health care.

On any given day, close to 27,000 doctors, nurses, logisticians, water-and-sanitation experts, administrators, and other qualified professionals can be found providing medical care in international teams made up of local MSF aid workers and their colleagues from around the world.

In 2006, MSF medical teams gave more than 9 million outpatient consultations; hospitalized almost half a million patients; delivered 99,000 babies; treated 1.8 million people for malaria; treated 150,000 malnourished children; provided 100,000 people living with HIV/AIDS with antiretroviral therapy; vaccinated 1.8 million people against meningitis; and conducted 64,000 surgeries.

For more information on Doctors without Borders work in Haiti and across the globe or to help contribute to their incredible work, visit their website at www.doctorswithoutborders.org

The Maryland Chapter of the ACFE is proud to have contributed $500 to the Bea Gaddy Family Center.

Pictured is Mr. Webb and Donna, Bea Gaddy's daughter who was most appreciative of our help

In addition to the "Thanksgiving" event, the Bea Gaddy Family Center provides assistance for heating and rent needs for individuals and families. In these financial times many people, young or old from so many different backgrounds are finding themselves in need.

Beatrice Frankie Gaddy - 1933 to 2001 - Humanitarian and Advocate For Hunger

Bea Gaddy, who rose from a life of poverty to become Baltimore's leading advocate for the homeless and poor, died (October 3, 2001) at age 68. Gaddy, who served an annual Thanksgiving feast for the homeless for more than 20 years, died at Johns Hopkins Hospital, where she was being treated for breast cancer, said Tony White, a spokesman for Mayor Martin O'Malley.

Gaddy, who was elected to the City Council in 1999, also operated a family center that has served more than 1 million homeless women and children, according to her Web site. She learned about domestic violence and poverty firsthand during her childhood in North Carolina. She said her father often threw her and her brother out of the house, and that her mother lived in constant fear of being beaten. After working as a housekeeper in Brooklyn, N.Y., for $50 a week, she came to Baltimore in 1964 as a single mother with few hopes or dreams.

But a man she met while working as a school crossing guard encouraged her to go to college, and in the early '70s, she joined the East Baltimore Children's Fund. Her home became a distribution point for food and clothing for the poor. She used the experience to found a homeless shelter, which eventually became the Bea Gaddy Family Centers Inc.

Gaddy held her first Thanksgiving dinner in 1981, feeding 39 people. The event grew each year and peaked in 1993, when Gaddy and about 2,000 volunteers served 20,000 people. The event became smaller after Gaddy was elected to the Council in 1999 as a Democrat representing East Baltimore. Last year, she served about 3,000 in a middle school cafeteria.

In 1998, Gaddy was diagnosed with breast cancer. She underwent chemotherapy treatments and the disease went into remission, but it came back in 2001. Gaddy had said her children would take over her organization if she were unable to run the family center.