WUMCO: Origins and Growth

WUMCO began about 1968 with a small food pantry in the home of the late Beulah Harper. Jane Stearns, personal friend of Beulah, started providing transportation for medical and other critical needs. At about that time church-based Help organizations were being established down County. An organization initially titled Poolesville Help was established here, but the name quickly changed to WUMCO Help in recognition of our broader service area of Western Upper Montgomery County.

Cooperation was sought from local churches; the response was generally "We don't need that here." In June 1972 we were greeted with (to quote our thank you letter) "a big surprise - in fact, it was the biggest single cash donation we have ever gotten!" - $200 from the MEMCO Charitable and Scholarship Foundation.

WUMCO began to grow in 1985 when we were chartered by the State as a not-for-profit corporation for charitable purposes. Within the next year we obtained official recognition by the Internal Revenue Service as a tax-exempt organization (retroactive to 1968).