The Barbara Macholz Grimaldi Legacy Fund
Supporting our community through projects, programs, and ministries that embody Barb’s dedication to serving others both locally and globally.
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The Barbara Macholz Grimaldi Legacy Fund (BMGLF) honors the life and enduring impact of Barbara Macholz Grimaldi by supporting our community through a dedicated legacy fund established in her memory. The fund is held within the structure of Atonement Lutheran Church, but has an independent board.
Annually, the BMGLF board bestows grants upon congregational and community outreach endeavors, including projects, programs, and ministries that embody Barb’s dedication to serving others both locally and globally. The Barbara Macholz Grimaldi Legacy Fund champions initiatives fostering:
Food Insecurity, Hunger, and Community Gardening
Criminal Justice
Racial Justice
Social Justice
Biblical Justice
Barbara Macholz Grimaldi
Barbara Macholz was born in Albany, NY. Most of her life was lived in Rochester, NY with her parents John and Linda and brother Zachary Macholz. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Muhlenberg College with a Bachelor’s Degree in English and Spanish. She met her husband Matthew Grimaldi at college and they were married at Muhlenberg in 2014.
Following college, Barbie spent time in New York City and Chicago pursuing work in development and communications for non-profit organizations focused on issues of poverty. In 2013 Barbie joined the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia as a Communications Associate. She quickly moved from that position to Director of Development and Communications and then becoming Chief Strategy Officer. These are the words that her colleagues at the Public Interest Law Center wrote about Barbie following her death:
“Throughout her life, Barbara was committed to racial justice and put her passion into action, through her work at the Law Center and other areas of her life. For example, she worked behind the scenes to change an unjust system that allowed prisoners to be released at night without any of their belongings and simply put out on the street. She was instrumental in communicating the facts developed during the Law Center’s successful challenge to Pennsylvania’s gerrymandered Congressional districts, a wrong that unfairly advantaged some over others, and helped spread the word about Pennsylvania’s unjust and inequitable school funding system, which continues to leave students in classrooms with more Black and Hispanic students badly disadvantaged. Barbara put her passion for justice into action outside of her work life. She was aware of the issue of food deserts in urban neighborhoods that face disinvestment, and was involved in creating a community garden at her church in Chicago, and was involved in similar efforts at her church in Narberth.”
Barbie was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in 2015. She battled that disease with everything that she had, but lost her battle on June 14, 2019 at the age of 32. She loved sheep and dogs and Wegmans supermarkets! She was deeply committed to her Lutheran faith and loved spending time on Martha’s Vineyard.
