Shapiro, a Baltimore headquartered 100-year-old Customhouse broker and international freight forwarder, recently selected CollegeBound Foundation as the recipient of its annual holiday endowment. CollegeBound encourages and enables inner city students within the Baltimore City public school system to pursue a college education. Founded in 1988 as a small non-profit, CollegeBound has established a nationally recognized college advising model and helped to secure college acceptance for more than 1,500 students during the 2014-2015 school year. For more than 26 years, the CollegeBound Foundation has helped Baltimore City students realize their dreams of a college education and has aided in transforming the lives of more than tens of thousands of students. Today, CollegeBound operates on-site in 14 Baltimore City public high schools, providing full-time college advisors, delivering need-based funding through “Last Dollar Grants,” and administering an annual scholarship portfolio exceeding $1.5 million.

Shapiro, whose philanthropic work can be traced back to its humble beginnings in 1915, has been providing holiday donations on behalf of its customers for the past seven years and incorporates education and charitable activities into the core of its culture. Its Educational Committee grants an annual scholarship, open to all Shapiro employees’ children, to a deserving student. Shapiro also contributes teaching hours to the University of Baltimore’s Export Import Management course in the Merrick School of Business. The company maintains an internal education program, Shapiro University, for employees to learn and cross-train in varying career paths, and covers tuition for qualifying courses and performance levels for staff who seek continuing education. Shapiro, which was recently named one of Baltimore’s Top Workplaces for the fifth year in a row by the Baltimore Sun, completes its community support program by allowing employees to volunteer once a year on company time and matches employees’ donations dollar-for-dollar to most non-profit organizations.

“We are excited to present something that not only demonstrates our commitment to the communities we serve, but is also a reflection of the Shapiro culture, “ noted Margie Shapiro, Shapiro’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “Shapiro is proud to support an organization that emphasizes the importance of education and strives to make a difference in the lives of our youth.”

To learn more about CollegeBound’s college access program in Baltimore City public high schools, visit their website at www.collegeboundfoundation.org.