Two long-time supporters of the Baltimore-based Kennedy Krieger Institute, which has a location in Columbia and Odenton, recently gave a total of $6.6 million to the Institute through their estates. One gift will be used to recruit new scientists; the other to support the overall work of Kennedy Krieger. These two gifts are the largest legacy gifts from single donors in the Institute’s history.

Eleanor Black Requard, of St. Michaels, Md., a Maryland educator, bequeathed $5.4 million to Kennedy Krieger to be used for the Institute’s strategic priority of recruitment of new faculty and scientists. Requard was a Brooklyn, N.Y., native whose family came to Baltimore when her father was appointed as chief engineer charged with overseeing construction of the Domino Sugar plant. She graduated from Towson University (then called Maryland State Normal School) and received a master’s degree in education from The Johns Hopkins University. She later served as a supervisor for Baltimore’s Board of Education before she assumed the task of implementing kindergarten throughout the Baltimore County Public School system.
Audrey Clark of Glen Burnie, bequeathed $1.2 million to the Institute. The gift came with no restrictions other than to provide funding for the Institute’s greatest needs. Clark worked as an executive secretary for B&O Railroad and enjoyed volunteering and spending time with her extended family.

Both women gave modestly but continually throughout their lifetimes; their charitable giving supported causes that included but was not limited to the education and health care of children. Their generosity also mirrors a current trend in philanthropy that sees women playing a large role in a family’s charitable giving.