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· Private foundation

John Edward Fowler Memorial Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$2.7M
Granted FY2025still arriving
82
Grants FY2025still arriving
6
States reached
$200k
Largest
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Education$3.4MHousing & Shelter$2.8MHuman Services$2.2MYouth Development$1.5MCommunity Improvement$1.4MFood & Nutrition$1.3MEmployment$1.1MHealth$1.1MOther$0
02FY2025 · 82 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k1 grant · $5k
  • $10k–50k69 grants · $1.8M
  • $50k–250k12 grants · $905k
$25,000
Median grant
6
States reached
$66M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Rockville Community Nursery School$200,000
Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington$100,000
Building Bridges Across the River$100,000
Arlington Free Clinic$70,000
Central Union Mission$65,000
DC Central Kitchen$65,000
Aspire Afterschool Learning$55,000
One World Education$50,000
Fair Chance$50,000
Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless$50,000
Barker Adoption Foundation$50,000
St Ann's Center$50,000
Neighborhood Health$40,000
District Alliance for Safe Housing$40,000
Kitchen of Purpose$40,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY20–25, $2.2M) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 7%. 93% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 7%Homestretch Inc: $25k → 4%Together We Bake: $25k → 9%Together We Bake: $20k → 9%Together We Bake: $20k → 9%Aspire Afterschool Learning: $55k → 7%Aspire After School Learning: $40k → 7%NOVA Scripts Central Inc: $40k → 6%St Ann's Center for Children Youth Family: $40k → 11%NOVA Scripts Central Inc: $30k → 6%NOVA Scripts Central: $30k → 6%We Are Family Senior Outreach: $20k → 14%Aspire After School Learning: $30k → 7%Aspire After School Learning: $25k → 7%Arlington Thrive: $40k → 7%Arlington Thrive Inc: $40k → 7%Main Street Child Development Center: $25k → 6%Arlington Thrive: $40k → 7%For Love of Children: $45k → 14%For Love of Children: $45k → 14%Barker Adoption Foundation: $50k → 8%For Love of Children: $45k → 14%Barker Adoption Foundation: $50k → 8%For Love of Children: $40k → 14%Barker Adoption Foundation: $50k → 8%Barker Adoption Foundation: $50k → 8%Barker Adoption Foundation: $35k → 8%Reach Education Inc: $25k → 14%Reach Inc: $25k → 14%Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless: $75k → 8%Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless: $75k → 8%Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless: $50k → 8%Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless: $50k → 8%Future Link: $40k → 8%Future Link: $35k → 8%Future Link: $35k → 8%New Futures: $35k → 14%New Futures: $35k → 14%New Futures: $35k → 14%New Futures: $35k → 14%Fair Chance: $50k → 14%Fair Chance: $50k → 14%Fair Chance: $50k → 14%DC Affordable Law Firm: $35k → 14%DC Affordable Law Firm: $35k → 14%DC Affordable Law Firm: $35k → 14%DC Affordable Law Firm: $25k → 14%Samaritan Ministry of Greater Washington: $40k → 14%Iona Senior Services: $40k → 14%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

86%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$15M · 122 repeat orgs$2.4M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +22% since the first grant, against +19% for those funded once.

122 repeat relationships: 60 still active in FY2025, 62 since wound down; 22 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

122
50

Total granted

$15M
$1.8M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+22%
+19%

Still filing today

80%
56%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 77% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $620k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’20’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesEducationHousing & ShelterArts & CultureFood & NutritionHealthOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • BB
    BUILDING BRIDGES ACROSS THE RIVER INC
    6× · 2020–2025 · $1.3M · revenue +178%
  • BA
    BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF GREATER WASHINGTON AND AFFILIATE
    6× · 2020–2025 · $600k · revenue +74%
  • TD
    THE DC CENTRAL KITCHEN INC
    5× · 2020–2025 · $535k · revenue +52%

Funded once

  • GC
    Glenbrook Cooperative Nursery School
    one grant, 2024 · $300k
  • BF
    Bread for the City
    one grant, 2021 · $200k
  • CA
    CAPITAL AREA FOOD BANK INCgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $150k · revenue +39%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Everyone Home Dc

We support the holistic needs of individuals and families at risk of or experiencing homelessness. Housing is our starting point. Seeing people thrive is our finish line.

Human Services
2
Pathways to Housing Dc

Pathways to housing dc prevents and ends homelessness for persons living with serious psychiatric disabilities and other complex health challenges.

Human Services
3
Washington Dc Meals on Wheels Inc

We deliver healthy delicious meals to our home-bound neighbors. With a vision of creating a more interconnected resilient and compassionate community our program supports entire family systems. In 2024 236 volunteers delivered 55,642 meals…

—
4
Cityworks Dc

Our mission is to dramatically improve the early career outcomes of dc youth and young adults of color by creating innovative programs and by mobilizing employers, educators, and city leaders to create a local, diverse talent pipeline. our…

Education
5
Healthcare Access Maryland Inc

We are making maryland healthier by connecting residents to insurance and care, educating the community about healthier living, and advocating a more equitable health care system.

Health
6
Community of Hope

Community of hope's mission is to improve health, end homelessness, and partner with communities to make washington, dc more equitable.

Community Improvement
7
Washington Voa Living Center

Low-income housing.

—
8
Capitol Hill Day School

Capitol Hill Day School is a co-educational independent school serving students from pre-kindergarten through 8th grade. Capitol Hill Day School deeply engages a diverse community of students in connecting the classroom with the larger…

Education
9
Moveable Feast Inc

Moveable feast's mission is to improve the health of marylanders experiencing food insecurity and chronic illness by preparing and delivering medically tailored meals and providing nutrition education, thereby achieving racial, social, and…

—
10
Wonders Early Learning Extended Day

To create and advance high quality, diverse educational communities that teach children the foundations of life-long learning and social responsibility.

—
11
Building Changes

Building changes advances equitable responses to homelessness in washington state, with a focus on children, youth, and families. we work at the intersection of housing, education, and health systems, partnering with communities and public…

Health
12
Washington Area Community Investment Fund Inc

The washington area community investment fund (wacif) is a nonprofit community loan fund focused on increasing equity and economic opportunity in the washington, dc area's underserved communities. wacif's mission is driven is driven by…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless Inc; the most unlike its peers is Life Pieces to Masterpieces. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

143 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 143 of the 194 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
36
Early backer (in before they grew)
140/143
Grantees still filing
99/143
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF GREATER WASHINGTON AND AFFILIATE: $600,000 · OtherBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF GREATER WASHINGTON AND AFFILIATETHE DC CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $535,000 · OtherTHE DC CENTRAL KITCHEN INCGlenbrook Cooperative Nursery School: $300,000 · OtherJunior Achievement of GW: $300,000 · OtherSO WHAT ELSE INC: $465,000 · Other+100 more: $6,750,000 · Other+100 moreTHE MONTGOMERY COUNTY COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS INC: $250,000 · Human ServicesTHE MONTGOMERY …The Barker Adoption Foundation: $235,000 · Human ServicesThe Barker Adop…FOR LOVE OF CHILDREN: $175,000 · Human ServicesFOR LOVE OF CHI…Western Fairfax Christian Ministries: $170,000 · Human ServicesWestern Fairfax…ASPIRE AFTERSCHOOL LEARNING: $150,000 · Human ServicesASPIRE AFTERSCH…FAIR CHANCE: $150,000 · Human ServicesFAIR CHANCENEW FUTURES: $140,000 · Human ServicesNEW FUTURESDC Affordable Law Firm: $130,000 · Human ServicesDC Affordable L…FUTURE LINK INC: $130,000 · Human ServicesFUTURE LINK INCARLINGTON THRIVE: $120,000 · Human ServicesNOVA ScriptsCentral: $100,000 · Human ServicesTogether We Bake: $80,000 · Human Services+19 more: $555,000 · Human Services+19 moreWASHINGTON SCHOOL FOR GIRLS: $720,000 · EducationWASHINGTON …ONE WORLD EDUCATION: $290,000 · EducationONE WORLD E…ROCKVILLE COMMUNITY NURSERY SCHOOL: $200,000 · EducationROCKVILLE C…COLLEGETRACKS INC: $120,000 · EducationCOLLEGETRAC…COLLEGIATE DIRECTIONS INC: $80,000 · EducationMONTGOMERY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $75,000 · Education+12 more: $356,000 · Education+12 moreBUILDING BRIDGES ACROSS THE RIVER INC: $1,275,000 · Community ImprovementPathForward Inc: $90,000 · Community Improvement+2 more: $25,000 · Community ImprovementCENTRAL UNION MISSION: $260,000 · Housing & ShelterFriendship Place: $235,000 · Housing & ShelterHOUSING UNLIMITED INC: $180,000 · Housing & ShelterCALVARY WOMEN'S SERVICES INC: $120,000 · Housing & ShelterVOLUNTEER LEGAL ADVOCATES: $100,000 · Housing & ShelterMANNA INC: $100,000 · Housing & ShelterNEW ENDEAVORS BY WOMEN: $90,000 · Housing & ShelterDISTRICT ALLIANCE FOR SAFE HOUSING INC: $70,000 · Housing & ShelterGood Shepherd Housing & Family Services Inc: $60,000 · Housing & ShelterCommunity Lodgings Inc: $60,000 · Housing & ShelterCARPENTER'S SHELTER INC: $60,000 · Housing & Shelter+2 more: $55,000 · Housing & ShelterLA COCINA VA: $240,000 · Food & NutritionTHRIVE DC: $150,000 · Food & NutritionCAPITAL AREA FOOD BANK INC: $150,000 · Food & NutritionNOURISH NOW FOUNDATION INC: $105,000 · Food & NutritionTHE FATHER MCKENNA CENTER INC: $90,000 · Food & NutritionTHE SOCIETY OF ST ANDREW INC: $75,000 · Food & NutritionCrossroads Community Food Network Inc: $75,000 · Food & NutritionBREAD FOR THE CITY INC: $50,000 · Food & NutritionCommon Good City Farm: $45,000 · Food & Nutrition+2 more: $15,000 · Food & NutritionTHE WASHINGTON BALLET: $260,000 · Arts & CultureYoung Playwrights Theater: $90,000 · Arts & CultureDUMBARTON ARTS AND EDUCATION INC: $75,000 · Arts & CultureDANCE PLACE: $60,000 · Arts & CultureTHE THEATRE LAB INC: $60,000 · Arts & CultureARTS FOR THE AGING INC: $50,000 · Arts & CultureLIFE PIECES TO MASTERPIECES: $40,000 · Arts & CultureANNE'S PLACE INC: $40,000 · Arts & Culture+4 more: $85,000 · Arts & Culture
Other$8,950,000Human Services$2,385,000Education$1,841,000Community Improvement$1,390,000Housing & Shelter$1,390,000Food & Nutrition$995,000Arts & Culture$760,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetBUILDING BRIDGES ACROSS THE RIVER INC: $1,275,000 over 6y, 2.5% of budgetWASHINGTON SCHOOL FOR GIRLS: $720,000 over 6y, 2.1% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF GREATER WASHINGTON AND AFFILIATE: $600,000 over 6y, 0.9% of budgetTHE DC CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $535,000 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetSO WHAT ELSE INC: $465,000 over 6y, 7.2% of budgetONE WORLD EDUCATION: $290,000 over 6y, 6.8% of budgetTHE WASHINGTON BALLET: $260,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetCENTRAL UNION MISSION: $260,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetARLINGTON FREE CLINIC INC: $255,000 over 4y, 1.5% of budgetTHE MONTGOMERY COUNTY COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS INC: $250,000 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetLA COCINA VA: $240,000 over 4y, 11% of budgetFriendship Place: $235,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetThe Barker Adoption Foundation: $235,000 over 5y, 1.5% of budgetROCKVILLE COMMUNITY NURSERY SCHOOL: $200,000 over 1y, 37% of budgetFOOD & FRIENDS INC: $185,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetHOUSING UNLIMITED INC: $180,000 over 4y, 2.0% of budgetFOR LOVE OF CHILDREN: $175,000 over 4y, 4.2% of budgetWestern Fairfax Christian Ministries: $170,000 over 4y, 1.3% of budgetBRIGHT BEGINNINGS INC: $160,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetASPIRE AFTERSCHOOL LEARNING: $150,000 over 4y, 3.4% of budgetTHRIVE DC: $150,000 over 3y, 1.9% of budgetCAPITAL AREA FOOD BANK INC: $150,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetN STREET VILLAGE INC: $150,000 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetFAIR CHANCE: $150,000 over 3y, 2.4% of budgetDANCE INSTITUTE OF WASHINGTON: $140,000 over 4y, 1.6% of budgetNEW FUTURES: $140,000 over 4y, 2.4% of budgetLittle Lights Urban Ministries Inc: $130,000 over 4y, 1.6% of budgetINSIGHT MEMORY CARE CENTER: $130,000 over 1y, 5.7% of budgetDC Affordable Law Firm: $130,000 over 4y, 2.1% of budgetMobile Medical Care Inc: $130,000 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetHOPE AND A HOME: $130,000 over 4y, 3.1% of budgetFUTURE LINK INC: $130,000 over 4y, 5.8% of budgetCOLLEGETRACKS INC: $120,000 over 3y, 2.0% of budgetArlington Pediatric Center Inc: $120,000 over 3y, 2.1% of budgetARLINGTON THRIVE: $120,000 over 3y, 3.1% of budgetCALVARY WOMEN'S SERVICES INC: $120,000 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetRebuilding Together DC Alexandria: $120,000 over 5y, 6.6% of budgetDOORWAYS FOR WOMEN AND FAMILIES INC: $110,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetNICK'S PLACE INC: $110,000 over 4y, 8.2% of budgetNOURISH NOW FOUNDATION INC: $105,000 over 5y, 1.5% of budgetDC SCORES: $105,000 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetVOLUNTEER LEGAL ADVOCATES: $100,000 over 4y, 1.4% of budgetNOVA ScriptsCentral: $100,000 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetJubilee Jumpstart: $100,000 over 3y, 2.0% of budgetMANNA INC: $100,000 over 3y, 1.6% of budgetJUBILEE HOUSING INC: $100,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetBYTE BACK: $95,000 over 3y, 3.7% of budgetYoung Playwrights Theater: $90,000 over 4y, 2.9% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds BUILDING BRIDGES ACROSS THE RIVER INC ↗
  • Who funds WASHINGTON SCHOOL FOR GIRLS ↗
  • Who funds BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF GREATER WASHINGTON AND AFFILIATE ↗
  • Who funds THE DC CENTRAL KITCHEN INC ↗
  • Who funds SO WHAT ELSE INC ↗
  • Who funds ONE WORLD EDUCATION ↗
  • Who funds THE WASHINGTON BALLET ↗
  • Who funds CENTRAL UNION MISSION ↗
  • Who funds ARLINGTON FREE CLINIC INC ↗
  • Who funds THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS INC ↗
  • Who funds LA COCINA VA ↗
  • Who funds Friendship Place ↗
  • Who funds The Barker Adoption Foundation ↗
  • Who funds ROCKVILLE COMMUNITY NURSERY SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds FOOD & FRIENDS INC ↗
  • Who funds HOUSING UNLIMITED INC ↗
  • Who funds FOR LOVE OF CHILDREN ↗
  • Who funds Western Fairfax Christian Ministries ↗
  • Who funds BRIGHT BEGINNINGS INC ↗
  • Who funds ASPIRE AFTERSCHOOL LEARNING ↗
  • Who funds THRIVE DC ↗
  • Who funds CAPITAL AREA FOOD BANK INC ↗
  • Who funds N STREET VILLAGE INC ↗
  • Who funds FAIR CHANCE ↗
  • Who funds DANCE INSTITUTE OF WASHINGTON ↗
  • Who funds NEW FUTURES ↗
  • Who funds Little Lights Urban Ministries Inc ↗
  • Who funds INSIGHT MEMORY CARE CENTER ↗
  • Who funds DC Affordable Law Firm ↗
  • Who funds Mobile Medical Care Inc ↗
  • Who funds HOPE AND A HOME ↗

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz FoundationDC148.8× affinity78 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation · Clark-Winchcole Foundation · Philip L Graham Fund co Graham Holdings Company · Greater Washington Community Foundation · United Way of the National Capital Area · Dimick Foundation John M Lynham Jr Trustee · William S Abell Foundation Inc · World Bank Community Connections Fund · Nora Roberts Foundation · Corina Higginson Trust Co Laura Ford Trustee · Joseph E & Marjorie B Jones Foundation Corporation · Venable Foundation Inc

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization John Edward Fowler Memorial Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from John Edward Fowler Memorial Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 70%3%10%23%40%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 13%
  • Bethesda Cares Inc: 100% of income from government
  • The Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless Inc: 19% of income from government
  • Mobile Medical Care Inc: 17% of income from government
  • Imagination Stage Inc: 13% of income from government
  • St Anns Center for Children Youth and Families: 6% of income from government
  • Cornerstone Montgomery: 3% of income from government
  • Arts for the Aging Inc: 2% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
7get no government money at all
75report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely on government for over half their income
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to John Edward Fowler Memorial Foundation?

Find your warmest path to John Edward Fowler Memorial Foundation through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 194 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

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