Greater Chapin Community Endowment Receives Check for over $216,000 from Generous Chapin Man’s Estate
January 5, 2010
COLUMBIA, SC – January 5, 2010 – The Greater Chapin Community Endowment (GCCE) announces it has received $216,594 from the estate of John C. Buck Smith. Smith’s decision to leave a bequest to the GCCE sprouted from his friendship with Louetta Slice. She served as the Endowment’s first chair and continues to serve on the Board of Advisors today.
Buck gave of himself to many people during his 97 years and unselfishly so, said Ms. Slice. Each of us who knew him is a better person for having the opportunity to call him a friend. Giving to the Greater Chapin Endowment was a way for Buck to continue giving to his beloved Chapin even after he was gone from us.
Smith was probably most well-known as the captain of the 1933 and 1934 University of South Carolina Men’s Basketball teams that had a 32-game winning streak over two seasons to win the program’s first and only national championship. Smith was very proud of this accomplishment and had several scrapbooks which told the story of that feat.
Smith served as a teacher, coach, mentor and friend during his lifetime and his name will forever be in the record books for his part in USC’s national championship. But Smith’s legacy will live far beyond those accomplishments because of his decision to make a planned gift to the Greater Chapin Community Endowment, a component fund of Central Carolina Community Foundation.
The GCCE was established in 2003 to assist in providing resources for a broad range of existing and future charitable needs in the Greater Chapin area of South Carolina. This area includes Ballentine, White Rock, Chapin, Little Mountain and Prosperity. This permanent endowment will promote and advance the social, academic, cultural and historic concerns of the area surrounding Chapin.
Nonprofit organizations in Chapin will continue to benefit from Smith’s gift for decades to come. Thanks to the generosity of Smith and many others, GCCE is now accepting proposals from nonprofits in the Chapin area for its first grantmaking cycle. Grant applications are due February 1, 2010, and details can be found online at chapin.yourfoundation.org.
About Central Carolina Community Foundation
Central Carolina Community Foundation is a nonprofit organization serving 11 counties in the Midlands by distributing grants and scholarships and linking the resources of donors, nonprofits and area leaders to communities in need. For more information about the Foundation, visit yourfoundation.org or call 803.254.5601.
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Photo Caption: Endowment Chair J. Robert Skip Wilson Jr. and Past Chair Louetta A. Slice accept the check on behalf of the Greater Chapin Community Endowment.
