Central Carolina Community Foundation awards $146,520 to 25 local nonprofits during spring grant cycles

Central Carolina Community Foundation (CCCF), the Midlands’ local center for philanthropy, has awarded 25 local nonprofits grants during the spring grant cycles. The grants awarded are the Milford Wessinger Building Better Tomorrows, Capacity Building mini-grants, joint funding opportunities, and Beyond the Table mini-grants.

“The grants awarded by our Board of Trustees will allow 25 local nonprofits to increase their impact in our region,” states JoAnn Turnquist, president and CEO of Central Carolina Community Foundation. “We are incredibly grateful for these organizations who serve our community and enhance our lives.”

Grants from the Milford Wessinger Building Better Tomorrows Fund were awarded to four local nonprofit organizations who are providing health and human service programs for the underserved in Lexington and Richland counties. The total dollars awarded is $24,700. The selected nonprofits and their projects are:

• Central South Carolina Habitat for Humanity, for supporting participants enrolled in the Habitat Homeownership Program, a program that builds strength, stability, and self-reliance through shelter.
• District Five Foundation for Educational Excellence’s, Snack Pack program, which provides nutritional food for district students to ensure children can to eat through the weekend.
• Palmetto Place Children’s Shelter’s, Unaccompanied Youth program, which creates individualized care plans for the at-risk youth population that addresses health, physical, emotional, educational and vocational needs. This funding will cover the yearly cost of three teens in the program.
• Senior Resource’s, Meals on Wheels program, which provides food to elderly and disabled adults who cannot maintain an adequate, healthy diet, either because of transportation or financial constraints.

Capacity Building mini-grants were awarded from Central Carolina Community Foundation’s Community Impact Fund and provide nonprofits with funds to strengthen their organizational and financial stability and carry out their missions more effectively. Six organizations were awarded a total of $30,000:

• Mental Illness Recovery Center to update financial procedures and streamline their budgeting and reporting processes.
• Mission Lexington to partner with teams from University of South Carolina majoring in supply chain management to inform reorganization of their space for more efficient work flow.
• My Amigos Bilingual Education Center to develop and implement a formal three to five year communication plan and marketing strategy.
• Palmetto Animal Assisted Life Services to establish an in-house breeding program.
• SC Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault to develop a plan to effectively measure program impact.
• The Hive Community Circle to create a branding strategy and communications plan.

The Foundation’s Board of Trustees also approved grants totaling $71,820 that will be awarded to organizations addressing current community needs and to organizations leading collaborative funding opportunities. The collaborative joint funding grants have been awarded to:

• The City of Manning’s Community Heart and Soul project, a two-year, evidence-based community development project to develop phase two of Manning’s Main Street South Carolina project. CCCF and the Orton Family Foundation are jointly funding this project.
• Richland Library to provide basic household items to families who were displaced from Allen Benedict Court. The library team is securing funding from a number of sources including CCCF.
• The SC Grantmakers Network. The Network, several statewide partners including CCCF, and the Census Equity Fund will provide funds to support a complete and accurate 2020 Census count with a focus on reaching hard-to-count populations.
• Sumer Community Foundation to jumpstart collaborative grantmaking with the newly formed Funders Initiative, which will enhance prosperity and livability in Sumter. CCCF is a member of the Initiative.

The previously announced Beyond the Table grants were also awarded this spring, awarding 11 local nonprofits a total of $20,000 for projects addressing the areas identified as a community priority in the On the Table survey. More information about these grants and the recipients can be found at www.OnTheTableCola.org.

For more information about Central Carolina Community Foundation and their grantmaking, visit www.YourFoundation.org.

About Central Carolina Community Foundation

Central Carolina Community Foundation, the Midlands’ center for philanthropy, 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. Major initiatives include the online giving challenge Midlands Gives, On the Table, Connected Communities grants, the One SC Fund, the Best of Philanthropy Awards, annual scholarships, and more. For more information about the Foundation, visit www.yourfoundation.org or call 803.254.5601.