Walmart and the Walmart Foundation support South Carolina nonprofits with more than $360,000 in grants

Twenty-four South Carolina nonprofits have received more than $360,000 in funding as a result of grants from Walmart and the Walmart Foundation. The funding will support hunger relief, healthy eating and other critical local programs across the state.

“With Walmart’s support, we are tackling a health care crisis in the special needs world,” said Barry Coats, president and CEO of Special Olympics South Carolina. “Thank you to Walmart on behalf of the 24,848 individuals with intellectual disabilities that we serve.”

The funding awarded in South Carolina is a combination of recent grant funding to national nonprofit organizations, who then redistributed the grants to select local affiliates across the state, as well as recent grants awarded by the Walmart Foundation’s State Giving Program.* In total, the grant funding amounts to more than $33 million nationwide and is estimated to provide more than 57 million meals to nearly 1.5 million people in communities throughout the country, including here in South Carolina.

“Through these grants, we’re proud to support the vital work these nonprofit organizations do across South Carolina,” said Brooke Mueller, director of public affairs for Walmart. “It’s one way we are joining local communities to make a difference in fighting hunger and strengthening other critical initiatives that give people and families the support they need to improve their opportunities in the future.”

“At the Y, we believe that today’s children are tomorrow’s leaders and we have the responsibility to help develop them. For us, that begins with ensuring that every child has access to nutritious meals all year round” said Heather Cirincione, development director, Pickens County YMCA. “Walmart’s support helps us address hunger in the Easley and Pickens communities so that our most vulnerable children have the energy they need to achieve their potential. This past summer we served over 15,000 meals to more than 650 at-risk youth and, so far this school year, we’ve served nearly 4,000 snacks to over 250 youth.”

For more information about the Walmart Foundation, visit foundation.walmart.com.

 

 

Walmart and the Walmart Foundation Support Non-Profits in South Carolina
In South Carolina Walmart and the Walmart Foundation donated more than $30 million in cash and in-kind contributions to charitable organizations over the last fiscal year. The South Carolina contributions are one piece of the $1.42 billion dollars in total giving by Walmart and the Walmart Foundation during fiscal year 2016. Over the last fiscal year, Walmart donated more than 8.2 million pounds of food to South Carolina food banks—the equivalent of more than 6.8 million meals. Walmart Associates also volunteered more than 20,000 hours with South Carolina nonprofits through the Volunteerism Always Pays program.

About Philanthropy at Walmart
By using our strengths to help others, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation create opportunities for people to live better every day. We have stores in 28 countries, employing more than 2.3 million associates and doing business with thousands of suppliers who, in turn, employ millions of people. We are helping people live better by accelerating upward job mobility and economic development for the retail workforce; addressing hunger and making healthier, more sustainably-grown food a reality; and building strong communities where we operate and inspiring our associates to give back. Whether it is helping to lead the fight against hunger in the United States with $2 billion in cash and in-kind donations or supporting Women’s Economic Empowerment through a series of grants totaling $10 million to the Women in Factories training program in Bangladesh, China, India and Central America, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation are not only working to tackle key social issues, we are also collaborating with others to inspire solutions for long-lasting systemic change. To learn more about Walmart’s giving, visit http://foundation.walmart.com.

Grantee List

The $360,250 in funding was provided to the following South Carolina nonprofits:

• The Walmart Foundation’s South Carolina State Giving Program grants will support hunger relief, healthy eating, career opportunity, and other key local programs across the state. Grants were recently approved for:

• Communities in Schools of South Carolina, Columbia, $48,000, for helping kids stay in school and achieve in life
• Dorchester Children’s Center, Summerville, $25,000, for the clinical services program
• Sexual Trauma Services of the Midlands, Columbia, $25,000, for youth violence prevention
• Special Olympics South Carolina, Irmo, $50,000, for intellectual disability healthcare crisis program
• The Salvation Army, Charleston, $25,000, for afterschool program
• Urban League of the Upstate, Greenville, $25,000, for employment training program

• Chef Ann Foundation grants will help increase participation in the Department of Defense’s Fruit and Vegetable program and provide nutrition education to 35,000 children nationwide, among other outreach. Local schools that received grant funding in South Carolina include:

• Beaufort County Schools, 10 elementary schools in the county received $2,500 each
• Cherrydale Elementary School, Greenville, $2,500

• National Recreation & Park Association grants will provide 18 million meals to 600,000 children across the country and nutrition education to 150,000 children across the country through local park and recreation agencies. Local affiliates who received grant funding in South Carolina include:
o City of Florence Recreation Department, Florence, $10,000

• Share Our Strength grants will support cooking courses and “Cooking Matters at the Store” shopping tours as well as create and pilot a self-guided nutrition education application. Local affiliates who received grant funding in South Carolina include:

• Clemson University Youth Learning Institute – SNAP-Ed, Pickens, $7,250, for Cooking Matters programming and Cooking Matters six-week course
• South Carolina Dept. of Health and Environment Control, Columbia, $6,500

• Y-USA/YMCA grants will support year-long meal programs nationwide, providing 15 million meals to 480,000 children through federally reimbursed after-school and summer meal programs. Local affiliates who received grant funding in South Carolina include:

• Beaufort County YMCA, Port Royal, $43,000
• YMCA of Columbia, Columbia, $43,000
• Greenwood YMCA, Greenwood, $12,500
• Pickens County YMCA, Easley, $12,500