Annual grant cycle a pillar of support for nonprofits working in Berkeley County
Charleston, SC: April 30, 2015 – Coastal Community Foundation, a grantmaking institution dedicated to serving coastal South Carolina, today announced this year’s grantees from the Giving Back to Berkeley County Fund. Thanks to the generosity of local donors and proceeds from Santee Cooper’s Celebrate the Season event, the fund recently awarded $65,000 to 12 local nonprofits with the help of a grants committee of local community members.
Ray Smith, a member of grants committee, shared “Participating in the grants evaluation process of the Giving Back to Berkeley County Fund allowed me to see how a range of nonprofit organizations are working daily in to impact the quality of life in Berkeley County. From encouraging children to read books, delivering meals to our senior citizens, to providing shelter to abused children, these organizations are making a difference. The Giving Back to Berkeley Fund is pleased to help them carry out this work.”
This year’s grantees regularly work together to address challenges facing Berkeley County. For example, Helping Hands of Goose Creek, which is using its grant award to support the “client choice” section of its emergency food program, receives a portion of its food from Lowcountry Food Bank. The food bank in turn also supplies food to fellow grantee East Cooper Meals on Wheels to support programs that deliver food to homebound residents.
The Giving Back to Berkeley County Fund was established in 2008 as an endowed fund to improve the quality of life in Berkeley County by supporting a network of local nonprofits. A grants committee of local community members, selected annually, work together to read applications, conduct site visits and recommend grants from the fund. Started by an anonymous donor, the fund has distributed $279,000 since its founding. To learn more about how you can support Berkeley County, contact Caroline Mullis at caroline@coastalcommunityfoundation.org.
2015 Giving Back to Berkeley County Fund Grantees:
American Red Cross
The ARK of South Carolina
Carolina Youth Development Center
Children in Crisis
Communities in Schools of the Charleston Area
East Cooper Meals on Wheels
Helping And Lending Outreach Support (HALOS)
Helping Hands of Goose Creek
Lowcountry Food Bank
Roscoe Reading Program
SC Governor’s School for Science & Math
Trident Literacy Association