(Published by Jasper Sun Times)
Jasper County groups were recently awarded grants through the Coastal Community Foundation’s The Beaufort Fund.
Fifty-nine nonprofits from Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton and Jasper counties and supporters from the community gathered at an annual reception Jan. 12 to honor grantees at Tabby Place at The Beaufort Inn.
Jasper County programs receiving one-year grants were the Jasper County Council on Aging ($5,000) and Agape Family Life Center ($3,000).
Antioch Educational Center, based in Jasper, received $13,500 to serve Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton and Jasper. Ridgeland-based KT Destiny Center got $3,000.
Grantees serving just Beaufort and Jasper counties include: Bluffton-Jasper County Volunteers in Medicine ($12,000), Boys &Girls Club of the Lowcountry ($13,500), YMCA of Beaufort County ($15,000), Literacy Volunteers of the Lowcountry ($14,000) and Memory Matters ($10,500).
Helping Hand Center ($4,000) will serve Hampton and Jasper counties through its grant. In total, 41 grantees serve Jasper County through The Beaufort Fund funding. Overall, $588,000 in awards was issued.
“It’s wonderful to celebrate a program every year that highlights the generosity, kindness and collaborative spirit at work in our community, especially in light of the divisiveness our country experienced in 2016 and the devastating impact of Hurricane Matthew on our region,” said Danica Whitney, program officer for The Beaufort Fund of Coastal Community Foundation. “This program works because we all work together, and that gives me great hope for the future.”
The Beaufort Fund supports a wide array of nonprofit programs through special project and general operating support. This year, 34 nonprofits – 58 percent of all grantees – received general operating support, an important building block of nonprofit capacity.
The total grants also include awards to 12 three-year grantees, organizations receiving renewable support in recognition of a highly effective program.
Since its founding in 1998, The Beaufort Fund has awarded more than $8 million. Grants are recommended by a committee of community leaders from across four counties.
For more information, go to coastalcommunityfoundation.org.
