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Foundation awards $8.8M during first half of fiscal year

Staff Report //February 7, 2020//

Foundation awards $8.8M during first half of fiscal year

Staff Report //February 7, 2020//

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The Central Carolina Community Foundation has awarded more than $8.8 million in grants and scholarships during the first half of the 2019-2020 fiscal year.

A total of $8,801,087 was awarded from July 1-Dec. 31, 2019. That represents 1,012 grants and scholarships given to organizations in the foundation’s 11-county area as well as throughout the state and nation, according to a news release from the foundation.

Some grants are awarded at the discretion of foundation’s impact committee, while others are based on donor recommendations. All awards are approved by the foundation’s board of trustees.

Organizations receiving awards included education- and faith-based groups, human services and arts and culture groups, including $470,000 distributed to 47 Midlands nonprofits at a surprise breakfast hosted by the Cheerful Giver, an anonymous foundation donor. The foundation also awarded $298,462 to the Lynches River Conservation Fund to improve the water quality and ecosystem of the Lynches River watershed.

“The foundation has grown dramatically in the last 35 years through the generosity of our donors,” said JoAnn Turnquist, president and CEO of Central Carolina Community Foundation, in a news release. “The awarded grants will provide funding to organizations that are vital to our community’s well-being.”

The award total also included more than $450,000 in scholarships to 196 students in South Carolina and across the country.

Scholarship applications for the 2020-2021 school year are currently open through March 5.

The foundation has awarded more than $191 million in grants since it was founded in 1984.

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