Community Foundation of the Lowcountry has distributed an additional $49,012 in grants to three local organizations providing help to those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Community Foundation established the Lowcountry Community COVID-19 Response Fund in mid-March to rapidly deploy funds to nonprofit organizations addressing the needs of individuals and families struggling from the challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic. This is the fourth round of grants awarded since early April. To date, the fund has raised more than $471,000 and granted $331,362 to 22 organizations in Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton and Jasper Counties.

A grants advisory committee, comprised of community leaders from Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton and Jasper Counties, reviews the grant applications. The following organizations have received grants in this fourth round of grantmaking:

Love House Learning Academy – for food that will be provided to children who attend their childcare center whose parents are essential employees. Love House Learning Academy is partnering with Lowcountry Food Bank and Beaufort County Parks and Leisure Services as they reopen two sites to meet this need resulting from school closures.

Meals-on-Wheels, Bluffton-Hilton Head – for food costs related to expanding weekend meal service to low-income, infirm and homebound clients. The grant will provide one weekend meal to up to 120 individuals for 13 weeks.

Volunteers in Medicine – for personal protective equipment to ensure the safety of staff and patients who seek care when the clinic reopens to serve low-income members of the community.

Because this pandemic will be ongoing, the Lowcountry Community COVID-19 Response Fund is still accepting donations. If you’d like to make a tax-exempt donation to the Lowcountry Community COVID-19 Response Fund, you can do so by visiting the Community Foundation’s home page at www.cf-lowcountry.org or by going to the fund’s donation landing page at https://cflowcountry.civicore.com/covid.