<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Annual grants reception unites donors, grantees and guests from across the Southern Lowcountry</em></p>
Coastal Community Foundation, a grant making institution dedicated to serving coastal South Carolina, today announced that The Beaufort Fund, an endowed grant making fund managed by the Foundation, awarded $656,670 to 60 nonprofits. Members of the Southern Lowcountry community gathered at an annual reception on Friday, February 6th honoring grantees at the Port Royal Sound Foundation’s Maritime Center. The reception brought together many guests, including Mayor Billy Keyserling of Beaufort and State Representative Weston J. Newton, to celebrate the success of grantees from across the region.

“The Beaufort Fund of Coastal Community Foundation once again brought out the best in the charities of the Lowcountry,” explained George Stevens, President/CEO of Coastal Community Foundation. “We saw partnerships and collaboration across the philanthropic landscape, from donors to nonprofits to volunteers.  The web of interactions defies simple categories as arts organizations partnered with food banks, hospitals with early childhood literacy programs, and so on.  It was truly an ecosystem’s worth of positive partnerships.”

Those partnerships were apparent during the reception program, as Coastal Community Foundation staff members Richard Hendry, Ali Titus and Gloria Duryea highlighted unexpected connections between grantees. For example, Clemson University Extension Services in Colleton County runs a program on healthy eating for families that is operated in conjunction with Lowcountry Food Bank. Lowcountry Food Bank also partners with YMCA of Beaufort County, helping to provide fresh fruits and vegetables to children participating in the YMCA’s afterschool programs. One of the YMCA’s many afterschool program sites is hosted by Agape Family Life Center of Jasper County. Agape also partners with Antioch Educational Center to offer a computer class program.

Coastal Community Foundation is proud to support the important services provided by these and countless other organizations through The Beaufort Fund. Since its founding in 1998, The Beaufort Fund has awarded nearly $7 million in grants to local organizations across Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton and Jasper Counties. Grants are recommended by a diverse committee of community leaders drawn from across the four counties.

<em>For more information about The Beaufort Fund, contact Program Officer Ali Titus at Ali@CoastalCommunityFoundation.org. To learn more about supporting Coastal Community Foundation’s work in the Southern Lowcountry, reach out to Director of Development Steffanie Dohn at Steffanie@CoastalCommunityFoundation.org.</em>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>List of 2015 Grantees</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">•  Agape Family Life Center
•  Alzheimer’s Family Services, Greater Beaufort
•  American Red Cross
•  Antioch Educational Center
•  Arts Center of Coastal Carolina
•  Beaufort County First Steps
•  Beaufort County Open Land Trust
•  Blackville Community Development Corporation
•  Born To Read
•  Boys &amp; Girls Clubs of the Lowcountry
•  Camp Wildwood
•  Center for Heirs’ Property Preservation
•  CAPA: Child Abuse Prevention Association
•  Church of the Harvest Apostolic
•  Circle of Hope Ministries
•  Clemson University Extension Services
•  Coastal Conservation League
•  CODA: Citizens Opposed to Domestic Abuse
•  Colleton Center
•  Colleton County First Steps
•  Colleton County Arts Council
•  Colleton Memorial Library - Children’s Department
•  COSY - Collaborative Organization of Services to Youth
•  Franciscan Center
•  Good Neighbor Free Medical Clinic
•  Hampton County First Steps
•  Hampton County Literacy Council
•  Hampton Friends of the Arts
•  HELP of Beaufort
•  Hope Haven of the Lowcountry
•  Jacksonboro Community Center
•  Jasper County Council on Aging
•  Jasper County Hunger-Free Zone
•  Literacy Volunteers of the Lowcountry
•  Little Red Dog Foundation
•  Lowcountry Food Bank
•  Low Country Habitat for Humanity
•  Lowcountry Legal Volunteers
•  Lowcountry Open Land Trust
•  Meals on Wheels – Bluffton/Hilton Head
•  Med-I-Assist Bluffton
•  Memory Matters
•  NAMI Beaufort County
•  Neighborhood Outreach Connection
•  Nemours Wildlife Foundation
•  New Destiny Center
•  Palmetto Project
•  Planned Parenthood Health Systems
•  Ronald McDonald Charities/CareMobile
•  Salvation Army of Beaufort
•  Second Helpings
•  Sheldon Township Med-I-Assist
•  South Carolina Environmental Law Project
•  South Carolina Literacy Task Force
•  St. John A.M.E. Church
•  Teach for America South Carolina
•  Technical College of the Lowcountry Foundation
•  Under One Roof
•  Volunteers in Medicine
•  YMCA of Beaufort County</p>
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