Greenville Women Giving, a 550-member local philanthropic organization, awarded a record-setting $613,485 in grants last evening during its annual meeting at the Hyatt Regency downtown. Since its founding in 2006, Greenville Women Giving has granted more than $4.8 million to more than 80 Greenville County nonprofits in five areas: arts and culture, education, environment, health and human services, according to a news release.
The 2017 grant recipients are:
- Alston Wilkes Society ($45,756), to provide additional staff and direct client assistance to help former offenders transition back into the community through an employment readiness program;
- Feed and Seed ($34,854), to hire a field coordinator who will add efficiency to the process of providing access to affordable local produce;
- Fostering Great Ideas ($47,000), to develop a Greenville Tech student/staff mentoring program for foster children to assist with college applications and ensure college success;
- Mental Health America of Greenville ($49,875), to use AmeriCorps volunteers to create an online training and scheduling program for mental health volunteers;
- Project Host ($100,000), to expand soup kitchen space and equipment for a specialized bakery to enhance job training and sustainability;
- Rebuild Upstate ($52,000), to provide critical home repairs for 125 low income residents, and adding staff to assist with homeowner education;
- South Carolina Children’s Theatre ($80,000), to purchase needed equipment for the new Theatre Arts Center to ensure state-of-the-art theatrical productions;
- United Ministries ($54,000), to purchase a van to provide transportation for the homeless and underserved to essential community resources and programs;
- Upstate Forever ($80,000), to establish conservation easements to protect signature property along the Reedy River downtown (Camperdown Way) and throughout Greenville County, and
- Urban League of the Upstate ($70,000), to expand the capacity of a highly successful program designed to keep at-risk youth from acquiring a criminal record due to minor offenses.
Founded in 2006 as a special initiative of the Community Foundation of Greenville, Greenville Women Giving is a nonprofit organization made up of women whose purposes are both educational and philanthropic. Greenville Women Giving sponsors year-round educational opportunities for its members and guests, designed to inform about specific Greenville community needs.
Its members contribute annually to a collective pool that is distributed to local nonprofits, following a membership-led grants review process and vote.