Community Foundation of the Lowcountry Awards Impact Grants to 11 Lowcountry Organizations

These competitive grants, distributed twice per fiscal year, are available to organizations serving people who live or work in southern Beaufort County. In this cycle, Impact Grants were awarded for projects and programs related to health, human services, education, environment, culture, and nonprofit planning. 

The recipients of the spring 2024 Community Foundation of the Lowcountry Impact Grants are: 

• Beaufort County School District - $125,000 for Early Childhood Teacher Development, which includes an upfit to an existing room at the Hilton Head Island Early Childhood Center. 
• Bluffton Community Soup Kitchen -$16,000 for the “Look Mom, I have a Green Thumb” afterschool program, which includes the purchase of a greenhouse and gardening supplies.
• Bluffton Gullah Cultural Heritage Center - $30,000 for the development of curriculum for the interpretive center’s outreach programs. 
• Habitat for Humanity of the Lowcountry - $125,000 for the Harvey Place project, with the purpose of purchasing affordable homes from the developer to move into the Habitat program.
• Rotary Club of HHI Charitable Foundation (Environmental Club) - $16,750 for the Quench Buggy project, which includes the purchase of a mobile filtered water trailer that aims to address the issue of discarded plastic water bottles in southern Beaufort County. 
• Second Helpings - $77,500 for the creation of a Fleet Management program, including the addition of a Fleet Coordinator to the staff.
• Lowcountry Early Childhood Coalition (via United Way of the Lowcountry) - $30,000 to improve early childhood development in Beaufort and Jasper counties using The Basics Principles program. 
• 120 Strong (via United Way of the Lowcountry) - $28,650 to fund a mentoring program for selected middle school-age boys that will focus on their academic, physical, and social-emotional needs.
• United Way of the Lowcountry - $25,000 for the “Community Wide Collective Impact Transformation” project, which includes the funding of a consultant to develop a community-wide strategic plan for nonprofits.
• University of South Carolina Beaufort - $65,000 for the Life Science Education Living Laboratory, which includes transforming a campus greenhouse into a hands-on learning space for students.
• Volunteers in Medicine Hilton Head Island - $135,300 to purchase a new X-Ray machine, enabling faster diagnoses and improved accuracy for disadvantaged patients.

Community Foundation of the Lowcountry is pleased to offer a co-funding opportunity for generous people interested in supporting projects above that were not fully funded through the current grant cycle. To learn more about these grantmaking opportunities, visit the Community Foundation’s Grants Catalog at https://lowcountry.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/list/grant

If you need more information, please contact Debbie Cahoon at dcahoon@cf-lowcountry.org or call 843-681-9100.