Community Foundation of the Lowcountry Completes Third Round of Grantmaking for COVID-19 Response Fund

Community Foundation of the Lowcountry has completed a third ground of COVID-19 grantmaking and distributed $34,250 in grants to two organizations located in Hampton and Colleton Counties. Both organizations are providing relief to local residents who are experiencing negative impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Community Foundation of the Lowcountry’s COVID-19 response fund was established to rapidly deploy funds to nonprofit organizations addressing the needs of individuals and families struggling from the challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic,” says Chris Kerrigan, president and CEO of the foundation.

The Community Foundation’s Community COVID-19 Response Fund was established in mid-March. In the first round of grants, 11 nonprofits received grants totaling $158,050. The second round of grants awarded more than $90,000 to six nonprofits. All the organizations are located in the Community Foundation’s four-county service area of Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton and Jasper Counties.

The community has donated more than $240,000 to the Lowcountry Community COVID-19 Response Fund, according to Kerrigan. The Community Foundation has added an additional $200,000 to the fund.

A special COVID-19 grants advisory committee, comprised of community leaders from Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton and Jasper Counties, was established to review the grant applications.

The following organizations have received grants in this third round of applications:

• Love Abound CDC (The Joseph Storehouse) – for food pantry expenses and emergency housing relief for Hampton County residents who have increased needs due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

• CCEDC Two, Inc. (Colleton Commercial Kitchen) – for food to expand their services to reach an underserved segment of the Colleton County population which faces increased food insecurity caused by the coronavirus.

Kerrigan stresses that the 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 fund’s donation landing page at cflowcountry.civicore.com/covid.