Cashiers Community Fund Awards Grants Totaling $110,000

The Cashiers Community Fund is pleased to announce $110,000 in grants to nonprofits, including schools, food pantries, medical clinics and more, serving Cashiers and the surrounding region.

The grants include:

Hampton Preschool and Early Learning Center - $5,000 to support staff training and to purchase curriculum materials and supplies for programs for preschool children.

Summit Charter School - $10,000 to support the purchase of iPads, the Discovery Science E-Book/Streaming package and funding for modular units in Project Lead the Way STEM Labs.

Blue Ridge Mountain Health Project - $9,000 to support staff and purchase dental supplies for the continued expansion of dental services provided by the clinic.

The Community Care Clinic of Highlands-Cashiers, Inc. - $10,000 to support free health care services to uninsured, low-income residents, primarily from southern Jackson and southern Macon counties.

Fishes and Loaves Food Pantry - $10,000 to help alleviate hunger in the Cashiers community by providing food to people in need.

Highlands-Cashiers Hospital Foundation - $6,000 toward the purchase of equipment required to improve primary health care services at the Cashiers Medical Center.

Life Challenge of Western North Carolina - $10,000 to provide residential shelter, rehabilitative care and life skills education to low-income, at-risk women in greater Jackson County and Western North Carolina.

The Boys & Girls Club of the Plateau - $10,000 toward the start-up of Project LEARN, an afterschool program to assist students of the Highlands-Cashiers Plateau achieve academic success.

The Jackson County Parks and Recreation Department - $10,000 for construction of a covered pavilion for use as an Outdoor Classroom at the Cashiers/Glenville Center.

The Martin Lipscomb Performing Arts Center (PAC) - $10,000 toward the PAC Youth Theater Program that provides comprehensive theater arts education to high school students on the Highlands-Cashiers plateau.

The Bascom - $10,000 for the Community Arts Education Initiative that delivers art education to the residents of Jackson County in collaboration with the school systems and local nonprofit organizations.

The Village Conservancy/Village Green - $10,000 toward the construction of a new "Welcome to Cashiers" stone gateway sign.

"We are delighted that we could fund such a diverse selection of grants through our independent grant cycle," said Board Chair Tommy Valenta. "The Cashiers Community Fund was created, in partnership with The Community Foundation, to serve our county's needs, large and small. We are grateful to all who contribute and hope that more will consider contributing so that we can continue to meet our county's needs now and in the future."

The local volunteer advisory board works to raise awareness of the Cashiers Community Fund and to build assets for the future. The Board Members are: Lisa Bates, Jeanne Builder, Pat Carlton, Charlie Coker, T. Wayne Davis, Bob Dews, Louis Freeman, Shannon Hargrove, JT Lane, Jochen Lucke, Sam Lupas, Will Madden, Becky McKee, Ed Michaels, Sarah Nelson, Harry Phillips, Brenda Pollak, Toby Summerour, Tommy Valenta (Chair), Dennis Winchester and Anthony Zande. For additional information about the Cashiers Community Fund, contact Chair Tommy Valenta at (214) 369-3449.

The Cashiers Community Fund supports projects improving the quality of life in greater Cashiers and benefitting the broad community and its residents. CCF provides grants between $2,500-10,000 to nonprofit organizations and public agencies for charitable purposes, including programmatic needs, capital campaigns and operating expenses.