(August 2024) The Cashiers Community Fund awarded 22 grants totaling $166,330 to nonprofits serving the Cashiers community in its recent grant cycle. These grants also received funding from the Lyn K. Holloway Memorial Fund. The Cashiers Community Fund, in partnership with The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, has awarded grants totaling $2,183,400.
“Through our grant program, the Cashiers Community Fund supports local nonprofits doing vital work in and for our community,” said Advisory Board Chair Melissa Warren Hudson. “Building an endowment for the Cashiers region has allowed us to give back to organizations that provide critical services and improve the quality of life for everyone who lives here. We hope that we can fund more programs with more dollars each year, which is why we continue to grow the Fund. We are grateful to our friends and neighbors who support us in these important efforts.”
The 2024 grants are:
$10,000 to Adults Working and Advocating for Kids Empowerment (AWAKE) for upgrades to the center’s interview room.
$2,500 to The Bascom to support its Cashiers Creative Community Initiative that aims to expand accessible art programs in Cashiers.
$8,000 to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Western North Carolina to support recruiting efforts, programming, and salary of the program coordinator.
$10,000 to Blue Ridge Free Dental Clinic for Dental Assistant staff costs.
$10,000 to Boys & Girls Club of the Plateau to support the Read to Learn and Boost academic programs.
$2,830 to Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society for its low-cost or free spay/neuter program.
$5,000 to Center for Domestic Peace to support operating costs for Intervention Services, including staff and items needed by clients.
$12,500 to Community Care Clinic of Highlands-Cashiers to provide healthcare access to low-income, uninsured residents of Cashiers and Highlands.
$8,000 to Fishes and Loaves Food Pantry to purchase food for distribution in Jackson County and surrounding areas to people who fall below the Federal poverty line.
$5,000 to Friends of Panthertown to support the Panthertown Valley Stewardship Project.
$9,000 to Glenville-Cashiers Rescue Squad to purchase eight sets of extrication gear.
$12,500 to Hampton School for operating costs at the only early childcare program caring for children as young as six-weeks old in Southern Jackson County.
$8,000 to Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust to support its Environmental Education and Outreach programs.
$10,000 to International Friendship Center to help with costs of dinners and childcare for participants in its English Language Learners classes.
$4,000 to JAM Blue Ridge for program operating costs.
$9,000 to MountainTrue to support development of a Long-Term Conservation Plan for Jackson County’s District 4.
$7,500 to Pisgah Legal Services to support free civil legal assistance to low-income survivors of domestic violence and child abuse who live and work in and around Cashiers.
$10,000 to Summit Charter School to support Summit's College Access program.
$10,000 to The Village Green for amenity improvements at the Village Play playground.
$7,000 to Vecinos Farmworker Health Program to provide access to culturally-aligned, bilingual, integrated primary and behavioral healthcare for farmworkers.
$2,500 to Vision Cashiers for expanding and enhancing the current Cashiers Greenway Ramble.
$3,000 to Western Carolina University to sustain its STEM Outreach Program at local schools.
Among the area’s longest standing charitable funds, the Cashiers Community Fund’s distinction as an endowment positions it to provide support in perpetuity. The local volunteer Advisory Board works to raise awareness of the Cashiers Community Fund and to build assets for the future. The board members Lisa Bates, Christopher Dyer, Joyce Wellman Fisk, Paiden Hite, Leah McKell Horton, Melissa Warren Hudson (Chair), Harriet Karro (Secretary), Kati Miller, Laura Moser (Vice Chair), Scott Turner, Bill Viehman, Herron Weems and Susan Weltner Yow. For additional information about the Cashiers Community Fund, contact Chair Melissa Warren Hudson at 404-395-8461 or melwhudson@gmail.com.
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-$12,500 to nonprofit organizations and public agencies for charitable purposes, including programmatic needs, capital campaigns and operating expenses.
To make a tax-deductible contribution, donate online or by mail to the Cashiers Community Fund, c/o CFWNC, 4 Vanderbilt Park Drive, Suite 300 Asheville, NC, 28803, memo line: Cashiers Community Fund. Contributions of any size are welcome.
CFWNC supports the growth of its affiliate funds to extend the benefits of philanthropy across the region.