(March 2021) – The Fund for Haywood County with the J. Aaron and Adora H. Prevost Endowment Fund and the Mib and Phil Medford Endowment Fund awarded nine grants totaling $24,610 in a recent grant cycle. Since 1994, The Fund for Haywood County, in partnership with CFWNC, has awarded grants totaling $1,196,298.
“These awards are possible because people who care about this community built a fund over time,” said Advisory Board Chair Adam Bridges. “Nonprofits have faced so many challenges over the past year. We are pleased to award these grants to help important community organizations address the needs of those continuing to suffer from the pandemic and to aid in our community’s recovery.”
The 2021 grants are:
$2,710 to Babies Need Bottoms to provide diapers, wipes, rash cream and basic hygiene essentials to Haywood families facing persistent poverty and acute crisis.
$2,325 to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Western North Carolina to recruit, screen, train and place ten new mentoring volunteers (Bigs) that will be paired with fifteen K-12 children (Littles) who reside in Haywood County.
$2,125 to Clothes To Kids of Haywood County to defray the cost of rent, utilities and phone for its clothing shop for kids.
$2,975 to Community Kitchen to purchase food and supplies needed to provide fresh, hot meals nightly.
$3,115 to Fines Creek Community Association toward supplemental food and MANNA Pantry operating costs.
$3,080 to Haywood County Health and Human Services Agency to provide new mothers with access to education and infant safety products, including car seats, pack and plays and diapers.
$3,220 to Haywood County Meals on Wheels to provide meals to disadvantaged seniors 60 years and older who are homebound, struggling to prepare meals due to physical or mental health challenges, or lack other assistance or resources.
$2,850 to Haywood Habitat for Humanity from the Mib and Phil Medford Endowment Fund toward the construction of a greenway connecting Haywood Habitat for Humanity's future neighborhood of ten affordable homes on Sylvan Street to the Town of Waynesville’s Chestnut Park.
$2,210 to KARE (Kids Advocacy Resource Effort) to support the Positive Parenting Program that addresses the significant need for parenting outreach resources in rural Haywood County and provides services to families who have been exposed to violence and maltreatment.
In 1994, local residents established The Fund for Haywood County as a permanent charitable endowment to meet local needs. Gifts added to the Fund’s principal are preserved and invested, while grants from the Fund support nonprofits in Haywood County.
The local volunteer Advisory Board includes: Adam Bridges (Chair), Kim Ferguson, Jeff Haynes, Scott McLeod, Steve McNeil, Jonathan Song, Stephanie Strickland, Mathew Underwood, Sarah Wenzel and Eric Yarrington.