(August 2025) The Cashiers Community Fund awarded 21 grants totaling $168,880 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 (CFWNC), has awarded grants totaling $2,352,280.
“This year, we are honored to award grants to 21 local organizations whose work strengthens our Cashiers community and uplifts causes that truly make a positive difference,” said Advisory Board Chair Melissa Warren Hudson. “We are grateful for our generous Cashiers Community Fund donors and encourage everyone in our community to continue investing in the people and causes that make our town such a wonderful place to live, work, and play.”
The 2025 grants are:
$2,000 to The Bascom for free, hands-on ceramics programming for older adults.
$10,000 to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Western North Carolina for materials, recruitment, and training for a high school mentoring program.
$12,500 to Blue Ridge Free Dental Clinic to purchase supplies to provide free dental services for low-income people.
$10,000 to Boys & Girls Club of the Plateau to provide life skills programs to teens.
$7,000 to Cashiers Valley Preschool to provide a play space for preschool-aged children.
$9,470 to Center for Domestic Peace to provide operating support for intervention services.
$10,000 to Community Care Clinic of Highlands-Cashiers to provide health services to youth.
$5,000 to Counseling Center of Highlands to expand community awareness of mental health services.
$8,000 to Fishes and Loaves Food Pantry to purchase food.
$5,000 to Friends of Panthertown to sustain an outdoor recreational area.
$11,910 to Glenville-Cashiers Rescue Squad to purchase two VP 8000 Tri-Band radios that will help coordinate emergency responses.
$12,500 to Hampton School to support an early childcare program.
$7,000 to Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust to provide youth environmental education and outreach programs.
$10,000 to The International Friendship Center to support an English language learner program.
$4,000 to JAM Blue Ridge to provide musical education activities for elementary and middle school students.
$10,000 to Pisgah Legal Services to provide free civil legal assistance and advocacy to low-income survivors of domestic violence and child abuse.
$10,000 to Summit Charter School for a college counseling position to help students with college enrollment.
$8,000 to The Village Green to move an electrical service center prone to flooding.
$10,000 to Vecinos Farmworker Health Program to provide bilingual primary and behavioral healthcare for uninsured, low-income adults.
$2,500 to Vision Cashiers to expand and enhance the current Cashiers Greenway Ramble.
$4,000 to Western Carolina University for a STEM education program for youth through the Highlands Biological Station.
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 Fund and to build assets for the future. The advisory board members are Melissa Warren Hudson, Chair, Laura Moser, Vice Chair, Joyce Wellman Fisk, Secretary, Lisa Bates, Tim Boeve, Scott Dunbar, Christopher Dyer, Paiden Hite, Leah McKell Horton, Kati Miller, Scott Turner, Herron Weems, and Susan Weltner Yow. For additional information about the 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. The Fund 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 works with families, businesses and nonprofits to strengthen communities through the creation of charitable funds and strategic grantmaking. A permanent charitable resource, CFWNC manages over 1,300 funds and has facilitated more than $456 million in philanthropy since its founding in 1978.
CFWNC supports the growth of its affiliate funds to extend the benefits of philanthropy across the region.