Waccamaw Community Foundation 2016 grants total $2.1 million

Waccamaw Community Foundation, which supports Georgetown and Horry County charitable organizations and individuals through grants and scholarships, awarded 549 grants in 2016, totaling $2,097,984. The money was distributed from 130 charitable funds established by donors and administered by WCF.

Karen Minogue, director of development, points out that “all funds at WCF are eligible to receive contributions from everyday citizens to address the emerging and growing needs in our community.” In other words, Grand Strand residents need not have huge wealth to financially support causes of their choice.

At the same time, area families concerned about paying for higher education need to be aware of “several scholarship funds at WCF and scholarship season is in full swing. Students should check the WCF website [ www.waccamawcf.org ] and visit their guidances offices for more information.”

Minogue says in her experience, “a lot of scholarship money is left on the table,” in part because qualified students don’t search to find available support. For example, the John M. Draughn & Trena B. Draughn Scholarship Fund for North Myrtle Beach High School students had only two or three applications from students planning to attend Coastal Carolina University or Horry-Georgetown Technical College.

In December, the foundation distributed quarterly grants of $26,000 to 13 organizations, $5,000 from the Waccamaw Community Trust, a permanent, flexible fund for “needs as they arise,” and $21,000 from the Elsie Beavers Carver and E. Lois Carver Educational Fund. Minogue says the foundation received 18 requests totaling $55,500 for the 4th Quarter 2016 grants. The requests “demonstrates a need to more fully fund the community trust fund through donations from the public, to respond to growing, emerging needs.”

The Carver fund is a field of interest fund, focused on education, literacy and educational programming such as after-school programs. The Carver fund provided grants to Waccamaw Youth Center ($5,000) to support the Bridge Tutoring Program; Freedom Readers ($3,000) to develop curriculum and help develop new sites; the CCU Chanticleer Center for Literacy Education ($5,000); Horry County First Steps ($2,000); the Salvation Army of Georgetown County ($1,000) to support its after-school reading and math program; and Brookgreen Gardens ($1,000) for the Reign of Rice Lecture Series, a three-month exhibit. The Carver fund also provided $2,000 grants to Coastal Carolina Council, Boy Scouts of America and the Long Bay Symphonic Society.

Fourth quarter grants of $1,000 from the Waccamaw Community Fund were to Camp Happy Days to support family financial assistance; Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Charleston for pregnancy case management; Community Kitchen of Myrtle Beach for expanding services to the homeless; Grace Ministries for general support of Neighbor-to-Neighbor senior transportation; and the Smith Medical Clinic to assist the pharmacy in purchasing and distributing medication during waiting periods for prescription assistance.

This story was originally published January 9, 2017 at 10:24 PM with the headline "Waccamaw Community Foundation 2016 grants total $2.1 million."