The One SC Fund: COVID-19 Response, housed at Central Carolina Community Foundation, has awarded $940,600 to 48 organizations across South Carolina. The grants were awarded through a targeted approach to support South Carolina’s most vulnerable communities and will aid South Carolina residents with basic needs, education support, rent and utility assistance, mental health support and vaccine rollout.

“While our communities have made strides in pandemic recovery, the need for assistance is still great,” says JoAnn Turnquist, president and CEO of Central Carolina Community Foundation. “These grants assist local organizations — organizations that are extremely knowledgeable about and well-positioned within their communities — with meeting the specific needs of their residents.”

Since activation in March 2020, The One SC Fund: COVID-19 Response has distributed almost $4.4 million to nonprofits serving every South Carolina County. These grants provided essential goods and services to more than 610,000 South Carolinians during the pandemic. Over $4.5 million has been raised for the fund by generous individuals and corporations, including The Duke Endowment, the Smidt Foundation (Harbor Freight Tools), Central Carolina Community Foundation, Colonial Life and Verizon.

Funding priority was given to organizations serving counties and populations most impacted by the pandemic. For that reason, a majority of One SC Fund: COVID-19 grants were made to organizations that are led by people who are Black, Indigenous or people of color (BIPOC) and are highly trusted by and deeply embedded in these communities. BIPOC-led organizations received 56% of funding through the most recent round of COVID-19 grants, with 92% of the organizations  serving majority BIPOC communities.

Grants were awarded to the following organizations:

• Academic Technology and Wellness Academy
• Beyond Abuse
• Black River United Way
• Bluffton Self Help
• CMDs Pantry
• Charleston Urban League, Inc.
• Chester County EMS
• Classy Smiles, Inc.
• Communities in School of South Carolina
• Cooperative Church Ministries of Orangeburg
• Cultivating Early Learning
• Delta Life Development Center
• Dillon County LTRG
• Edisto Habitat for Humanity
• Edisto Indian Free Clinic
• Empower Development Center
• Fairfield County Council on Aging
• Fairfield Forward
• Faith Home, Inc.
• Freedom Readers, Inc.
• Galatians 62
• Golden Harvest Food Bank
• Great Grand Family Foundation
• Greenwood Pathway House, Inc.
• Harvest Hope Food Bank – PeeDee Branch
• Heart of Life
• Helping Hearts Senior Services, Inc.
• Helping Others Progress Through Education
• HOPE in Lancaster, Inc.
• Hopewell Senior Day Care Center
• Kershaw County Housing Authority
• Life Empowerment Community Outreach
• Lighthouse Ministries
• Marion County Long-Term Recovery Group
• Marlboro School Community Center, Inc.
• Midlands Fatherhood Coalition
• Miss Ruby’s Kids
• Power in Changing – The diaper bank of the Midlands
• Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina
• Sumter Senior Services, Inc.
• Teach My People
• The Manna House
• The Naomi Project
• The Village Group
• TriCounty Family Ministries
• Unitarian Universalist Church of Spartanburg, SC, Inc.
• United Way of Chesterfield County

The One SC Fund was established in 2015 as a statewide disaster relief fund and has directed donations to relief efforts for the Thousand-Year Flood, Hurricane Matthew and Hurricane Florence. The One SC Fund: COVID-19 Response, activated in March 2020, is a statewide response to food, shelter, health, and other priority needs stemming from the coronavirus pandemic.