*Updated March 23, 2020*

As a community foundation, CCCF is positioned to meet the ongoing needs of our local communities.  Over the last 35 years, our Community Foundation has served as the region’s philanthropic collaborator and, in this role, has been the first call for many when disaster strikes including Hurricane Hugo and the historic floods of 2015.

Today, we are facing an unprecedented challenge: the alarming spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.  This pandemic is taking a toll on everyone and every organization, including our region’s nonprofits. Canceled fundraisers, a decline in donations from corporations and individuals due to market jitters, the absence of volunteers, and increased demand are taxing nonprofits’ abilities to operate.

Our board and staff are working with philanthropy, government, and business partners locally and across the state to respond to community needs and support nonprofit organizations in our 11-county service area, helping build their capacity to respond to this crisis. As a result, we have launched the Midlands Community Response Fund with a $75,000 grant from our Board of Trustees.

The fund will provide resources to nonprofit organizations in our region working with priority groups, including senior citizens, residents without health insurance and/or access to paid sick leave, part-time and/or seasonal workers — including hospitality and service-industry workers — individuals experiencing homelessness, residents with limited English language proficiency, and healthcare workers in our 11-county service area of Calhoun, Clarendon, Fairfield, Kershaw, Lee, Lexington, Newberry, Orangeburg, Richland, Saluda, and Sumter.

To ensure our philanthropic dollars have high impact, we are coordinating our grant efforts with the three United Way organizations in our region (Midlands, Kershaw, Sumter-Clarendon-Lee), local, regional and state governments, and the One SC Fund: COVID-19 Response. The One SC Fund has been activated to provide a collaborative statewide response and will continue to be housed at Central Carolina Community Foundation. Our ability to harness our philanthropic resources and engage our constituents is more important than ever. Please consider donating to the Midlands Community Response Fund: COVID-19 by mailing a check or directly through our secure online portal.

Our staff is also supporting our region’s nonprofit organizations by extending grant completion deadlines and providing additional time for reporting.  We will work with each of our grantees to ensure that our funding programs are not creating an additional burden for their staff members.

Our Midlands Gives online giving platform is active and provides a vehicle to expand the reach of nonprofit organizations to donors across our region.  Through the month of April, we are waiving the platform fee for all donations made to an organization through Midlands Gives.

We encourage everyone to join us in supporting our nonprofit organizations — organizations that are vital to the health and well-being of our community. You can donate to the Midlands Community Response Fund, the One SC Fund, or to nonprofit organizations through Midlands Gives or their organization’s website.

Thank you for your support. Stay well.

DONATE TO THE MIDLANDS COMMUNITY RESPONSE FUND

DONATE TO THE ONE SC FUND