Hootie & the Blowfish Foundation Grants $90,000 to Three South Carolina Charities

July 10, 2017

July 10, 2017 (Columbia, S.C.) - The Hootie & the Blowfish Foundation is granting $90,000 over three years to three South Carolina charities working on projects that benefit child welfare and youth arts programs. The three organizations and their projects are:

• Carolina Youth Development Center; Nu House: Independent Living Transition House for Youth Aging Out of Foster Case - In South Carolina, more than 600 foster care children are 18-20 years old and likely to “age out” of the foster care system without the skills and supports necessary to become successful, independent adults. Nu House will work to reduce the likelihood of negative outcomes for youth aging out by providing an independent living transitional home. The house will combine a dorm-like living experience with the support of case managers trained to address the unique needs of youth in foster care.
• Growing Home Southeast; Community Based Prevention Supportive Services Fund – Growing Home Southeast currently offers support services to families referred by the state Department of Social Services. This project will provide a pool of funding for emergency basic needs for these children who are at risk of neglect or abuse. The funds will also help these children have access to after-school and extracurricular programs that provide enrichment and improve well-being.
• Long Bay Symphonic Society, Ltd.; Musicians in the Schools- Through this program, professional musicians will visit Horry and Georgetown County schools to provide students an up-close and personal musical experience.  With this grant, Long Bay Symphony will increase visits to schools and allow advanced Youth Symphony musicians to accompany the professionals, adding a “Youth Teaching Youth” component to the valuable program.

Darius Rucker, Jim Sonefeld, Dean Felber and Mark Bryan embraced their fortuitous career with the communities that support them. To this end, the band members created an endowment that ensures their foundation will last into perpetuity providing financial support to charitable initiatives throughout South Carolina and beyond.  Since its creation, The Hootie & the Blowfish Foundation has awarded more than $2.5 million in grants. These grants have impacted thousands of citizens by supporting the ongoing fight for an even playing field in educational funding and lending an encouraging hand to all those in need.

Drummer for Hootie & the Blowfish, Jim Sonefeld said, “Since we first began raising money in the Hootie & the Blowfish name, we’ve not only relied heavily on the kindness of other’s giving, but also on a group of knowledgeable people to help us direct that money into the appropriate hands. Combine these people with a huge group of volunteers responsible for running our greatest fundraiser, The Hootie & the Blowfish Monday After the Masters, as well as our annual Back to School Round-up and our jobs as philanthropists become quite simple. We deeply appreciate the support of all those individuals who’ve helped us continue in our vision of giving.”

Hootie & The Blowfish established their donor advised fund at Central Carolina Community Foundation, the Midland’s expert on philanthropy, to strengthen their philanthropic efforts. The Community Foundation acts as a centralized point of contact for all grant requests and manages its grants administration, evaluation, outreach and distribution.