The One SC Fund: COVID-19 Response, housed at Central Carolina Community Foundation, has awarded $551,000 to 25 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/utility assistance, mental health support and vaccine rollout.

“These grants provide local organizations with vital resources to address the needs of residents in our most vulnerable counties,” says JoAnn Turnquist, president and CEO of Central Carolina Community Foundation. “Our grant recipients have a deep understanding of the needs in their communities and are well-positioned to help their residents.”

Since activation in March 2020, The One SC Fund: COVID-19 Response has distributed more than $3.5 million to nonprofits serving every South Carolina county. These grants provided essential goods and services to more than 600,000 South Carolinians during the pandemic. Over $4.5 million has been raised for the fund by generous individuals and corporations, including the Smidt Foundation (Harbor Freight Tools) and Verizon and a recent $1.5 million gift from The Duke Endowment.

Grants were awarded to the following organizations:

• Allendale County ALIVE
• Allendale Enterprise
• Axis I Center of Barnwell
• CareFIRST Carolina Foundation
• Community Initiatives, Inc.
• Darlington County Long-term Recovery Group
• Dillon County LTRG
• Greater Greenwood United Ministry
• Lee County Council on Aging
• Lee County RLI/Interagency Coalition
• Lowcountry Food Bank
• Macedonia Life Skills Center
• Marlboro County Branch NAACP
• M-WAM Benevolence Foundation
• New Vision Community Development Corporation
• Orangeburg County Broadband
• Pee Dee Indian Nation of Upper South Carolina
• Performing Arts and Science Academy PASA
• Pine Hill Indian Community Development Initiative
• Sumpter Free Medical Clinic dba Sumpter Free Health Clinic
• The Rosa M Douglas Scholarship Foundation
• The Smart Box
• Tri-County Health Network (TCHN)
• Unitarian Universalist Church of Spartanburg, SC, Inc.
• Vital Aging of Williamsburg County, Inc.

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 led by people who are Black, Indigenous or people of color (BIPOC) and are highly trusted by and deeply embedded in these communities.

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 nonprofit sustainability needs stemming from the coronavirus pandemic.