WHATGIVES Summer 2018

(Left) Bunnelle Executive Director, Geales Sands and Gail Phillips holding Rory the Bookworm (from Reach Out and Read) with Darrin after his May 2018 Common Issues
Common Threads presentation on Trust, Time and Turf for Georgetown County nonprofit leaders; (right) Former WCF Board Member Rev. Cheryl Adamson greets Bill
Crowther, Economic Developer for Congressman Tom Rice’s office, at Prestwick Country Club during the August 1017 Legislative Update.
Creating New Possibilities for Coastal SC’s Northern Counties
Waccamaw Community Foundation and the Frances P. Bunnelle Foundation
When Coastal Community Foundation talks about representing the entire coast
of South Carolina via our nine-county region, many still don’t realize that much
of our reach travels north through the work we do with our affiliates in Georgetown
and Horry counties, the Frances P. Bunnelle Foundation and the Waccamaw
Community Foundation. Here’s an update on the fantastic momentum these
two foundations are creating and leveraging.
Donors had a chance to peruse displays, meet staff, learn more about organizations,
and decide how and where they wanted to give. Many of this year’s
nonprofits, such as Helping Hands of Georgetown, far exceeded their fundraising
goals for the day! Participants were required to have a stake in the effort by
finding match gifts and attending the organizing sessions, where they were
trained on how to leverage the power of a giving day to achieve success.
The Frances P. Bunnelle Foundation’s vision of a community with abundant
opportunity for healthy, safe and sustainable living is the force behind its recent
growth and expansion. The median age of Georgetown residents is increasing
and community needs are changing. These changes coupled with the spirit
of Mrs. Bunnelle’s generous gift to the community have led to the creation of
exciting new education-focused initiatives—under an umbrella theme called
E2C (Education to Career)—that will expand the Foundation’s impact beyond
Georgetown and into neighboring counties. Student-led leadership groups,
a summer internship program, a career exploration app for students, and an
exciting new “take” on career fairs for 8th graders (8,000 students from Georgetown
and the surrounding counties will explore career “pathways” at the Myrtle
Beach Convention Center, October 24-25) are all pieces of the new E2C work.
On May 1st, the Bunnelle Foundation held the second annual Palmetto Giving
Day. The 24-hour online and in-person event raised a total of $1,106,726, far
exceeding the goal and more than doubling last year’s total. 54 participating
Georgetown County nonprofits came together and hosted booths at The
Hammock Shops during the well-attended event that included food, music
and prizes.
The Waccamaw Community Foundation (WCF) has been serving Horry and
Georgetown counties for nearly two decades by connecting people with the
causes they care about. WCF nonprofit grants focus on the areas of education,
religion, human needs, neighborhood and community development, health,
environment, philanthropy, and the arts.
Recognizing the growing need for funding due to the region’s growth, the
WCF Board and grantmaking committee recently doubled their grant dollars
to provide more impact and help their nonprofit partners better serve Horry
and Georgetown residents. This announcement sets the tone for what is sure to
be an exciting 2019 for WCF, as it prepares to celebrate its 20 year anniversary
and its threshold of $20 million in total lifetime grantmaking.
We encourage you to get involved with our affiliate foundations, especially if
you have a vested interest in community vitality and equity-building across our
nine-county region. For more information about the Bunnelle Foundation, E2C,
or Palmetto Giving Day, please call 843.237.1222. For more information about
Waccamaw Community Foundation and its work in Horry and Georgetown
counties, please call 843.357.4483.
14 coastalcommunityfoundation.org