Duke Endowment Announces $1.25M Gift to One SC Fund: COVID-19 Response
Staff Report From South Carolina CEO
Friday, April 3rd, 2020
The Duke Endowment approved $2.5 million to support Carolinians impacted by the coronavirus crisis. In South Carolina, $1.25 million of the funding will be disbursed through the One SC Fund: COVID-19 Response, a fund housed at Central Carolina Community Foundation.
The initial grants will help statewide efforts focused on access to vital health care and sustaining social supports as unemployment rises.
“COVID-19 is having a profound impact on our grantee partners, the essential services they provide, and the communities and families they are working so hard to help,” said Minor Shaw, Duke Endowment Board Chair. “We are joining others in a coordinated effort to address the critical challenges emerging across both states and support the people most affected by this crisis.”
The gift from the Duke Endowment is the single largest gift the One SC Fund has ever received. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the One SC Fund has received more than $2 million in gifts, including:
Duke Endowment $1.25MM
Delta Dental $200,000
Dominion Energy $125,000
Harbor Freight $100,000
Duke Energy $100,000
Wells Fargo $100,000
SC Physicians Care Charity $50,000
TD Bank $20,000
Haley Family Foundation $10,000
Sisters of Charity Foundation $5,000.
“We are extremely grateful to The Duke Endowment and the many generous corporate and foundation donors who are supporting the One SC Fund: COVID-19 Response,” said JoAnn Turnquist, Central Carolina Community Foundation president and CEO. “Their financial support will allow us to maximize our impact and use our collective strengths to respond effectively to the COVID-19 pandemic in our state.”
The first round of grants to be distributed by the One SC Fund totaling $50,000 will go to the following nonprofit organizations:
Harvest Hope Food Bank Columbia Branch
Lowcountry Food Bank
Golden Harvest Food Bank
Food Share
Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina Inc.
“We are working hard to ensure that basic needs are being met, especially in underserved parts of our state where organized philanthropy is limited. We appreciate the confidence corporate and foundation funders have displayed in this collaborative movement to meet the needs in our state,” said Mac Bennett, former chief executive of United Way of the Midlands and Central Carolina Community Foundation. Bennett is chairing the executive committee for the One SC Fund: COVID-19 Response.
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. Today, the COVID-19 pandemic threatens our state and our country. The One SC Fund: COVID-19 Response is a collaborative statewide response to food, shelter, health, and nonprofit sustainability needs stemming from the Coronavirus pandemic. The three core partners in the One SC Fund: COVID-19 Response — SC Grantmakers, TogetherSC, and United Way Association of SC — will be joined by dozens of local, regional and statewide organizations in implementing an expedient, efficient, and equitable use of the One SC Fund.
The fund will enhance the efforts already underway in several counties and regions across South Carolina and will be used to address gaps in the response efforts, including support for communities that lack resources or an organized philanthropic response. The effort will also provide an outlet for statewide, regional, and national funders interested in supporting a COVID-19 response in South Carolina.