Foundation For The Carolinas has awarded its first round of grants from its Hurricane Florence Response Fund, giving more than $750,000 to 20 organizations focused on relief, recovery or rebuilding assistance for Hurricane Florence-impacted areas in North Carolina and South Carolina. 

Foundation For The Carolinas established the Hurricane Florence Response Fund in September before the storm hit the Carolina coast.

The response nationwide was robust. Local and national businesses, Michael Jordan, the Charlotte Hornets, Stephen Colbert and members of the Carolina Panthers, among many others, all joined the effort. The fund even received donations from a fifth grader who raised money by cat sitting. 

“We asked the community to rally around this important cause, and it responded,” said Michael Marsicano, the foundation’s president and CEO. “We’ve seen people give so much, and now we get to see the results. These first grants will have an immediate impact on our coastal neighbors, during a time when they are still recovering. I’m amazed by our community’s generosity and compassion.”

Foundation for the Carolinas was one of a number of community foundations that created funds in response to the hurricane — and it joins community foundations in several other regions of the country that have set up and administered funds to support those who have been affected by hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, mass shootings, and wildfires this year.

Learn about the crucial role community foundations play in disaster relief.