by Carole Holland
with Comments Off on Scholarship Portal to Open January 1
The Community Foundation of the Dan River Region is pleased to announce its scholarship application process will open on Wednesday, January 1, 2025, for graduating high school students as well as current college students. Scholarships are available for students in The Foundation’s service area, which includes Caswell County, NC, the city of Danville, Halifax and Pittsylvania counties. Annually, The Foundation awards more than 150 scholarships totaling more than $340,000.
Students are urged to begin the application process early because official transcripts and references are required for a complete application and this process takes time. Incomplete and/or late applications cannot be considered, and no exceptions are made for this. The online application system will assist applicants with eligibility criteria. The deadline for applications is March 1.
For more information about available scholarships, and to apply, visit The Foundation’s website www.cfdrr.org, and click on the scholarship link at the top. The Community Foundation can be reached by calling (434) 793-0884.
by Carole Holland
with Comments Off on Foundation Facilitates Community Collaboration
The Community Foundation of the Dan River Region (CFDRR) held its annual Donor Appreciation Luncheon Thursday, November 14 at The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research. During the event, donors learned about some of the highlights from the last fiscal year and were recognized for their contributions to The Foundation. Donors are the backbone of The Foundation and because of their generosity The Foundation is making positive impacts in our community.
As part of the event, Traci Petty, Grant and Scholarship Manager, led a round table discussion with Kenny Lewis, with the Danville Church & Community Tutorial Program and Russell Carter with the Ruby B. Archie Public Library. The trio discussed a recent collaboration between the two organizations that has brought the library into neighborhoods across the city, giving children access to books.
“As The Community Foundation of the Dan River Region we are often granting money to nonprofit organizations to help them achieve a goal or plan an event, said Executive Director Dan Hayes. “This time, we were able to put two local organizations together and they came up with a plan that positively impacts some of our smallest citizens, our children.”
This literacy initiative was identified by donors during a previous luncheon where they were asked to name priority issues in our community. The number one concern was education. Stemming from donors input, The Foundation convened a conversation between the library and the tutorial program.
It was during one of Carter and Lewis’ initial meetings that the idea for these libraries came about. Carter provided the funding for the shelving units for the tutoring locations while Lewis made the decision about where it was best to set the initial libraries up. Additional library sites will be added at a later date. Thanks to this collaboration, children in low-income neighborhoods are able to sign up for a library card and check out books when they are attending the tutoring program.
“We believe that giving children access to books at an early age will help increase the literacy rate in the community as they grow up,” said Petty. “We’re excited about this partnership between a city department and a local nonprofit and we can’t wait to see the positive impact this has on our community.”
A few highlights of The Community Foundation’s impact this during the 2023-24 fiscal year include:
$1.4 million awarded in grants to enhance the great work of local nonprofits;
scholarships totaling $377,608 awarded to students in our service areas;
$1,656,505 received in donations from 450 donors; and
