Events

Read the latest news from CFDRR here!

Attend a Cannon Financial Institute Estate Planning conference, virtually, on your lunch break! Provided by The Community Foundation at no cost, with a minimum of 8 participants. Let us know your interest in the November and December sessions, plus spring 2021 opportunities, by taking our Doodle Poll. Learn more here.

Welcome a new staff member, remember a special board member, discover upcoming grant and scholarship opportunities, learn about memorial and honorary gifts, and much more! Read our latest newsletter here.

The Danville Lions Foundation presented two generous donations to The Community Foundation of the Dan River Region and Boys & Girls Clubs of Danville Area.

The Danville Lions Foundation Scholarship is being established with The Community Foundation. Scholarship applications will be accepted next year for Danville-Pittsylvania and Caswell County High School graduates who are pursuing a health-related profession, with a preference for those in a graduate level of study, especially those studying sight and speech/hearing professions.

The Boys & Girls Clubs donation will help to recover their gym flooring in order to prevent accidents and encourage more activity.

The Danville Lions Foundation is a recipient of the E. Stuart James Grant Trust administered by American National Bank.

The Fund for Halifax County has awarded its fourth round of grants, thanks to the work of the Halifax County Advisory Committee. The committee consists of a few prominent members of Halifax County who wish to see the county grow and prosper. After carefully reviewing the applications received, they chose Main Street United Methodist Church – Jane Jones Food Pantry to receive $1,150. The committee also chose to award the South Boston Medical Fund in the amount of $500 to the Halifax County Cancer Association. They presented the checks on January 20 at Halifax County Cancer Association Office.

 

The Fund for Halifax County is a unique opportunity for citizens, organizations and businesses to help build an endowment to improve and enrich lives in Halifax County. The Community Foundation of the Dan River Region hopes to continue to grow this unrestricted fund to enable more grants to be given in the future. The next cycle of grant applications for The Fund for Halifax County will be taken in August 2016.

Anyone can make donations to The Fund for Halifax County. Checks should be made to The Community Foundation, with the Halifax County Fund specified, and mailed to 541 Loyal Street, Danville, VA 24541. Online gifts can be made through www.cfdrr.org. Gifts of stock, life insurance, and personal property can be accepted, as well as will bequests.

For more information on The Fund for Halifax County or establishing a charitable fund of any type, contact the Foundation office at 434-793-0884 or visit the web site www.cfdrr.org.

The Community Foundation of the Dan River Region announced today a total of $617,000 in new grants to 49 non-profit community agencies at a reception at the Danville Life Saving Crew Training Center. The Community Foundation was incorporated in 1996 and has already returned more than $18 million in community grants and scholarships.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This year’s grants contain $250,000 in funding made available by a grant from the Danville Regional Foundation. A complete listing of the grants awarded from the Danville Regional Foundation’s support is below.

The following grants were approved by The Community Foundation’s Distribution Committee and Board of Directors and awarded from various funds as described below:

Altavista EMS ($11,000) To purchase and put into service a TempusPro patient monitor. It will be placed on an emergency response vehicle to diagnose and treat citizens in need of emergency medical care. (James Russell & Zora Carter Anderson Fund)

Alzheimer’s Association, CWVA ($12,000) To expand the current Dan River Arts Fusion and Memory Care program to provide an increased focus on education and support services to both family and professional caregivers. (James Russell & Zora Carter Anderson Fund)

Arc of Southside ($30,000) To subsidize the employment programs and to assist people with disabilities in obtaining a job in their chosen careers. (Faith Home Endowment Fund)

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Danville Area ($9,000) To provide training opportunities for the mentors, mentees and volunteers through workshops and to support field trips and a back to school picnic. (Faye Carter Fund; Pat & Cathy Daly Fund)

Boys & Girls Clubs of the Danville Area ($20,300) To purchase STEM kits, robotics kits and digital arts mobile labs to support the implementation of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Danville Area’s STEM program. (James Russell & Zora Carter Anderson Fund; Pat & Cathy Daly Fund; Faye Carter Fund)

Cascade School Community Center ($1,990) To install a canopy on the front of the building to protect the building entrance from inclement weather. (James Russell & Zora Carter Anderson Fund)

Caswell County Family Services ($15,000) To provide victims, and their children, of domestic violence funds to purchase essentials for their homes. (School supplies, clothing, pots and pans, deposit for rent, etc.) (James Russell & Zora Carter Anderson Fund)

Chapter 240, Air Force Association (AFA) ($3,200) To provide “Matching Grant” funding to Danville city and Pittsylvania County K-12 science teachers for science-based (S.T.E.M.) projects. (Gamewood Technology Fund)

City of Danville-Ballou Park Recreation ($10,000) To purchase transportation service from the City of Danville’s Department of Transportation-Mass Transit to and/or from the Fresenius Medical Center (Dialysis Clinic) for Danville City residents that are under the age of 60 that are unable to transport themselves. (James Russell & Zora Carter Anderson Fund)

City of Danville Police Department ($12,800) To replace an aging child fingerprinting system and to revamp the program with new partnerships and offerings to the citizens of the Dan River Region. (James Russell & Zora Carter Anderson Fund)

Danville Area Choral Arts Society ($2,000) To support the Brahms’ Requiem concert through compensation of a music director and accompanist, venue donation, custodian, printed program, and publicity. (Elizabeth (Betty) W. Jefferson Fund; Harry Melton Hood Fund)

Danville Area Humane Society ($1,000) To purchase three computers to support an animal shelter software program. (Herbert Sater Fund)

Danville Concert Association ($3,500) To help offset the cost of bringing “River City Brass” to Danville for a performance in Averett’s Frith Fine Arts Center. (Clarence L. Giles Fund; Herbert Sater Fund)

Danville Family YMCA ($12,000) To scholarship children in the community for YMCA sports programs. (Faith Home Endowment Fund; Daniel Fund)

Danville Museum of Fine Arts & History ($9,500) To provide trained individuals to enhance the visitor’s experience at the museum. (Clarence L. Giles Fund)

Danville Science Center, Inc. ($25,000) To bring traveling exhibits to the Danville Science Center. (Faith Home Endowment Fund)

Danville Symphony Orchestra ($6,000) To provide high quality cultural opportunities through musical performance by a local symphony orchestra and by partnering with other performing arts organizations. (Clarence L. Giles Fund; Daniel Fund; James A. and Anne V. Robertson Fund)

Feeding America Southwest Virginia ($12,000) To support FASWVA’s Food Distribution Program in the Dan River Region. (James Russell & Zora Carter Anderson Fund)

God’s Storehouse ($25,000) To purchase food for their food distribution program and their weekend feeding program, the Malcom Huckabee Backpacks program. (Ahmed Children’s Fund; Daniel Fund; James Russell & Zora Carter Anderson Fund)

Gretna Little Theatre ($2,500) To support the Theatre by purchasing scripts for production, paying required royalties, and purchasing other materials used in staging and/or studying dramas, comedies, and musicals. (Faith Home Endowment Fund; Clarence L. Giles Fund)

Locust Hill United Methodist Church ($3,032) To purchase a 49 cubic foot double door freezer to store frozen items for their food distribution program. (James Russell & Zora Carter Anderson Fund)

Mount Hermon Volunteer Fire & Rescue ($11,000) To furnish and equip the Community Health and Safety Outreach Training Center in order to better educate the volunteer emergency personnel and the community at large. (Faith Home Endowment Fund)

Pelham Community Center, Inc. ($11,000) To purchase a new roof and gutters on the main building and new roofs on the dugouts at the ball field. (Faith Home Endowment Fund; John C. Swanson, Jr. Fund)

Piedmont Community College ($19,500) To purchase a new MakerBot Replicator Z18 3D printer, PLA Filament, Extruders, and other supplies and equipment needed for 3D printing and to send staff for training. (Faith Home Endowment Fund; Buck-Wayland Fund; D. Webster Marshall Fund)

Pittsylvania County Department of Social Services ($25,000) To assist Pittsylvania County Residents with emergency services, such as electric, rent, or heat, during a CRISIS situation. (James Russell & Zora Carter Anderson Fund)

QuickStart Tennis of Central Virginia ($3,000) To purchase kid-sized tennis equipment and curriculum guides for public pre-K, elementary and middle schools in Danville, so they can incorporate tennis into the PE curriculum. (James Russell & Zora Carter Anderson Fund)

Salvation Army of Danville ($7,500) To fund facility updates through lighting and cleaning machines to eliminate unnecessary costs for maintaining the facility. (James Russell & Zora Carter Anderson Fund)

Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest NC ($9,150) To serve more children each day and allow the Caswell program to offer nutrition education classes to the kids and increase capacity at the program by acquiring cold storage equipment. (Faith Home Endowment Fund)

Southern Area Agency on Aging ($24,000) To provide emergency assistance to individuals 60 years of age and older who are in danger of being displaced from their home. (Clarence L. Giles Fund; Daniel Fund)

SPCA of Pittsylvania County ($6,000) To pay for the costs of spaying and neutering companion animals that are rescued in Pittsylvania County. (James Russell & Zora Carter Anderson Fund; Animal Welfare Fund; Irving H. and Louise Hambrick Scarce Animal Fund)

Yanceyville Volunteer Fire and Rescue ($10,000) To purchase pagers and radios for fire fighter and first responder personnel. (Faith Home Endowment Fund)

YWCA of Central Virginia ($10,000) To support the YWCA Sexual Assault Response Program (SARP) in the Danville area. (Faith Home Endowment Fund)

 

The following grants were awarded as a result of The Community Foundation’s grantmaking partnership with the Danville Regional Foundation.

 
Bachelors Hall Volunteer Fire Department ($11,000) To purchase a One Stryker Power-Load cot fastener system and a One Stryker Stair Chair to assist emergency responders while on call.

Brosville Community Volunteer Fire Department Inc. ($6,624) To purchase safety gear for the Fire and EMS members. To equip each of the responders with a Hi-Vis Jacket to provide more visibility and better warmth and comfort.

Climax Volunteer Fire Dept. ($5,000) To partially fund three sets of Personal Protective Equipment to include Structural Firefighter Coats, Structural Firefighter Pants and Structural Firefighter Boots.

Danville Cancer Association ($25,000) To assist the cancer patients in the Pittsylvania/Danville Health District (PDHD) with the cost of their cancer-related prescriptions.

Danville Church-Based Tutorial Program, Inc. ($25,000) To offer more specialized instruction and to enhance instruction through the use of computers and software programs for tutors to utilize with students in self-directed online learning.

Danville Life Saving & First Aid Crew, Inc. ($25,000) To purchase and install a power loading stretcher / retention device and the required Upgrade Kits to retrofit the existing stretchers to the new device.

Danville Speech & Hearing Center ($25,000) To help people who could otherwise not access the treatment their doctor prescribed to improve their health and/or ability to be contributing citizen(s) of the Dan River Region. (Daniel Fund)

Danville-Pittsylvania Community Services ($15,000) To create an opportunity to obtain dentures for high-need, low-income adults with Mental Illness, Substance Abuse, or Co-occurring diagnosis.

Danville-Pittsylvania County Habitat for Humanity ($25,000) To support the construction or rehabilitation of the next Habitat partner home as part of its DCC Neighborhood revitalization project. (Daniel Fund)

Free Clinic of Danville ($9,670) To replace the current patient data system with one that is more appropriate for patient care and operational requirements.

God’s Pit Crew Inc. ($22,000) To increase the quality, consistency and volume of the products that GPC is donating to their Product Partner Recipients. (Pat & Cathy Daly Fund)

Mount Cross Fire and Rescue ($5,630) To purchase portable lighting to make scenes at night safer and to purchase camera systems for the ambulances to have video proof should an incident occur on one of the ambulances.

Northern Pittsylvania County Food Center, Inc. ($20,000) To purchase food items needed by the NPCFC for distribution to those in need in the northern Pittsylvania county area. (Allen Fund)

Providence Fire & Rescue Inc. ($11,000) To replace worn out sets of gear with new NFPA compliant gear.

Reach Out and Read Carolinas ($2,750) To purchase age and developmentally appropriate books and to provide resources in literacy rich waiting areas and quality evaluation at Prospect Hill Community Health Center and Caswell Medical Center.

Ringgold Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department ($10,000) To purchase an up to date AED Defibrillator that will transmit vitals and heart rhythms to the hospital.

Tunstall Fire and Rescue ($11,000) To purchase a brand new FERNO IN X stretcher for one of the transports.

PREVIOUSLY AWARDED GRANTS
The following grants were also recognized but have been previously awarded from donor advised and designated funds:
P. L. Anderson, Jr. Family Fund
Boys & Girls Clubs of the Danville Area
First Baptist Church
Free Clinic of Danville
The Salvation Army
Autism Education Fund
Averett University
Danville Public Schools – Autism Department
Boys & Girls Clubs Endowment Fund
Boys & Girls Clubs of the Danville Area
Gary A. and Sherry M. Carroll “Good for Youth” Fund
Westover Christian Academy
Christian Charities Fund
God’s Pit Crew
Transitions Pregnancy Center
North Main Baptist Church
James L. Clark and Henrietta Clark Fund
Danville Life Saving Crew and Rescue Squad
Moffett Memorial Baptist Church
Collins ‘Great Outdoor’ Fund
City of Danville
Phillip & Frances Daly Fund
Boys & Girls Clubs of the Danville area
P. Niles Daly, Jr. Fund
Boys & Girls Clubs of the Danville Area
HAVEN Domestic Violence Shelter
Daniel Fund
The Community Foundation
Dan River Inc. Fund
Averett University
Averett University BSN Nursing Student Scholarship Aid
Danville Community College Educational Foundation
Danville Community College Power of One Campaign
Danville Community College Educational Foundation – Baseball Program
Danville Concert Association
Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History
Danville Pittsylvania County Chamber Foundation Golf Tournament
Danville Symphony Orchestra
Free Clinic of Danville
God’s Storehouse
House of Hope
United Way of Danville-Pittsylvania County
Danville Symphony Orchestra Endowment Fund
Danville Symphony Orchestra
Davis Family Fund
Averett University
Bassett Memorial United Methodist Church
Danville Cancer Association
Free Clinic of Danville
Longwood University
Martinsville Cemetery Fund
Mt. Vernon United Methodist Church
Evans Library Fund
Danville Public Library
Gantsoudes Family Fund
Danville Cancer Association
St. Peter’s Greek Orthodox Church
Garden Club of Danville Fund
Garden Club of Danville
Juanita G. “Nita” Grant Fund
Averett University’s Library
First Baptist Church of Danville Endowment Fund
Fund for Halifax County
Main Street United Methodist Church
Bobby Hawker Memorial Fund
Pittsylvania County Community Action, Inc.
Holland Fund
The Salvation Army
Wayles R. Harrison Memorial Fund
Danville Cancer Assoication
Peter and Jo Ann Howard L’Dor V’Dor Fund
Temple Beth Sholom
Hospice Support Services Fund
Danville Cancer Association
Southern Area Agency on Aging
Larry Donald Huskey Memorial Fund
Patrick Henry Boys and Girls Plantation
Piedmont Access to Health Services
Kang-A-Rhue Children’s Cancer Fund
Danville Cancer Association
Keokee Fund
Bonner Middle School
Alexander Heath Light & Mary Nelson Light Mission Fund
Oak Grove Residential Care
Main Street United Methodist Church Fund
God’s Pit Crew
God’s Storehouse
House of Hope
Transitions Pregnancy Solutions
Salvation Army
Marshall Family Fund
Averett University
Boy Scouts
DCC Educational Foundation
Free Clinic of Danville
God’s Storehouse
Grace Design United Methodist Church
Community Foundation Endowment Fund
Herman and Helen Melton Historical Fund
Pittsylvania County Historical Society
Moses & Louise A. Merricks Fund
Mount Cross Volunteer Fire and Rescue
Wayles Harrison Cancer Fund
Audrey Millner Fund
The Community Foundation
Morotock Arts and Culture Fund
Danville Area Choral Arts Society
Danville Concert Association
Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History
Danville Parks & Recreation
Danville Symphony Orchestra
Mt. Hermon Baptist Church Youth Mission Fund
Mt. Hermon Baptist Church
Mary Neil Literacy Fund
Pittsylvania County Literacy Program
B.C. & Annie Lee Owen Fund
Buffalo Baptist Tabernacle
Clarksville Regional Museum
Mecklenburg County Cancer Association
Southside Virginia Community College Nursing Program
Alma Courtney “Sigie” Perkinson Rose Fund
Garden Club of Danville
Virginia Elizabeth “Betsy” Robertson Fund
The Community Foundation
Claudia Vernon Smith Fund
Caswell Friends of the Library
Cora Taylor Younger Smith Fund
American Indian College Fund
Berea College
United Negro College Fund
South Boston Medical Fund
Halifax County Cancer Association
Stendig Family Fund
Temple Beth Sholom
Benjamin M. Sugg Fund
Clover Cemetery
Urban Bible Fund
New Community of Praise
Veterinary Emergency Treatment Fund
Danville Area Humane Society
Veterans Memorial Fund
City of Danville
Wynne’s Fall Fund
Crossroads Christian Counseling
The Community Foundation’s next grant cycle will begin in June for projects to be funded in 2017.

The Community Foundation of the Dan River Region featured stories of impact by donors and grant recipients at its Appreciation Luncheon held Thursday, November 12, 2015 at the Danville Golf Club.

Nearly 200 supporters heard from speakers representing three areas of The Community Foundation’s work – Give, Receive and Impact. Lauren Mathena shared how the Dan River Autism Awareness 5k helped to build the Autism Education Fund. Karen Harris described God’s Storehouse mission to distribute food to those in need. Peter Howard, Community Foundation Board Chair, described how the RiverBank Fund initiative is starting to make an impact.

Debra Dodson, Executive Director, stated, “This is such a great opportunity for us to thank our many supporters. We thank them for proving that together we can truly make a difference. Through their support, this past year we have helped to save lives, given hope to college students, filled our community with music, and relieved much suffering.”

Some highlights of The Community Foundation’s impact this past year include: –

a) Receiving gifts of $4,316,297 from hundreds of donors

b) Awarding 82 scholarships of more than $146,000

c) Awarding grants of $1,916,781 to 157 organizations

d) Continuing to build the RiverBank Fund

e) Continued to build the Fund for Halifax County

f) Convened a quarterly Funders Forum
g) Serving as the fiscal agent for National Fund for Workforce Solutions-Dan River Region Collaborative

h) Selling our 6,300th engraved brick for the local Veterans Memorial

Donors established 10 new funds under the Foundation’s umbrella, giving the Foundation total assets of $29,366,999 as of June 30, 2015. The Community Foundation has returned more than $17 million in grants and scholarships to the region since 1996.

New endowment funds began since July 1, 2014 include:

• Buck-Wayland Fund
• Steven Bruce Daniels, Jr. Scholarship
• Gail and Walter Gunn Scholarship
• Douglas Mildred “Mickey” Hayes Scholarship
• Eliza Patterson Hines Memorial Scholarship
• D. Webster Jr. and Elizabeth S. Marshall Fund
• Mary Neil Literacy Fund
• Rippe Fund for Temple Beth Sholom
• Rotary Club of Chatham Endowment Fund
• The Wednesday Club Endowment Fund

The Community Foundation’s mission is to improve and enrich the lives of people in our community by encouraging the generosity of donors. Donors may establish their own endowment fund to support particular areas of interest or may make unrestricted gifts to any existing fund.

For more information, contact the Community Foundation at 541 Loyal Street, Danville, VA 24541, (434) 793-0884 or visit their web site www.cfdrr.org.

The Gail and Walter Gunn Scholarship has now been endowed with The Community Foundation of the Dan River Region.

The Gail and Walter Gunn Scholarship was created to provide scholarships to local African American students with a preference for those studying business or with an entrepreneurial interest. Applications will be accepted in January and February 2016 at www.cfdrr.org for the 2016-17 school year. Donations can still be made to the Gail and Walter Gunn Scholarship to help the fund grow and support more students.

Other people who wish to support a new or one of the existing 43 Community Foundation scholarships can make donations to The Community Foundation, with the specific scholarship designated, 541 Loyal Street, Danville, VA 24541.

The Community Foundation of the Dan River Region is an independent, public charity established in September 1996 by a steering committee of local civic leaders to gather permanent funds to support our area. The Community Foundation of the Dan River Region is a public charity with total assets exceeding $25 million.

While the Foundation works with donors to establish funds to benefit any geographic area, our primary service area is Danville/Pittsylvania County, Virginia and Caswell County, North Carolina. Donations are also being sought to build up resources for South Boston/Halifax County, with consideration being given to other neighboring counties.

The Community Foundation is fully tax-exempt as an organization described in Sections 501(c)(3) and 170(b)(A)(vi) of the Internal Revenue Code.

For more information on the Gail and Walter Gunn Scholarship or The Community Foundation, contact the Foundation office at 434-793-0884 or visit its web site www.cfdrr.org

The Community Foundation of the Dan River Region is now accepting grant applications from 501(c) 3 charitable organizations serving Halifax County. One or two grants are typically awarded of $1,000 or less per cycle. Applications must be submitted online. The deadline for all applications is September 30, 2015.

The Halifax County Advisory Committee will review the applications and recommend which organizations will be awarded later this year.

The Fund for Halifax County is a unique opportunity for citizens, organizations and businesses to help build an endowment to improve and enrich lives in Halifax County. Major General Carroll Thackston presented the Foundation with the first gift for The Fund for Halifax County in 2010. Thackston served on the Community Foundation Board of Directors for six years. Other Halifax County representatives have also served on the Foundation’s Board. Logan Young just retired after six years on the Foundation’s Board and Finance Committee and William Kelehar just joined the Board effective July 1, 2015.

Several other funds with The Community Foundation also benefit Halifax County.

• The South Boston Medical Fund was created with The Community Foundation in 2011 to support indigent care in Halifax County and general Halifax County charitable causes.
• Benjamin M. Sugg established a fund in 2000 to provide annual grants to the Clover Cemetery.
• The Gideon Miller Cancer Fund was endowed in 2014 and will award its first grants in 2016 to organizations that assist cancer patients and their families in Danville, Pittsylvania County and Halifax County.
• The RiverBank Fund just awarded two of its first grants to Halifax County Department of Tourism and the Roanoke River Basin Association for projects in Virginia and North Carolina earmarked for the protection and revitalization of the Dan River.

The Community Foundation continues to encourage donations of all sizes and types to help build The Fund for Halifax County or any of these other funds. Checks should be made to The Community Foundation, with the fund specified, and mailed to 541 Loyal Street, Danville, VA 24541. Online gifts can be made at www.cfdrr.org. Gifts of stock, life insurance, and personal property can be accepted, as well as will bequests.

The Community Foundation has made over $1,000,000 in grants to Halifax County organizations since its formation in 1996. In 2003, the Chastain Home for Gentlewomen gave a gift of $1,030,000 to The Community Foundation to provide three years of grantmaking to charitable organizations assisting elderly women in Halifax County.

The Community Foundation is a public charity established in September 1996 by a steering committee of civic leaders to meet a variety of social, educational, cultural and other charitable needs in the Danville, Pittsylvania County and Caswell County area, as well as Halifax County and Northern North Carolina.

The Community Foundation of the Dan River Region announced today eight grant awards totaling $237,500 from the RiverBank Fund. The Fund was established last year to gather donations throughout Virginia and North Carolina earmarked for the protection and revitalization of the Dan River.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The following grants were approved by The Community Foundation’s RiverBank Fund Advisory Committee and Board of Directors:

Dan River Basin Association – ($92,000) To implement, the “Dan River Water Master Plan,” which combines local master plans, water quality improvement, river access development and regional promotion for the entire Dan River Basin watershed.

Roanoke River Basin Association – ($41,000) To improve citizen access to the Dan River in Halifax County through a new ramp at Leggett’s Bottom and to expand e-coli testing and benthic macroinvertibrate monitoring and analytical testing of water column and sediments in Halifax and Mecklenburg counties to the entrance of the Dan River into Kerr Lake in coordination with the Dan River Basin Association.

Pittsylvania County – Parks and Recreation – ($30,000) To provide a “pledge” to help create a river access point along the Dan River west of the City of Danville along the Route 58 bypass if other required funds are raised.

Halifax County – Department of Tourism – ($30,000) To promote the Southern Virginia Wild Blueway as a safe and protected environment and a tourist destination. Grant funds should be used towards a marketing campaign including a video, and other promotions of the Blueway to a larger market. Regional coordination with other organizations is requested to include information from the entire Dan River Basin where possible

City of Danville – Parks and Recreation – ($24,000) To assist in development of Sandy Creek Park, a 6.9 acre tract of land located on Riverside Dr. adjacent to the current Dan River Church center.

Piedmont Land Conservancy – ($15,000) To develop a Lower Mayo River Recreation and Access Plan for the portion of the river extending from the Business 220 crossing downstream to the confluence of the Mayo and Dan Rivers, and including Big Beaver Island Creek through the town of Madison up to Mayodan’s Farris Memorial Park.

Rockingham County Schools – ($5,000) To help construct and equip an outdoor classroom on Big Beaver Island Creek, an important tributary to the Dan River, so that a minimum 150 students each year can participate in water monitoring programs and other environmental education.

Stokes County Arts Council – ($500) To support river education and awareness at the 41st Stokes Stomp Festival on the Dan, including Dan River Company children and adult canoe/kayak demonstrations, NC River Angler fishing demonstrations, boat and swimming river safety clinics, rubber duck race, river conservation information, festival marketing, and stand-up paddle board demonstration.

Eligible programs had to address at least one of the five focus areas:

1. Responsibly address water quality for regional residents and companies.

2. Encourage new development that ecologically features the River.

3. Improve the cleanliness of the River and the Basin and help protect it from environmental threats.

4. Increase access to the River for family-friendly sports, recreation and entertainment.

5. Effectively promote the River to build regional pride and encourage tourism.

A regional advisory committee was formed to help guide the development of the fund and the strategic disbursement of grant funds.

Donations to the RiverBank Fund are still being sought from individuals, organizations and businesses that have interest in helping to improve the quality and caliber of life all along the Dan River. Duke Energy has been a major contributor to the fund, with a $250,000 donation in 2014. Donations may be made online at www.RiverBankFund.org.

The Community Foundation of the Dan River Region is a public charity established in September 1996 by a steering committee of civic leaders to improve and enrich area lives through the generosity of donors and has already returned more than $17 million in community grants and scholarships. The office can be reached at 541 Loyal Street, Danville, VA, 24541, (434) 793-0884 or at www.cfdrr.org or www.RiverBankFund.org