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Every spring, the Community Foundation of the Dan River Region opens up four grants cycles that run from January 1-March 1. In addition to these four grants, The Foundation awards funding from Donor Advised, Designated and Field of Interest funds. This year, The Foundation awarded $205,869 in grants during the first quarter.

Keokee Grant Recipients ($2,239)

Recipients of this year’s round of Keokee Fund Grants were:

• Danville Public Schools Activ8 STEM Academy, which will use the grant to purchase materials that work with its set of round robots called Sphero to fund onsite educational enrichment programs via the StarLab; and
• The Danville Science Center, which will use the grant to support its portable planetarium.

Arts & Cultural Fund Grant Recipients ($6,163)

This year’s recipients of our annual Arts & Cultural Fund were:

• Smokestack Theatre Company, which will use its grant to support production costs of the annual Ghosts and Gravestones Historical Tours in the River District; and
• The Haus of Fashion, which will use its grant so support Danville Fashion Week.

Autism Education Fund Grant Recipients ($5,824)

• The Danville Science Center received a grant to provide sensory friendly programming; and
• The Smokestack Theatre Company, which will use the grant to provide sensory friendly movie showings.

Marshall Family Fund Grant Recipients ($95,983)

• Averett University received a grant to provide scholarships to local students with financial need.
• The Boy Scouts of America/Dan River District-Blue Ridge Mountains Council received a grant to promote and support scouting in the Dan River Region.
• Grace Design Community Church received a grant to repave their parking lot.
• The Free Clinic of Danville Fund received a grant to make annual grants from the fund to nonprofit organizations to provide medical services, including, but not limited to, behavioral health, hearing, speech, dental, screening and medical education targeting uninsured and underinsured adults (ages 19-64) residing in Danville and Pittsylvania County.

Donor Advised Funds ($4,528)

• Torrey and Shelley Blackwell Fund
• Alexander Heath Light & Mary Nelson Light Mission Fund
• Herman and Helen Melton Historical Fund
• Miller-Woodbury Fund

Designated Funds ($65,301)

• Robert R. Blackwell and Lick Fort Primitive Baptist Church of Rockingham, NC
• Tony and Steve Smith Blanch Baptist Church Cemetery Fund
• Davis Family Fund
• Debra Dodson Fund
• Captain James A. Reith Veterans Endowed Fund
• Gantsoudes Family Fund
• Main Street United Methodist Church Fund
• Mt. Hermon Baptist Church Youth Mission Fund
• Virginia Elizabeth “Besty” Robertson Fund
• B.C. & Annie Lee Owen Fund
• Cruising to a Better Future Fund
• Eileen and Joseph Stendig Family Fund
• Benjamin Sugg Fund
• Urban Bible Fund
• G. Brooks Powell, Jr., Police Community Engagement Fund
• Caswell County Veterans Memorial Fund
• Yanceyville United Methodist Church Cemetery Fund

Field of Interest Funds ($25,831)

• Captain William E. Price Veterans Endowed Fund
• Community Impact Fund
• Dominion Eye Center Fund
• Wayles R. Harrison Memorial Fund
• Claudia Vernon Smith Fund
• Veterinary Emergency Treatment Fund
• Bob and Barbara Newnam Fund

Our annual Competitive Grant Cycle will open June 1 and close at the end of July. This grant opportunity is for projects to be funded and completed during the 2026 calendar year. Nonprofit organizations with a 501(c)3 tax-exempt status in good standing, as well as approved government entities, may apply.

For more information on how to prepare for the application process, visit the Grants page on our website.

We here at the Community Foundation want to give a shoutout to the professionals who protect the legacies of their clients. We appreciate the CPAs, attorneys and financial planners who help individuals with their estate planning to ensure their philanthropic wishes are met. These professionals can maximize giving by navigating the rules of the tax system and by offering options an individual may not have considered.

Planned gifts may offer substantial financial, tax and estate planning benefits while supporting the vital work of nonprofits across our community. The staff of The Foundation can work with advisors to help individuals turn their monetary gifts into support of a nonprofit, with a goal of long-term systemic change that will transform our community.

The Community Foundation was founded in 1996 by individuals who understood the desire of people who want to serve the community we call home. Over the past 28 years, we have continued to offer people an option to create “forever gifts” that transform our community in a variety of areas including health and wellness, human services and education and youth development.