Shallotte, NC - FOCUS Broadband recently awarded Community Connections grant funds totaling $40,000 to 17 local organizations. The funds are part of the cooperative’s grant program, which has awarded more than $1 million dollars in community and education grants since its inception in 2006.

Julia Tripp, FOCUS Broadband’s Board Liaison for the 2023 FOCUS Broadband Grant Committee, commented on the organization’s grant program saying, “We’re honored to award community grants to these deserving non-profits. Each organization plays a critical role in supporting the members of our community and we are proud to provide them with resources to help expand their impact.”

This year’s grant recipients included:

• Birthday Wishes Ministry – With the Birthdays not Forgotten program, children in financially challenged households receive age-appropriate birthday gifts.
• Brunswick County Literacy Center – Through Lifting Lives with Literature, students can receive tutoring and learning materials to help prepare for and pass their GED within 12 months.
• Columbus County Beekeepers Organization – With the Pollinator Education project, individuals can attend a free beekeeper course and receive supplies to start their own hive. Pollinator-friendly seed packets and honey samples will also be provided at local community events to help promote education about pollinators and their impacts on our local ecosystem.
• Elf Angels – The Elf Angels program provides clothing, house items, toys and food for residents in Columbus County.
• First Tee Carolinas – First Tee Carolinas is expanding the school golf program to Columbus County to give three Whiteville elementary schools access to First Tee.
• Friends of Leland Public Safety – Rapid entry boxes will be mounted on the homes of handicapped individuals to allow easier access to medical services or emergency personnel in the event of an emergency.
• Hope Harbor Home – Grant will fund upgrades to the flooring in the Hope Harbor Home Domestic Violence Shelter.
• Keep Your Hands Off Me – Via the Teen Talk program, teenagers who have experienced abuse or witnessed domestic violence can attend weekly one-hour peer support groups both in-person and virtually.  
• Lower Cape Fear LifeCare – Through the Music & Memory program, patients with Alzheimer’s and dementia can receive personalized music listening kits.
• Lumber Bridge Baptist Food Pantry – Provides food for a local food pantry serving Robeson County residents.
• Science is Elementary – Trained community volunteers will bring SiE Books that highlight problem solving using scientific reasoning to elementary schools to supplement science instruction.
• Seaside Reaching and Teaching Students (STAR) – A summer literacy program for rising 2nd and 3rd graders that will help students develop digital literacy, problem solving, communication and teamwork skills by learning how to code Bee Bot robots.
• Skyler Brunson Foundation – Through the Breezing Beautifully Back to School program, haircuts and hair products will be provided to low-income students.
• South Brunswick Interchurch Council – Provides food to an interchurch council food pantry that serves Brunswick County residents.
• The Carousel Center – Providing emergency services with forensic and medical program supplies to help child abuse victims in Brunswick County.
• WAVES 4 K.I.D.S – Through Backpacks 4 K.I.D.S, book bags with school supplies are distributed to foster children under the supervision of Brunswick County Department of Social Services.
• With My Sisters – Via the Sisters Reaching Veteran Sisters program, female veterans can attend meet and greet sessions and receive therapeutic items.

“This year, FOCUS Broadband’s total contributions through our grant program since its inception exceeded $1 million dollars,” commented Keith Holden, FOCUS Broadband CEO. “We are incredibly proud to reach this milestone and reflect on how we’ve been able to significantly impact local non-profits and educators through our grant program. We look forward to seeing how this year’s grants will make a difference in the lives of our customers, their families and in our community as a whole.”

FOCUS Broadband will announce education grant recipients later this fall. Community Connections grants are open to non-profits or organizations in FOCUS Broadband’s service territory. For more information about FOCUS Broadband’s community and education grant program, call 910-755-1677 or visit www.focusbroadband.com/giving-back.