In The News

RHI Legacy Foundation Awards 2020 Grants

RHI Legacy Foundation recently completed their 2020 grant cycle, contributing $1,593,045.10 to non-profit and municipalities to assist health-related programs and projects in Rutherford County. The Foundation typically has one grant cycle each year, but additional funds were made available in 2020 to address community needs that were caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Beth Miller, Chairman of the RHI Legacy Foundation Board, related, “It was a pleasure to complete our seventh grant cycle in 2020. This year, especially, we are grateful for many organizations that have served as a safety net for our community. We were pleased to be able to be flexible with our funding and to respond quickly as the community needs grew.”

In the regular grant cycle, the Foundation approved commitments for 26 initiatives in three focus areas, totaling $1,323,095. All three focus areas align with the Community Health Assessment and the Community Health Improvement Plan, a review of the factors impacting health for Rutherford County residents.

• Active Living – 10 grants totaling $386,700
• Chronic Disease – 9 grants totaling $261,000
• Healthy Eating – 7 grants totaling $642,161

A complete list of organizations who were approved for funding appears on the Foundations website at https://rhilegacyfoundation.com. A definition of the focus areas and a description of how each agency plans to use the funds is also outlined there. Each grantee provides regular reports to the Foundation outlining the health impact that the grant accomplished.

An additional five requests were provided to the Rutherford Regional Auxiliary for review and funding. Funds from the Auxiliary are raised through volunteer efforts and jewelry sales offered at the hospital. The Auxiliary approved 5 grants for $33,234. These awards were approved for:

• Lake Lure Classical Academy – $3,534 for clean water stations
• Forrest Hunt Elementary School – $1,900 for the Shooting Stars Running Club
• Rutherford Housing Partnership – $10,000 for Pro-Skills to rectify residence issues
• Safe Kids of Rutherford County – $9,800 for childhood injury prevention
• Trinity Christian School – $8,000 for health-related summer camps

Jill Miracle, Community Impact Director for the Foundation, remarked, “We believe that partnerships and relationships are keys to identifying and resolving issues that affect our county. In early 2020, when the impacts of the coronavirus were first being felt, we reached out to food distribution agencies where we already had existing relationships. Those partners were invited to apply for funding specifically to address those impacts. As a result, we were able to quickly award $207,450.10 in assistance to help serve their clients in need.”

As the year progressed, RHI Legacy Foundation’s past chairman and board member Dr. Bobby England brought a situation to the attention of the board regarding high school athletic programs. Because of lost revenues from gate and concession sales and booster club efforts, sports programs were not able to generate necessary revenue for athletic equipment and training to keep student athletes safe. In September, each area high school athletic program was awarded $12,500 to supplement their sports programs.

“RHI Legacy Foundation is again pleased to be able to offer financial assistance for agencies serving our residents. We look forward to continuing to support important health initiatives and strategic partnerships in Rutherford County,” stated Terry Hines, the Foundation’s Executive Director.

Since their establishment in 2015, RHI Legacy Foundation has allocated over $12,000,000 to non-profit entities and municipalities to create or expand health-related services, to meet the basic needs of county residents, and to provide additional avenues for outdoor and recreational activity.

Please visit the RHI Legacy Foundation website or Facebook page to learn more. Contact Jill Miracle at (828) 202-4630 with questions about their grant-making process.

Click here for a complete listing of awards.