News

Duke Endowment announces $14.4 million in Helene relief

By Lightning Reports, Published: December 21, 2024

The Duke Endowment announced today that it has expended nearly all of the $15 million its Board of Trustees earmarked in October to support Hurricane Helene relief.

Endowment officials said they have disbursed $14.4 million to relief agencies in Western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina. As planned, much of the money has gone to two organizations: the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina’s Emergency and Disaster Response Fund, which serves 18 western N.C. counties through local nonprofits, and the Central Carolina Community Foundation’s One SC Fund, which works with nonprofit organizations to provide food, housing and other relief in South Carolina.

The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina received $5 million, while the One SC Fund received $3 million. Other grantees receiving funding include:

• Feeding the Carolinas – $2 million to support emergency food distribution in North Carolina and South Carolina through MANNA Food Bank, Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina, Harvest Hope Food Bank, Golden Harvest Food Bank and Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina.
• AMY Wellness Foundation – $1 million to support emergency shelter, food, water, mental health counseling and home assessment and repair in Avery, Mitchell and Yancy counties.
• Wine to Water – $1 million to provide clean drinking water in western N.C.
• American Red Cross – $1 million to support food and shelter needs in North Carolina and South Carolina.

Other grantees include the United Way of Greenville County, S.C. ($500,000), the Spartanburg County Foundation ($250,000), the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce ($250,000), the NC Counts Coalition ($125,000) and the N.C. Network of Grantmakers ($25,000).

“We stand with our neighbors in western North Carolina,” said Robb Webb, director of the Endowment’s Rural Church program area and its internal disaster relief response committee. “Our hearts have been broken with theirs. We want them to know that all of us ‘down the mountain’ are working diligently to help fill gaps where we can.”

Endowment leaders have said they expect to provide additional support as the region’s needs evolve from handling immediate relief response to addressing long-term recovery and rebuilding.

“We understand that relief is only a part of the equation,” said Charles C. Lucas III, chair of the Endowment’s Board of Trustees. “In the future, we’ll engage in the work of recovery and rebuilding as well.”

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