Hospice House gets $150,000 grant

By CLARA CARTRETTE
News Editor

Hospice House of Lower Cape Fear Hospice, now under construction in Whiteville, has received a $150,000 grant from the Golden LEAF Foundation.

The grant is one of 53 totaling $15.6 million in new grants awarded by the foundation last week.

The grants were awarded to support a diverse set of projects, including community initiatives to enable technological advances, job creation programs, scholarships, technology for the classroom and workforce preparedness in schools, community colleges, universities and training centers. Grants were also awarded to support projects in healthcare and tourism as well as marketing, research, alternative crops and value-added opportunities in the agriculture industry. These investments allow the foundation to continue serving as a strong partner in shaping the state’s economic future.

“We’re ecstatic,” Lower Cape Fear Hospice outreach director Kimberly Paul said of the grant. “Now we’re very close to meeting the goal that was set, but because we’re a non-profit it will take ongoing funding to operate Hospice House year ‘round.

“We’ve very pleased to be building Hospice House in Columbus County to meet the needs of the western counties,” she continued.

“Columbus County will benefit the most, but it will also serve Bladen and the southern part of Brunswick, and we’re pleased to be able to meet those needs.”

Paul was complimentary to the fundraising effort to build Hospice House in Columbus County.

“It has taken the whole county to make this happen,” she said.
She also noted that it was a pleasure to work with Columbus County on the Festival of Trees as a fundraiser last year.

“We’re looking forward to it again this year, and the dates are Dec. 6-11, 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. except on Sunday when the hours will be 1 to 5 p.m.,” she said.

The Festival of Trees will be held in the N.C. Museum of Forestry.

In just eight years, the Golden LEAF Foundation has assisted communities in their efforts to transition from tobacco-dependent to more competitive economies by awarding more than $236 million in grants to support local and statewide projects.

“We are pleased to fund scholarships and projects that enhance the economic health of North Carolina’s communities,” said Valeria Lee, Golden LEAF’s president. “Every time we award a grant, we are not only making strategic investments in communities, we are making an impact on the state’s ability to thrive.”