ASHEBORO - For 2017, the Randolph Health Community Foundation is pleased to announce that it has awarded 16 health and wellness grants totaling $105,658 – the largest amount ever awarded by the Foundation. This is the 20th year the Foundation has provided funding for health and wellness programs throughout Randolph County.
“The announcement of the year’s grant recipients is always an exciting time for the Foundation. But for 2017, with the announcement of more than $105,000 in grants being disbursed, the largest amount the Foundation has ever awarded in one year, coupled with our 20th anniversary of grant awards, we knew this was a major event for the Foundation and our donors. Then, to make it even more special, this year’s grant awards of $105,000 have made the total amount the Foundation has awarded during our 20 year history over $1 million. That is a phenomenal achievement for a local community foundation and we are thrilled to have been able to accomplish these three milestones with the help of the Randolph community we serve,” said April Thornton, president of the Randolph Health Community Foundation.
For 2017, The Randolph Health Community Foundation funded grants which will engage volunteers and organizations to motivate our community to make healthy lifestyle choices. The Foundation’s priorities are programs which support at least one of the following focus areas:
- Randolph Health – projects that support the mission of Randolph Health and its efforts to provide quality health care;
- Nutrition – projects that benefit nutrition in the areas of education, training and research;
- Physical Fitness – promotion of healthy living through programs that initiate, expand and improve physical fitness;
- Substance Abuse – education and prevention programs that ease the transition of becoming free from the health problems associated with abuse of alcohol, tobacco and/or illicit drugs.
“Each year, the Randolph Health Community Foundation awards grants to assist with various health and wellness initiatives,” noted Thornton. “Once again, this was a competitive year, with 27 grant requests totaling over $298,000. The grants awarded have the potential to make a tremendous difference in the lives of many, helping to create a healthier community.”
The 2017 grants awarded by the Randolph Health Community Foundation include:
$10,000 Asheboro Shelter of Hope To upgrade their commercial kitchen with proper kitchen equipment which will enable the shelter to provide more healthy and well-balanced meals for up to 32 homeless men everyday and stock a pantry for those in need.
$8,000 Charles W. McCrary Elementary School to restore the two fields in the lower playground and implement the final components of the outdoor learning environment thus completing a three year plan to transform the playground and increase physical activity by students, staff and neighborhood residents.
$16,500 The Dream Center of Randolph County To build a kitchen to help serve the families of the Randleman community during the week and with other partners in the community and teach about nutrition and diet.
$2,250 Healthy Communities A3 to purchase gravel and do grading work for a trailhead parking area for the Uwharrie Trail.
$10,000 Healthy Randolph to utilize funding for a full-time Program Director who will bring continuity, vision and leadership to the work of the organization.
$7,558 Pilot Club of Asheboro to purchase bicycles, training wheels, helmets and "bicycling for fun" curriculum booklets for the Bicycle Rodeo for 4th graders in Asheboro City Schools.
$3,000 Randolph Community College to host the 2017 Substance Abuse & Mental Health Symposium, which will focus on providing local community resource providers, educators and advocates with the skills to address and understand the concepts and framework of addiction within the local community.
$5,000 Randolph County Family Crisis Center, Inc. to purchase a six-passenger van in order to transport clients suffering from substance abuse to AA and NA meetings and other therapy appointments.
$5,000 Randolph Health to provide patients, who are defined as Emergency Department Super Utilizers, with a book that will help them know when and when not to go to the Emergency Department.
$6,000 Randolph Health Pharmacy Department to provide Naloxone Nasal Spray at no charge to a minimum of 50 patients at high risk for accidental opioid overdose and with financial barriers to medication access.
$3,750 Randolph Health Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine to establish an orthotics laboratory in order to treat and address lower extremity biomechanical dysfunctions of the foot and promote movement.
$6,000 Randolph Health StayWell Senior Care to purchase one additional NuStep for our program and provide more education and resources to continue our Tai Chai program.
$5,000 Randolph Health and Randolph County Health Department to begin offering chlamydia and gonorrhea specific STD testing for men at the Randolph County Health Department.
$4,000 Randolph Partnership for Children to collaborate with six early childhood programs in Randolph County to start building or expand upon their current outdoor classrooms to create rich opportunities for outdoor, active play and healthy eating.
$3,600 Trees, NC to double the food production capacity of the community garden and fruit tree grove and provide nutritional education, training and fresh vegetables and fruit for 750 youth and adults in Asheboro's East Side neighborhood.
$10,000 Town of Seagrove to renovate the children's play area in H. Clay Presnell Park in Seagrove.
“Whether improving the nutritional possibilities for an entire community by planting and maintaining a garden and tree grove with Trees NC or assisting the Town of Seagrove to provide a safe play area for young people in that area of the county, these grants enable important community endeavors to succeed,” said Thornton. “Each grant recipient indirectly helps Randolph Health fulfill the second half of its mission, ‘foster health and wellness’, in unique ways in the community and across Randolph County.”
To learn more about the Randolph Health Community Foundation or to make a donation, call (336) 633-7755 or visit Randolph Health’s website at www.randolphhealth.org.
###
About Randolph Health
Randolph Health is a comprehensive, community-based health system based in Asheboro, North Carolina. We are a nationally recognized health and wellness system, combining the best of health technology and highly trained and certified medical professionals with personalized care designed to support the unique needs of each patient and their family. Through our 145-bed hospital, extensive network of primary care and specialty physician offices, outpatient rehabilitation centers, homecare services, advanced imaging and accredited cancer center, we offer access to the latest care and treatment. But we believe that great clinical care alone is not enough. That’s why we have a reputation for providing a care experience that recognizes the dignity of each human being–treating each person we serve as a person, not a number.